My run this morning helped to clear my head and I no longer feel like a depressed loser.
Still lonely but not hopelessly so.
I’ve managed to pay attention in all of my classes so far today, especially the last one with Professor Northcott which was impressive.
He’s British and every time he gets on one of his rampages, it’s like his accent tries to lull me to sleep.
I’ve got a few hours before my next class so I start heading towards my favorite café for a cup of coffee.
Lord knows I need it after listening to Professor Northcott drone on and on.
“Olivia?” Glancing around quickly, I can’t see anyone that I’m familiar with so I keep walking. “Olivia, wait up!”
Coming to a stop, I turn around to see a guy with shaggy light brown hair running towards me.
I’m not sure if we’ve ever met before but he seems to know who I am.
Stopping a few feet away from me, he smiles brightly. “Sorry to chase you down like this but I’m in your English Lit class with Professor Northcott.” As an afterthought he adds, “Sorry, I’m Bentley.”
Hmm, he must sit behind me because I don’t think I’ve ever noticed him before and he’s not bad looking.
I definitely would have paid attention to him if he was sitting in front of me,
“That’s fine, what’s up?” I say politely.
Hopefully this doesn’t take long, I’m always desperate for some caffeine after having to listen to Professor Northcott. He’s such an ass and I swear he hates me.
Bentley shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I came late to class today and had trouble keeping up, I noticed you were typing away pretty quickly so I was wondering if you could send me a copy of your notes.”
I shrug, “Sure, no problem.”
It’s not like I don’t know how hard it is to keep up in his class and if you are late, it’s like he starts talking faster on purpose.
“Great, thanks. Should I grab your number or…?” he seems to hesitate when asking for my number which is cute.
Bentley is tall with light blue eyes that seem to brighten up his whole face but he seems like a nice guy and nice guys aren’t normally my type.
They tend to bore me pretty quickly.
I love having some fun banter with a sexy guy who oozes confidence but then I remember I might be looking for more than a casual hook up this year and my usual type aren’t exactly the type of guys to want a steady girlfriend.
They are more the type who would prefer to fuck me in the bathroom then take off.
This run in could work out perfectly. “I’m actually just about to grab a coffee at Joe’s, do you want to join me and I can get your details?”
He practically beams down at me which is cute. I’m so used to talking to guys who pretend to act hard to get. “Yeah that would be great, thanks.”
We start heading in the direction of Joe’s Café which is only a few minutes away and I can tell that Bentley is nervous.
Nervousness is another reason why I don’t normally go for the nice guy type, I prefer a guy that takes charge.
It’s sexy as fuck when a man knows exactly what he wants and yes, I’m mostly taking about in the bedroom.
“Are you an English major too?” I ask.
He nods but cringes slightly, “Yeah, but this year is kicking my ass already.”
Tell me about it and not having Maddy here with me only makes it ten times worse. “I know what you mean, it’s barely even started and already my course work is piling up.”
“I heard from some of the seniors last year that Professor Northcott’s research essays are pretty tough.”
“That doesn’t surprise me, it’s like he wants most of us to fail.” We walk into Joe’s and line up to order our coffee’s. We end up finding a seat in the back and I bring my laptop out straight away. “Punch your email address in and I’ll send you my notes now otherwise I’ll forget.”
He spins my laptop around and starts typing away on my keyboard.
When he’s finished, I attach my notes from today and hit send. “There, all done but I should warn you, when I get into a typing frenzy, what ends up on the screen doesn’t always make sense.”
He laughs lightly, “Trust me, it will be more helpful than what I managed to get down. Professor Northcott kept eyeing me darkly and it would make me lose my concentration.”
“He did that to me when I was late one day too.” It was like he was trying to torture me. “Now I always make sure I’m at least ten minutes early.” I swear being late one time has put a black mark next to my name forever.
I’ve never had a professor that was this grumpy before, normally they all love me.
Bentley smiles at me shyly, “I should probably start doing the same.”
We sit and chat for the next hour and I’m surprised by how much I like Bentley, he’s not my usual type at all but maybe that’s a good thing.
This year could be the year I try all sorts of new things.
It would beat getting a bunch of cats, that’s for sure.
