Some Loves (2 page)

“There’s more to life than dating,” Noah grumbled.

“Said no guy
ever
,” Riley scoffed.

He looked slightly offended at that but Riley didn’t seem to care.

“Look, you were our high school’s golden couple. Everyone thought that you were going to be the high school sweethearts that actually made it. I know that’s rare these days but it does happen. I just want the two of you to be happy. Neither one of you is happy apart, so maybe you should consider getting back together.” Her gaze swung back and forth between us. Noah didn’t seem to have any more to say to her than I did. “I get that you’re a long way off from that,” she continued, “but like I said, baby steps. I mean, why not? If neither of you seems to want to move on apart, it only makes sense to see if you can move past this together. Don’t you think you owe it to yourselves to try?”

“Maybe,” Noah finally said. His words took me by surprise. Then he qualified his response. “I don’t think getting back together is an option at this point. But I do want to move on from what happened.”

“Me too,” I added.

“Good. So let’s keep talking,” Riley, ever the mediator, said. “Noah, how do you like being back in Ashton?”

I winced. We were all aware that he was only in Ashton because of me. He’d given up his coveted spot at Hudson so that we could be together. He’d given up his place at a college he’d wanted to attend for years. Along with that, he’d given up his spot on the baseball team. He’d done it as a surprise for me. Only, that weekend, everything had gone all to hell. We’d broken up. By the time he returned to Hudson, they’d already given away his spot and his dorm room for the following semester.

I was sure that made someone who had been wait-listed very happy.

I still felt guilty just thinking about it.

“It’s not too bad, being back, I mean,” Noah said. “Hudson wasn’t really working out the best for me. I am bummed about baseball. I’m not bummed about losing my roommate.”

My lips twitched up in a faint smile. I’d met Landon, the guy Noah had shared a dorm room with. The guy wasn’t awful, but he hadn’t been a whole lot of fun either. He’d been a total stickler for rules. Never mind that the rules were his.

“Do you like living with Drew?” I asked. He gave me a questioning look. I assumed he was wondering how I knew that. It wasn’t as if he’d told me, so I clarified. “I see Drew once in awhile. We don’t have any classes together but I’ve run into him in the union.”

Drew and Noah had been friends since their Little League days. When Drew learned that Noah was moving back, he’d suggested they get a house together.

“Right,” Noah said. “Yeah. I like living with him. I was kind of worried he’d want to just party all the time, which he kind of does, but at least he does it elsewhere. Mostly.”

“Good,” I said with a nod. I was happy to hear that he wasn’t completely miserable because of me.

“How about you?” Noah asked, surprising me. “How’s living alone going?”

I let out a humorless laugh. I was living in my mother’s house. She, of course, was not there. Tyler also was not there. Alone was exactly fitting. I shrugged. “It’s okay. It has its advantages. It’s quiet. It’s easy to get a lot of studying done.”

“You don’t like it.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised he’d surmised that from what I’d said. Most likely it had been my tone. Or my expression. Or maybe it was that Noah knew me so well. Even still.

I smiled briefly. “No, you’re right. I don’t. It’s too quiet. I really miss Tyler.”

“I’m sure you do,” he said. He reached for his phone. It was resting next to the napkin holder. He glanced at the time and then at me. “I need to get going. I’ve got some things to take care of.”

I nodded. “Okay, well, it was nice talking to you.”

Riley slid out of the booth to make room for him.

“See you two later,” Noah said as he walked away.

My eyes stayed glued to him until he was out of my sight.

“That went well. Don’t you think?” Riley asked with a satisfied smirk.

I blew out a breath. “I’m not sure it went ‘well’ but it did go better than I would’ve expected.”

Noah had talked to me. We’d had an actual conversation. Riley was right. It was baby steps, but it was a start.

“Don’t you get tired of eating a salad every day?” Casey asked Riley.

Riley shrugged as she poked at a tomato. “I get tired of eating
here
every day.”

I had to agree but we really didn’t have time to leave campus in between classes. Not when parking was so bad. It could take nearly as long to find a spot again as it could take to run pick up something quick for lunch. And I, for one, was not organized enough to try to pack a lunch.

“The Caesar wrap isn’t too bad,” I told Riley. “Maybe you should try that.” The girl had to be sick of salad.

“Maybe tomorrow,” she agreed.

“The pizza is really good,” Casey informed us as we all sat down at our usual table.

“I could
never
eat pizza every day and stay as slim as you,” Riley pouted.

I doubted that was true. We had lucked out with good metabolisms, thanks to our moms’ side of the family. I’d lost a lot of weight after my brother’s death and I’d yet to gain it back. Riley, on the other hand, was naturally slim.

We also had the same blond hair and green eyes. We were nearly the same height, with Riley being just a tad taller. Our facial features varied some but we could still easily pass for sisters. My face was narrower, her eyes were wider. She had a dusting of freckles across her nose but they were almost invisible under her make-up. The biggest difference was that her hair was naturally straight and sleek. Mine was wavy, almost curly. On the days I straightened it, we looked more alike than ever.

