Love, Lies, and Deception(4)
Alec carried my luggage with ease down the steps and I happily followed. “Thank you for doing this. I know it’s kind of heavy.”
“It’s not bad,” he said.
“So you mentioned California … is that where you’re from?” I asked curiously.
He looked back at me over his shoulder, but kept descending the steps slowly. “Yeah, Newport Beach. I moved here a couple of years ago.”
“Wow!” I exclaimed. “Newport Beach is really nice. What on earth would make you want to live here? Don’t get me wrong, I love it here, but there’s not much around other than mountains.”
He shrugged nonchalantly. “There were many reasons. I needed a change of pace I guess.”
We reached the bottom of the steps and Emily stomped up to us and grabbed my suitcase from Alec. “Seriously, Rissa, you can get to know the hottie from downstairs when we come back home next week. Now let’s go.” Glaring at her, I wanted to hit her upside the head, but I refrained from it by biting my tongue.
Ignoring my lethal look, she rolled my bag over to Justin’s car where he casually put it in the back, giving me an apologetic smile. Hoping he couldn’t see my reddened cheeks, I turned back to Alec and said, “Emily is just really excited. It was nice talking to you, though. I’m sure I’ll see you around when we come back.”
He nodded. “Same to you, Marissa. I hope you all have fun.” The sound of my name on his lips had me staring at them. They were full and soft … totally kissable. Was it bad that I wanted to feel them on mine? I thought to myself. Quickly, I averted my eyes away from those luscious lips and prayed that he couldn’t read my mind.
“Well, it looks like you better go since your roommate and boyfriend are staring daggers at me,” he said, tilting his head in the direction of my friends.
“What … who? What boyfriend are you talking about?”
Alec looked surprised. “Isn’t he the one that’s scowling at me right now, and looking like he wants to kick my ass?”
Turning my head sharply, I glanced behind me to my friends. The only person who looked our way was Kristian, and he didn’t appear to be scowling. If I didn’t know any better I’d say Alec was fishing for information. Inwardly, I smiled at the prospect.
“If you’re talking about the goofy looking guy in the Hawaiian shirt, he’s just my friend,” I informed him. “We’ve been friends for a while now.”
Alec’s eyes twinkled at my response. “I just assumed you were with him since I always see you two together.”
I shook my head. “No, we’re not together, but we do spend a lot of time with each other. Other than Emily he’s my best friend. I did have a boyfriend, but we broke up not too long ago.”
“Well, isn’t that a shame,” he said smoothly, running his clear blue gaze down my body. He peered over my shoulder at my friends and saw Emily pacing back and forth, wishing we’d hurry. “Okay, I need to get going. Your friend over there looks like she’s about to hyperventilate if I don’t leave. Have fun in Fiji. People tend to get wild on spring break, so be careful. I’m sure I’ll see you around when you get back.”
“Sounds great,” I muttered excitedly. “Have a good week of silence. I’m sure Emily and I make plenty of noise above you.”
He smiled and winked at me. “You have no idea,” he said before heading to the stairwell. He glanced back at me once before climbing the steps to his apartment and disappearing behind closed doors.
My face flushed crimson, and my heart pounded. I could only imagine what he heard with Emily and I above him. I wonder what he does out here if he’s from California? Maybe I could find out when I came back from spring break.
I never saw him on campus, and he never appeared to be going to class. He looked to be around the same age as me, maybe a year or two older, but there was something about his eyes that had me mesmerized. They were full of secrets, but yet haunted in some way that I found mysterious and other worldly. Kind of like the hot guys I read about in my romance novels when I’m not busting my ass studying. One thing was for sure, I was going to make sure he saw me again when I got back
We all piled into Justin’s silver SUV and began the hour and forty-five minute drive to Charlotte Douglas International airport. Once we got there we’d then board a plane and travel the thirty-hours it was going to take to get to Fiji. I wasn’t looking forward to being in the air that many hours, but at least we had some stops along the way.
Justin was driving with Emily in the front seat while Kristian and I sat in the back. Leaning over, Kristian nudged me in the side with his elbow. “So, Em tells me you broke up with Jason a couple nights ago. Why didn’t you tell me? Are you okay?”
Emily scoffed and glanced back at him. “Are you kidding me? She’s doing better than okay. For once I’ll have my best friend back; you know, the one who used to be wild and dance on pool tables.”
“Hey,” I objected, smacking her lightly on the back of the head. “Thank you for insinuating that I was boring. Some people do decide to grow up and focus on graduating college instead of partying all the time. Besides, you can count the number of times I danced on pool tables on one hand.”
Emily cackled. “Yeah, and you were topless dancing on those pool tables, too. Did you forget about that?” She grinned while I blushed and Kristian’s mouth dropped to the floor. “You used to not give a shit back then,” she remarked.