All of a sudden, he looks at his watch. “Shit, I’ve got to go or I’m going to be late for my next class.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure I’ll see you in class next week.” I should probably get going too, I didn’t mean to sit here for so long.
He starts to leave then turns back. “Why don’t I email you my number and that way we can catch up again and maybe help each other out on some of Professor Northcott’s essays?”
“Yeah, that sounds nice.” I have a feeling that I’m going to need some help this year.
“Great.” After looking at his watch one more time, Bentley waves then starts speed walking out of the café.
He really wasn’t joking about being late for class.
Packing up my things, I stand from the table and start to make my way towards the front.
As I’m passing the queue for the counter, a man in line is talking to someone else and takes a step backwards.
He ends up standing on my foot and nearly knocking me over in the process. “Ouch! Watch where you’re going you jackass.”
Hopping on one foot, I look up into the deepest pair of blue eyes that I have ever seen and almost instantly the pain in my foot is forgotten.
Wow.
Just. Wow.
I can’t remember the last time I was struck dumb by such beauty.
Actually, I don’t think this has ever happened to me before.
My heart is beating like crazy just from staring into his eyes.
It’s like I could get lost in them for hours.
“Sorry, are you alright?” he gestures lazily to my foot.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” or at least I will be in a second.
At the mention of my foot, the pain comes back and it seems worse than ever.
Damn him and his solid body, he must have put his entire body weight onto my foot.
It’s like he crushed it from one tiny misstep but he doesn’t seem to be very apologetic about it.
Sure he said sorry but it was more the type of sorry that you say because it’s the polite thing to do not because you mean it.
He looks me up and down but for some reason him checking me out seems to raise my hackles, especially when he asks, “Do you need any help?”
“Not from you,” I snap back.
Normally, I would be all for a little bit of flirtatious behavior, especially from someone this hot but right now I’m pissed that I’m going to have to hobble my way to my next class.
If he had swooped down to carry me to a nearby chair then I might be willing to be late but his attitude has me all worked up and not in a good way.
Even though I told him that I was fine, my foot is throbbing and I’m sure I will have one hell of a bruise.
At this point I wouldn’t even be surprised if it was broken but I hate looking weak so I school my features to pretend like it doesn’t hurt at all.
I’m not the maiden in distress kind of girl but I would have pretended to be if this guy wanted to act like my knight in shining armor.
The fact that he hasn’t, kind of pisses me off.
He has what looks like dark brown hair but it’s been shaved so close to his head that it’s hard to tell. He’s wearing worn and faded light blue jeans, big boots and a plain white t-shirt but he is giving off some serious bad boy vibes.
If he hadn’t just nearly broken my foot and acted all casual about it then I think I would have been a hell of a lot nicer to him.
Maybe I should apologize for snapping at him, I mean, it was an accident after all.
If I warm up a little bit then he might do the same and start flirting with me again.
Once my foot stops throbbing, I will probably regret being so abrupt to him.
He shrugs his big shoulders, “Suit yourself.” Then he turns around and starts talking to his friend again.
What the actual fuck?
Is he serious right now?
It’s like he doesn’t even care that he basically broke my foot.
What an asshole.
Why are the sexiest guys always such mother fuckers?
Feeling petty, I want nothing more than to kick this guy in the shins but I have a feeling I would just break my other foot and I doubt he would even flinch.
Completely outraged by his lack of sympathy, I limp out of the café, no longer in a good mood.
Damn sexy man and his big feet.
He needs to watch where he’s going next time.
Pulling out my phone, I text my friend Sophie to see if she’s up for a few drinks tonight.
I have a feeling that after hobbling around for the afternoon, I’m going to need one.
Fuck it, I’m going to need more than one.
Sophie, Greer and I walk into Dan Jeffrey’s a little after 10pm and the place is already packed.
The bar is a college favorite due to low priced drinks, acceptance for crude behavior and its solid reputation as a hook up spot. We normally start our nights here for the drinks and if we are having a good time, we don’t bother going anywhere else.
It’s a fun place just to sit back and people watch when we have had enough of dancing. There’s normally some pretty crazy shit that goes down here and it’s like watching a reality show.
