I rewarded him with a chuckle before starting down the hall to my business law class. He was cute and entertaining myself from time to time with him seemed almost like a good idea, but I couldn't shake the idea that someone was coming, heading my way.
"You treated my friend Amy well. I'm thinking that's worth remembering. At least, for me." I opened the door to Dr. Griffith's class. "This is me. Have a good day."
"It's me, too. I'm the TA for this class this semester." He smirked and moved in behind me. "Make sure you talk good about me in here. Everyone needs a spotter."
"A spotter?" I gave him a confused look to match the emotion swimming around in my chest.
"Yeah, you make sure the weight doesn't fall on my throat and take me out. The girls are vicious in here. They're going to be lawyers. Well, most of them hope to be." He winked at me and walked to the front, leaving me to stare after him like I wanted more of his time, which I didn't.
I found a seat in the middle of the room, not wanting to look too much like a slacker by taking the back row. The class filled up, and Kade worked beside Dr. Griffith to go over the basics of business law. I thought I would have to work to keep my eyes open, but the subject was actually riveting – exciting.
"All right. Make sure you study for the quiz on Wednesday and start looking for a partner for your midterm projects. One of you will have to work with Kade here seeing that there are an uneven number of you." Dr. Griffith started to pack his bag as hands shot up around the room.
I rolled my eyes, grabbed my bag, and walked to the door.
When I noticed Paul was waiting outside in the hall for me, I considered turning back and going into the classroom to search for another exit. The last thing I needed was to talk with the cheating bastard that had left me feeling inadequate.
"Val, wait." He moved toward me, and I couldn't help but notice the way the other girls looked at him.
Good. Have him.
"I have nothing to say to you." I pulled my bag onto my shoulder and turned, bumping into someone who had moved up behind me.
Kade wrapped an arm around my shoulders and extended his hand to Paul. "Hey, I hear you fucked up with this pretty girl. Your loss. My gain."
I wrapped an arm around Kade's back, and we walked down the hall to the exit door.
"Thank you," I whispered and released him before moving out into the freezing cold. "I owe you one."
"Naw, we're good. You deserve someone better than him." He shrugged.
"Like you?" I gave him a cocky grin as I walked backward away from him.
"Me? Hell, no. I'm way worse than him. There's some good guys out there, though. We need to find you one." He winked at me, waved ,and turned, walking away as I watched him.
Feast or famine.
*
"Sooo...you doing okay?" Katelyn glanced over at me as we drove to my car.
"Yeah, I'm actually okay. It's still a little hard to swallow that Carolyn would sink that low, but it's just who she is. I don't mean to sound like a charity case, but it's not like I could keep a guy like Paul happy. He's like my mother – I'd never be able to measure up. I'm not Allison." I shrugged and glanced out of the window. I sounded hurt by everything, and to some degree I was, but I wasn't nearly as beat down by it as everyone would expect me to be.
"You're right."
I glanced over at her and snorted. "I am?"
"Yep. You're not Allison. You're you, and I for one am damn glad that you are you. You're funny and smart, athletic and giving. You have a great sense of humility and you care about other people. It's refreshing. You're just hanging around the wrong people."
"You especially, right?" I poked at her as she swatted at me.
"You know what I mean." She switched on the defrost and turned the windshield wipers on high. "Where is the car again? It's snowing so damn bad that I can barely see the road."
"Just up here." I squinted and leaned forward as my dark blue car caught my eye. "There. Pull over in front of it. I just need to see if it will start. If not, I'll call a tow truck."
She nodded and pulled in front of my car. "I'll wait here unless you want me to come with you."
"No, I know you hate the col