“I don’t believe you,” she said, voice muffled by the door, but loud enough for me to hear. “Whatever game you’re playing right now, Elijah, please get lost, okay? If someone put you up to this, I’ll overlook it if you leave, now.”
I leaned my forehead against the door, feeling my frustration rising.
“No one put me up to anything. I know it’s a bit of a surprise, but…I know about your asshole ex-boyfriend back in high school. The football player everyone looked up to that used you.”
“How do you know about that?” she asked sharply.
“You told me all about it. No one else knows, right? Besides the guy, you’ve been talking to online for the past three weeks. That’s me. I know you’re probably disappointed, but…can we talk?”
I held my breath and waited. But for a long moment, there was no reply. I knocked on the door again.
“Sophia! Talk to me, please?”
I waited for about five minutes, but I still got nothing. It was exactly what I’d expected, but it still made me feel regretful. I sighed and patted my hand on the door one last time, then turned to walk away. I’d only taken a few steps when I heard the door open behind me, though, and I whirled around.
“Sophia,” I whispered.
She stood there looking at me with a blank expression on her face. I held my breath, wondering if she’d opened it so she could curse at me properly, or if she was going to try to slap or punch me. When she opened her mouth and asked something in a calm voice, I was once again surprised.
“Are you free right now?”
Chapter Ten
Sophia
I looked calmly up at Elijah, who was staring at me with a surprised expression. On the inside, though, I was the furthest thing from calm.
Was he…serious?
“U-um,” he stuttered, blinking at me.
I frowned. “If you’re not free, just go wherever you were going.”
It was taking him too long to answer, and I lost the courage I’d had when I opened the door. I’d waited so long, because I didn’t want this to be another of his pranks, and I managed to psych myself up for it. But of course, how could it not be a joke?
“Wait!”
I was turning around to close the door again when his shout came, and I froze immediately. My heart practically skipped a beat, and I looked cautiously at Elijah. He took wide strides to close the space between us, and my hand clenched hard on the door.
“I’m free. Right now. Have you eaten lunch? We can go right now.”
I watched him for a long moment. He looked different today, and not just because he looked like he’d bothered to get dressed up. The expression on his face looked almost anxious, and it wasn’t a look I was used to seeing on him. I gave him a short nod, then walked back into the room. My gaze met Dana’s.
After a long, silent moment, she rolled her eyes at me. “You can go, I don’t mind. We can watch another movie some other time.”
“Thank you,” I murmured.
I picked up my purse and the shoes I’d tossed off, put them on quickly then went outside. I closed the door behind me and turned to Elijah with a look of total calm once more.
“Let’s go,” I said, voice firm.
He probably didn’t notice how I trembled.
“Did you eat lunch already? I had a heavy breakfast and some water before the game, but that’s it. It’s a little late for lunch, though. Would you mind?”
“It’s fine,” I said.
There was no way I was going to tell him I waited for a little over two hours for Student X to show up and didn’t have any lunch because of that. I’d forgotten all about being hungry, and Dana gave me snacks, so it wasn’t like I was starving, as if I could eat anything and I mean anything!
Elijah and I walked silently with a bit of space between the two of us. Neither of us tried to close it. Elijah had his hands shoved in his pockets, and I had my arms wrapped around mysel
f, but it was enough of a miracle that we were walking together at all and with no argument.
I did my best to keep my composure, but inside, my emotions were in turmoil.
Though I had pictured Elijah, or someone that looked like Elijah, when I was waiting for Student X earlier, I never actually expected it to be him. The most surprising thing was how well we got along online. How did he even know I was Rogue H? And, most importantly, how the hell did we have so much in common? I had thought, before, that Elijah would be the farthest thing from a match I could get. Especially after my ex. But...maybe it was wrong to judge him that way?
I had thought we were hopeless, but from our talks, I’d thought we were compatible, too.
Another thing, I had never been so close to him before when I wasn’t glaring at him, and I just realized how tall and big he was. I wasn’t a small woman myself, at five foot seven, I was considered tall. Dana was shorter than me, and I was the same height as some of the guys at school. I was a little curvy, but my body was built slim.
Elijah, on the other hand, was six feet and five inches tall, and thickly muscled. I tightened the grip I had on the tops of my arms as I imagined his wide palms pressed up against my back as he held me to his wide chest. My face felt grew a little warm.
“Do you mind if we leave campus?” Elijah asked, glancing down at me.
I startled and looked back at him. “Um, what?”
“There’s this café just off campus that’s good. We could have something there if you’d like?”
“Sure,” I said quickly, ducking my head.
We resumed our silence, but I was walking stiffer than before.
The café really wasn’t that far, but my feet still ached a little because I was walking around in heels, though they were only a couple inches tall. The place was half empty, so we found a good table easily. We both busied ourselves looking at anything but each other. I looked around the café then down at the menu on the table. I’d been here before, and I loved their cakes. A waiter came over to us quite quickly.