I’m wearing a tight green dress that hits around mid-thigh and black stilettos, although I’m regretting my decision to wear heels tonight.
My foot is still killing me from where that asshole stood on it and if it’s this sore at the start of the night then I can only imagine what it will be like later on.
Dancing is most likely out of the question so I’ll just have to stick to people watching and hope that some drama unfolds.
Which let’s face it, is highly likely.
After ordering drinks, I convince the girls to sit at one of the tables to give my already aching feet a rest.
They know that a guy stood on my foot but they don’t know how badly it hurts or how I’m still annoyed over how he dismissed me so quickly.
Like it was no big deal that he stood on my foot.
He could have offered to walk me to class or something but he just went back to his conversation like I didn’t matter.
It’s bothering me that he’s been plaguing my thoughts all afternoon.
I’m not used to being easily forgotten by the opposite sex and that must be why I can’t stop thinking about him.
Except that it’s his eyes that keep flashing across my mind.
I’ve never thought a guy had beautiful eyes before.
Especially on a man that looked like him, beautiful is the last word I would use to describe him yet somehow it sort of fits.
Although you could describe him as Rugged.
Or mysterious.
Definitely alluring.
Dangerous.
Sexy.
“Earth to Olivia.”
“Huh?” Looking across the small table, I see Sophie and Greer staring at me. “Sorry did you say something?”
Greer narrows her eyes at me, “You’ve been zoned out for the last ten minutes, what the hell is going on with you?”
Ten minutes?
Seriously?
What the hell is wrong with me? “Nothing, just thinking about this guy I met today.”
Sophie lights up, “Ohhh, do tell.”
Shit, how the hell do I tell them that I can’t stop thinking about a guy who stood on my foot and then basically ignored me.
That will make me sound like a desperate idiot and definitely not like me.
Maddy living in Italy for the year must have really messed up my brain.
I push the mysterious stranger to the back of my mind. “Uh, I met this guy Bentley, he walked up to me after English Lit and asked for a copy of my notes.”
Greer scoffs, “Real original.”
I thought so too but when I actually gave him my notes, he seemed really grateful. “No I think he genuinely wanted them, he seems like a nice guy and our professor is an asshole.”
Sophie raises her eyebrows, “Nice is not your type.”
“I know but with Maddy gone this year, maybe I want to try something new.”
Both Greer and Sophie burst out laughing. “Yeah, good luck with that.”
“Why are you laughing?” I ask, completely fucking offended by their laughter.
Why is it so hard to comprehend that I might be interested in a guy who is nice?
It’s not that outrageous.
Sophie answers and she flicks her red hair over her shoulder and leans on the table. “We all know that nice guys don’t fuck as well as the bad boys and let’s just say that we know your preference in the bedroom.”
They start laughing again but I don’t find this funny, at all. “Fuck you guys and how do you know that nice guys don’t like to fuck like crazy? Bentley could be a dark horse and we could actually start dating.”
Greer reaches out and puts her hand on my arm. “We didn’t mean to offend you Olivia. It’s just that you’ve never shown any interest in settling down before and if this Bentley is a nice guy then he’s going to want to date you or be your boyfriend or something.”
“So? I could date.” It’s not like I’ve never been on a date before, I just prefer to keep things casual.
Sophie perks up at that idea. “Good for you! Let’s celebrate this milestone with drinks and dancing. Let’s go!”
She stands up and grabs both Greer and I but as soon as I put weight on my foot, I cringe. “How about I get another round first?”
Nodding in agreement, Sophie calls out, “See you out there girl!”
Sophie and Greer strut to the dance floor and I watch them leave thinking that coming out tonight was a mistake.
I should be at home on my couch, icing my poor foot.
If I leave now though, they will give me even more shit than when I said I might want to date a nice guy.
Also, I’m still offended over that.
People like to think that they know me but they don’t. Only Maddy really knows me and she wouldn’t laugh at me, she would encourage me to date someone like Bentley.
Fuck it, a couple of dances won’t hurt me.
Walking over to the bar, I don’t have to wait long to be served and as I grab our drinks, I’m already looking forward to getting back to our table and sitting down.
I would love to join Sophie and Greer on the dance floor but I can barely stand up as it is.