“This pizza is good for you. It’s veggie pizza with extra cheese. It’s the ideal meal,” Casey argued.

I was pretty sure Casey had an ulterior motive about the meal discussion. Riley had a tendency to diet unnecessarily. Especially when she was interested in someone. I knew she felt insecure sometimes—who doesn’t?—but I doubted a pound or three was going to make a difference in whether a guy was interested or not. I’d tried to tell her that but it was no use.

I was about to bring it up again when Casey interrupted.

“Well, well, someone looks happy,” Casey said in a song-song voice.

I looked up from my lunch to see who she was talking about because I knew it couldn’t be either me or Riley.

Our friend Melanie was headed our way. She wore a huge smile as she pushed her way through the busy lunchtime crowd.

Casey was Riley’s roommate in the dorms and Melanie was a friend of hers from high school. Their other friend, Beth Ann, was the fifth person in what had become our close little group of friends. We ate lunch together whenever possible, hung out on campus together and often frequented parties together.
Though I’d known them since the start of the school year, it was only the last few months that I felt as if I knew Casey, Melanie and Beth Ann well enough to consider them close friends. Unlike Riley, whom I’d grown up with.

“Guess what!” Melanie squealed as she threw herself into her usual seat at our table. Her big brown eyes were practically glowing with excitement.

“Who is he?” Casey asked with a laugh.

“Do you remember that guy that I mentioned from my Chem lab?” Melanie asked.

Casey nodded and her tone was serious.  “Cute Chem Boy.”

Melanie’s nickname for this guy always made me smile.

“You mean the
cute guy you’ve been working on since the start of the semester?” Riley asked as she sat forward in her seat.

“That’s the one,” Melanie admitted with a giddy smile.

Her smile was contagious, she was so obviously excited. She’d been talking about him for so long that it was fun to hear that she’d actually made some progress.

“You know I’ve been flirting with him al
l semester,” she went on. “And you know it hasn’t really gotten me anywhere. I mean, he’s really nice, and funny but he doesn’t exactly flirt back. I feel like I’ve been getting totally mixed signals from him. You know? Like he’s always super nice but he’s standoffish too. I just couldn’t figure out how to read him.”

“Right,” Casey said. “Because he’ll walk you to class but he’s turned you down when you’ve asked if he wants to get together to study.”

“Yes,” Melanie agreed. “Exactly.”

“So do you two finally have a study date?” I asked.

She leaned forward. “Even better. A date, date. Well, kind of a date. You know the beach party this Friday night? I don’t know how I ever managed to get up the nerve to ask him, but I did. At first I didn’t think he was going to agree to go. Finally he just said ‘Sure, why not?’ And I wish he would’ve sounded a little more excited about it, but at least he said ‘yes’, right?”

Her eyes darted around the table. Melanie was a sweet girl and incredibly shy. I was surprised that she’d finally gathered the courage to ask him. She was looking around the table, obviously needing confirmation.

“Right,” I agreed.

“Absolutely,” Casey said.

“Does Beth Ann know?” Riley asked.

Melanie shook her head. “No. I just came from Chem. It sucks that Bethy doesn’t have lunch with us. I don’t think she really had to take her Bio class this hour.”

“She had to if she wanted to have class with Alec,” Riley pointed out.

“True,” Melanie agreed.

“So the party, what are you going to wear?” Riley added.

Melanie
let out a happy sigh. “I don’t know. But I want to look stunning. I mean, I know it’s just a party. And there are parties every weekend. But I really want to stand out. This might be my only chance to really get his attention.”

“You shouldn’t have to work for it,” I said. “If you’ve been talking to him all semester, he should know by now that you’re a great girl.”

“Exactly,” Casey said. “You have nothing to worry about.”

“What about you guys? Are you all going?”

“Of course,” Riley said as she bumped her shoulder into mine. “It’s the first beach party of the year. We’ll be there.”

“Definitely,” I agreed.

“I think I might ask Dominic,” Casey said. “What about you two? Are you going to ask anyone?”

“I’m going with Emory. She can be my date,” Riley decided.

I shot a glance at her and shook my head. “No, Riley. You don’t need to do that. If there’s someone you want to ask, then ask.”

A blush spread across her cheeks.

My eyebrows shot up. I was being honest, but I was also just trying to be polite. I hadn’t really thought that Riley had anyone in mind. Come to think of it, my normally boy crazy cousin had been
abnormally
disinterested lately.

Or maybe, I suddenly realized, she had a special interest that had been demanding all of her attention.

“Are you seeing someone?” I demanded. I perched my elbows on the table and leaned in close. I grinned at her expectantly.

Casey and Melanie swung their heads her way. They looked as surprised by the possibility as I felt.

Riley’s blush continued to deepen. She shook her head then reached for her drink. She slowly took a sip of soda before placing it back on the table. “No,” she confirmed when she realized we were all still watching her.

