Chasing Ivy (Oak Hill 1)

Was I still hurt by Eric’s rapid decision to break up because I was moving to Oak Hill? Kind of.

But I definitely didn’t need anyone knowing that, and I definitely didn’t need to call him back so I could hear him ask me to move back in with him again. He wanted me to cave in to his sweet calls and notes, and I wasn’t going to.

I had too much going on to deal with that.

“He’s not going to give up. You know that, right?” Mia said, raising her eyebrows at me.

“Don’t you have, like, a paper to write or something?” I asked, crossing my arms over my damp shirt.

She rolled her eyes at me. “Yes, and I was going to bum off your Wi-Fi while you made me that ‘hearty’ meal, but I didn’t bring my bathing suit.”

I laughed out loud. “Well, just go back to campus and come stay next weekend. Hopefully it’ll be dry by then?” I turned and looked to Dawson at that last sentence. He was grimacing, looking from me and then to Mia’s hand (still clutching the stupid note) and then back to me.

“It’ll take at least the weekend, if not longer, for us to clean this mess up. It’s best if you go stay at campus, and then…” His eyes pierced right through me. “You can just stay with me.”

I wanted to throw my hands up in protest. Stay with him! What!?

“What! No! I’ll stay with Becca.”

Dawson’s eyes narrowed. “And you’ll spend, like, an hour driving to work on Monday. That’s stupid. Just stay at my house. I don’t bite, Ivy.”

This is what I pictured about staying at Dawson’s (aka replica of my old house…a little issue upon which I would most definitely have to touch base if I stayed there): Breanna coming at me with some type of weapon (in my head it was a very, very sharp pair of tweezers that she had previously used on her stupid, skinny eyebrows) and plunging them into my eyeballs, trying to scratch them out. No, thank you.

“No. I really don’t want to be roomies with you and your girlfriend, Banana...” I cleared my throat. “I mean Breanna.”

Mia laughed from behind me and it caused me to grin.

Dawson didn’t laugh. Instead, he wore an expression one might if they’d seen a monkey talking. "What? Breanna doesn’t live with me.”

Oh, thank the freaking Lord. I almost couldn’t handle the thought.

“Oh, well, still. I don’t think she’ll like it if I’m there, Dawson. I’ll stay with Becca or at the motel down on Curtis Ave.”

“EW! No,” Mia shrieked. “I can hear the cockroaches crawling from here!”

I ignored her and looked back up at Dawson.

“You’re staying with me, and that’s final. It’s the least I can do since my guys were the ones who destroyed your house.”

“Dawson, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Seriously, Breanna hates me.”

His cheek lifted up on one side as he pulled out his phone. “You leave Banana up to me, Ivy. You’re staying and that’s final… Come on, it’ll be like old times.”

I bit my tongue so incredibly hard that it could have fallen off.

Dawson didn’t take his eyes off his phone. “Now, I’m going to go make some calls about this. Pack some stuff.”

Then he turned around, naked torso and all, and stormed back into my house.

I looked back at my sister, who was grinning like a Cheshire cat while holding up Eric’s note. She took her fingers and ripped it in half, allowing the paper to fall onto the floor. “Bye-bye, Eric.”

I gave her a knowing look, but the truth was…I didn’t know anything.

Chapter Twenty

Dawson

What in the ever loving fuck was I doing?