In fact, this might be my last drink of the night.
I’ll probably have to get a cab home at this rate. Part of the reason why I love coming to Dan Jeffrey’s is because it’s so close to my apartment building but there is no way that I can walk home tonight.
Making my way through the crowd, I’m almost back at my table when a large body steps in front of me and I end up colliding with his back.
The drinks I just purchased, end up completely covering my chest and dripping all the way down my legs into my heels.
I gasp in shock as the cold liquid hits me and when the large body turns around, I become livid.
“You,” I growl out.
A handsome face smirks back at me, “You really need to watch where you’re going.”
He can’t be fucking serious. “No, you need to watch what you’re doing. This is the second time you have barged into me in one day.”
He smirks again and I hate that I find it sexy. “Are you sure you’re not walking into me on purpose to get my attention?”
I scoff, “In your dreams buddy.”
Even though I’ve been thinking about him and his deep blue eyes all afternoon, I’m not a glutton for punishment. I can tell when someone doesn’t like me.
Limping over to my table, I grab my things.
After this, I’m done for the night.
Even if my foot didn’t hurt, I’m now covered in sticky alcohol and my mood has darkened to the point where there is no turning back.
Getting Sophie’s attention, I gesture to her that I’m heading out and she waves goodbye.
A deep voice behind me says, “Why are you limping?”
Turning around, I come face to face with the person who caused said limp. “Oh I don’t know, maybe because some asshole stood on it this afternoon.”
His eyes widen in shock, “Oh shit, I did that to you?”
“Yes, you did.” I don’t bother trying to hide the animosity from my voice.
His eyebrows wrinkle in confusion as he stares at my feet. “If it’s so sore that you are limping then why are you wearing heels?”
Not wanting to admit that he has a point, I start hobbling past him and out the door.
Stupid beautiful idiot with common sense.
When I get outside, the streets dead and there’s not a cab in sight.
Just my fucking luck.
Deciding to bite the bullet and walk home, I lean up against the side of the building and start taking my hells off.
“What are you doing?” Startled, I lose my balance since I’m only standing on one heel but a strong hand grips my arm and stops me from falling. “You really are a clumsy thing, aren’t you?”
“I’m not-” How can someone this attractive be this irritating? “Never mind, just leave me alone.”
Taking off my other heel, I sigh in relief. The cold concrete actually feels quite nice against my skin.
“Fuck, that’s some bruise. Is that from earlier today?” At least he now has the decency to look sheepish.
“Why yes it is, thank you for that, by the way. Oh, and the ruined dress,” I gesture to the big stain that’s now covering the entire front of my dress.”
Still staring at my foot, he ignores my dress. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I hurt you that badly.”
“It’s fine.” Testing my foot out, I take a few steps and when I don’t immediately collapse in pain, I figure I can make it the few blocks to my apartment.
A deep voice calls out behind me, “Where are you going?”
Not bothering to look back, I call out, “Home.”
“You’re going to walk? In bare feet?”
I yell back, “Do you have any better ideas?”
“A cab shouldn’t be too far away, let me wait with you.”
“No thanks, I don’t live far.” In the time it takes to wait for a cab, I could already be curled up in bed.
Bed.
Just the word alone causes my heart to soar with happiness.
Nice, clean sheets.
Soft, fluffy pillows.
Warm and cozy blankets.
Footsteps sound behind me and I groan when he starts walking beside me. “It’s not exactly safe for you to walk home alone at night.”
I don’t need a lecture on safety from this asshole. “Like I said, I don’t live far and I do it all the time.”
“Where do you live?” he asks.
“Anderson Building on Park and Lane.” Why is he still walking with me and why the fuck did I tell him where I live?
I’m trying really hard not to look at him and even harder not to cringe as I walk.
Damn his sexiness and my broken foot.
“That’s only a few blocks, why don’t I walk with you? That’s the least I can do considering I’m the reason you’re limping.” So now all of a sudden he cares that he hurt me, what’s with this guy?
Earlier today it’s like he couldn’t give a fuck.
“Do whatever you like.” Fuck, walking home was a stupid idea but once again, I don’t want to admit to this guy that I was wrong so I keep putting one foot in front of the other.
