Spitfire in Love (Chasing Red 3)

“It’s not your Gaspard Ulliel,” I teased. She was obsessed with him. “But enjoy.” I shoveled another sinful bite of lasagna into my mouth.

She giggled. “It’s all right. You’re forgiven. You know that cute archi student I told you about? We had a moment in the library this morning. He looked at me,” she gushed. “I think he can have my babies.”

“Oh really?” I raised a brow. “Like the nursing student you want to marry in Vegas? You cheater.”

She laughed and flicked a piece of rice at me.

The cafeteria was filling up quickly now. People eyed our table, gauging how long we’d be staying to eat our food, so they could take over our spot. I made eye contact with one of them and flashed a sympathetic smile that said, I feel you.

“Don’t you think, with the ungodly tuition we pay, they could afford to build us a skyscraper for a cafeteria? Dusted in gold,” I said, sneering at the wobbly table and orange plastic chairs.

“Seriously. Do

n’t forget the sexy servers.” She ate a spoonful of her food. She used to offer to share her food with me, until I told her I didn’t eat meat. “Anyway, how do you like being back in college?”

“It’s good,” I answered, scraping the last bite of cheesy goodness from the plate and sucking the fork clean.

Money was and continued to be a problem in our household, so I had taken a little over a year off from college to help my dad with expenses. It didn’t help that I had a deep and lasting love affair with clothes and makeup, but I knew my priorities.

I had been working two part-time jobs and one full-time: I worked full-time at a personal care home, and on weekdays, when my schedule allowed, I worked part-time as a clerk at our auto repair garage, where my dad and younger brother worked. On weekends, I worked as a cashier at a coffee shop. When I went back to school, I had to quit the full-time job.

“It’s a little bit of an adjustment,” I added truthfully, debating whether I should lick my plate clean. “But I’ll get used to it. I’m taking one of the advanced elective classes they’re offering for second- and third-year students.”

The semester had just started, and I already felt like I had so much catching up to do. I didn’t mind college, but it wasn’t exactly my favorite. Some people knew from the start what they wanted in life. I’d say to them, Congratulations! I don’t like you.

I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life…yet. So just like any practical college student who couldn’t decide what they wanted, I majored in business. Hopefully, I’d have a lot of options when I graduated.

“That’s great, that’s great,” Tala said, chewing on her lip.

I watched her for a few seconds. I knew what was coming.

Tala was a self-proclaimed psychic. I didn’t believe in that sort of thing, but I also didn’t not believe it. What I believed was that I was not a very patient human being, so I asked, “What is it?”

She put her spoon and fork down. Huh. Must be serious. “Have you…met anyone new today?”

“Like someone not stupid?” Screw it. I licked my plate. “Nope.”

“Kar!” she admonished, but she was smiling.

Satisfied, I wiped my mouth with a napkin as gracefully as possible, leaned back in my chair, and patted my food baby. “Am I going to win the lottery?” I asked dryly.

“Hmm,” she said absently.

Whether or not I believed in her psychic abilities, I couldn’t resist the possibility of something exciting. So far, my life had been as exciting as a rock on a deserted island.

I’d never even had a boyfriend. I was a lifetime member of the Single Since Birth Club. Yay.

“He’ll find you,” Tala said after a moment.

“You’re being creepy right now. Who will find me?”

She had a faraway look in her eyes, like she was watching a movie in her head. “You’ll find him. Or he’ll find you. I’m not sure.”

“The guy I owe money to?” I was being flippant, but the hairs on my neck stood up…and inside my chest, my traitorous heart skipped a beat.

“You’ll see” was all she said before she gathered her things and left for her next class.

I couldn’t really put stock in what she said. Sometimes she’d predict things correctly, and other times she was dead wrong. It was the same thing as asking a random person on the street if it was going to rain next week or not. Their guess was as good as mine.