My lips twitched in a smile. “But you’re interested in someone.” It wasn’t really a question because I could tell by the way she dropped her gaze that she was. If it was anyone other than Riley, I might’ve dropped my inquisition. However, my dear, sweet cousin never seemed to think twice about putting me on the spot. I was so rarely ever able to turn the favor.

She lifted her gaze to mine. Her lips pinched into a sour expression.

I bounced my shoulder off of hers a few times.
I was right. I was sure of it. “Come on. Who is he?”

She shook her head rapidly. “It’s no one.”

“You little liar,” Melanie said with a gleeful smile.

“You guys!” Casey said with a laugh. “Leave the poor girl alone. Maybe she’s just hit a dry spell and doesn’t want to talk about it.”

Riley flicked her gaze to Casey. “Yes. That’s it,” she said with a smile.

I didn’t buy Casey’s theory for a second. I knew my cousin. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t realized it sooner. I tried to think back, wondering who the last guy was that Riley had mentioned to me.

I groaned when I remembered. Dr. Douglas. That’s the comment that came to mind: That man is…
Hmmmm
.

Riley’s little hum usually meant one thing. She was either mentally undressing him or something even more questionable.

It was always apparent that Riley was eying him up in Ethics. How ironic because if she was interested in a teacher-student relationship, I had a hunch our Ethics professor might not be a guy willing to be perused. That might actually be a good thing because my cousin could be very persistent. If she was lusting after a professor, I only hoped it was one that wouldn’t be interested. No one, as far as I was concerned, needed that kind of complication. College was tough enough.

“What?” she asked as she tossed Melanie’s cookie wrapper at me.

I shook my head. I hadn’t realized I’d been giving her a narrow-eyed look. “Nothing,” I said airily. I knew I was wearing a smug smile, but I couldn’t seem to make it disappear. Maybe I didn’t want to.

Melanie pulled a comically offended face. “Riley, what are you keeping from us?
You know we share everything with you.”

It was kind of fun to finally feel like I was getting under Riley’s skin as opposed to her always edging under mine.

“Whatever you’re thinking, stop,” she commanded. She swung a finger first at Melanie but then jabbed it my way. I tried not to laugh. “I can almost guarantee that whatever thoughts are bouncing around in your head right now, are wrong.”

“Okay,” I said with a shrug.

She scowled at me because she knew better. I wasn’t going to put it out of my head just because she said so. I wasn’t sure I could put it out of my head even if I wanted to. Judging by the pouty and concerned way she was looking at me, I was almost positive I was on to something.

Melanie clicked her tongue in amusement. “Not buying it
, Riley. Someone clearly has a secret crush. Judging by the look on Emory’s face, I think she just figured out who it is.”

Casey raised an eyebrow at Riley. She wore a questioning smile.

I got up from the table. I had an assignment I wanted to check over one more time. As much as I was enjoying picking on her, I was pretty sure that Melanie and Casey would keep it up on my behalf. Unlike me, none of these three had class for another hour.

“Just promise me one thing,” I said as seriously as I could.

“What?” she asked warily.

“Be careful. Older men can be trouble.”

I heard Melanie’s sharp, amused gasp.

Casey scoffed.

I glanced over my shoulder
and grinned at Riley as I walked away.

She
was staring after me in stony silence.

I shook my head, hoping I was wrong.

An Ethics professor?

I hoped my cousin had more sense than that.

***

I was still thinking about Riley, hoping the girl would use some common sense when it came to her love interest, when I made my
to the doors that led outside. I had to stop myself from getting too concerned. It could be that I was way, way off base. She hadn’t admitted to anything. Not really. Yet, I knew there had to be some reason she was keeping quiet. Riley was never shy about her love interests. That’s probably why it ate away at my curiosity even more.

As I pushed one of the double doors open t
he muggy air that smacked me in the face was a clear indication that summer was well on its way. I loved this weather. Soon, it would be so hot and muggy it would be miserable. But this time of year, it was perfect.

I rounded the corner of the building and nearly bumped into Noah.

“Oh, hi,” I said.

“Hi,
” he parroted as he readjusted the straps of his backpack.

I glanced around. A few people were on the way to class already but I was about ten minutes early.
The mad dash for most people wouldn’t start for at least another five minutes.

“I’m just heading to class,” I unnecessarily pointed out.

“Me too,” Noah said.

We stood there for a moment.

“I’m headed to Stanton Hall, so I’ll just…,” I motioned in the direction of the three story brick building that loomed in the distance.

“Yeah, I know. I’m headed that way too,” he admitted haltingly.

My feet started to move and to my surprise, his did too. Or maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. We were, after all, headed the same direction.

“Wait. Did you say you know I’m headed to Stanton?”

He nodded as his face puckered into a look of indecision.

“How do you know? You’ve seen me?” Odd, I thought, because I’d never seen him. I abruptly realized that maybe it wasn’t odd at all. “You knew I had class in that building so you’ve been avoiding me.” I didn’t wait for him to affirm my suspicions. “Do you head to class early every day?”