After a few minutes, I feel his hand on my arm, stopping me from walking altogether. “This is stupid, just let me carry you.”
“Carry me?” I ask in complete shock. “No, you aren’t carrying me.”
His smile is so bright that it lights up the dark street and I hate that I love it. “Just admit that you can’t make it home and I’ll carry you. I’ll even give you a piggy back ride if that makes you more comfortable.”
“No.” I start walking again but nearly collapse in pain after a couple of steps.
Without warning, he grabs me and lifts me easily into his arms. He starts walking down the street like I weigh nothing and if I wasn’t so mad at him then I might be impressed by his strength.
I start wiggling, “Put me down.”
This is so embarrassing.
I’m sure that I stink and I must be really sticky, I can’t believe he hasn’t given up and left already.
He smiles down at me, “You have two choices, I carry you like this or you can hop on my back.”
He doesn’t break eye contact with me while waiting for me to make my decision and I once again get lost in the depth of his eyes.
I’ve never seen a shade of blue that dark before.
“Back,” I stammer out, “Let me climb on your back.”
“You got it.” Instead of putting me down, he swings me around and I squeal at the sudden movement. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I let my feet dangle. “Give me your legs.”
After a moment of hesitation, I bring my legs up on either side of his waist and he grabs my thighs.
When he starts walking again, I begin to feel stupid, this whole situation is ridiculous.
He tilts his head to the side, “I’m Ryder by the way.”
“Olivia,” I mutter.
Being so close to his neck, I start breathing in his scent and the woodsy smell makes me want to lean in closer.
Not wanting to get caught sniffing him, I try to lean backwards but that only brings my attention to his muscular arms and back.
If I wasn’t so mad at this guy then I wouldn’t mind rubbing up against him.
My guess is that he looks damn good naked but I’m too tired and sore to contemplate the idea of sex tonight.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you Olivia and I’m sorry about your foot and your dress.”
“It’s fine.” When my apartment building comes into view, I want to weep in relief.
My bed has never sounded so appealing.
Once we reach the doors, I expect Ryder to put me down but he walks inside and makes his way over to the elevator. “What floor?”
“I can make it upstairs on my own.” Don’t tell me he thinks he’s going to get some just because he gave me a piggy back ride to my apartment.
He shakes me then repeats himself, “What floor?”
I grumble out, “Fifth.”
He keeps a strong grip on my thighs on the way up and when we get out of the elevator, I start giving him directions to my apartment.
“This is me.” I point to my apartment door. “You can put me down now.”
He loosens his grip on my thighs and bends down so that my feet can reach the floor.
As soon as they make contact with the ground, I wince in pain.
Grabbing my keys out of my handbag, I unlock my door. “Thanks for the piggy back ride.”
God I can’t wait for this night to be over.
“No problem.” After I walk inside, he leans against the open-door frame. “Do you go to Joe’s often?”
“Yeah, why?” If he makes some smart comment about my foot, I’m going to slam the door in his face.
My patience is starting to wear pretty thin and it doesn’t help knowing that I must look awful.
He tries his best to keep his eyes on mine but they briefly glance over my body. “Because I’d like to buy you a coffee to make up for hurting you, or lunch, if you’re up for it.”
Damn him and damn myself for being interested. “Coffee, maybe, I’ll see what kind of mood I’m in when I wake up tomorrow.”
He straightens up, “Why don’t you give me your number and-”
Nope, I’m not standing here for any longer than I have to. “Just, be there at eleven tomorrow.”
“So, you’ll come?”
I smirk, “Like I said, I’ll see how I feel when I wake up tomorrow.”
Shutting the door in his face, I lock up then make my way into my bedroom. Stripping off my soiled dress, I dump it on the ground then jump into bed, not caring in the slightest that I haven’t removed my makeup or brushed my teeth.
There is no way that my foot can handle standing for even a second longer.
It was a stupid idea to go out tonight and an even stupider idea to wear such high heels.
This is why I need Maddy around, she’s always the voice of reason.
If she were here then we would have spent the night watching movies with an ice pack on my foot.
Snuggling down under the covers, I pray that my foot magically heals itself by morning.