Arrogant Brit

Instead, he didn’t make the appropriate turn, and he brought me back towards Natalie’s apartment. Dalton didn’t bother killing the engine as he parked, letting me unwrap myself from around him and climb down from the throttling beast.

“So, this is goodnight, huh?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I’ll be back in the morning. You’re not far, so I don’t have to get up too much earlier. When do you need me?”

“How about seven o’clock?”

“Don’t you think that’s cutting it a little short?” He questioned, tilting his head.

“Okay. A little earlier than that.”

Dalton shook his head. “Be down here at a quarter to seven,” he instructed. “Think you can do that?”

“Sure,” I replied, quietly admonishing myself for choosing a class so early in the day. What the hell was I thinking?

“Alright. See you in the morning,” Dalton muttered offhandedly, sailing off on his ride towards the falling sun.

“Yeah… in the morning,” I sadly, quietly responded after him. He hadn’t bothered to wait up, or to even try to convince me to come home with him.

But that’s what I want, right?

Of course it wasn’t.

I knew it even then.

Rather than try and summon him back or wallow self-piteously in the encroaching darkness, I plugged in my key code, entered the building, and took the elevators up.

To my surprise and disappointment, the lights were off as I arrived. I’d been looking forward to Natalie’s company after such a strange and stressful day, but she wasn’t here – instead, she was probably out drinking with other friends, or hanging with her boyfriend.

I was alone.

Changing out of my dress, I took a quick shower to clean up and shed the light makeup. I took it long and hot, standing with my back and shoulders against the beating heat of the water for upwards of an hour.

When I finally dragged myself out and toweled off, no happier than I’d been before, I ran my hair drier and checked my text messages.

Nothing.

I was pretty full from all the food earlier, so I didn’t feel like snagging anything meaningful to eat. There was also some homework to do, but I didn’t particularly care about it right now.

Instead, I grabbed my emergency pint of chocolate ice cream from the freezer, huddled down with a blanket, and parked myself in Natalie’s usual spot on the couch.

I hadn’t made it more than an episode or two into some mindless sitcom when the door finally opened. Natalie slid inside, her boyfriend’s lips all over her as she let them both inside. He was pinning her wrists up against the wall and kissing her neck when her eyes fell on me.

“Heya, girl… don’t worry, we’ll drag this back to the bed… room…”

She recognized the pint of ice cream on the coffee table, and pushed her hands against Jared.

“Fighting a little tonight, huh?” He asked huskily, diving in for another kiss.

She took his cheeks into her hands and looked him in the eyes. “I’m afraid I’m gonna have to skip this one, babe.”

“Wait, what? Why?”

She nodded her head towards me. “Babygirl’s pulled out the emergency ice cream. I’m afraid that tonight’s not Sexy Night anymore. Now it’s Roommate Night.”

He looked disappointed, pulling back and running his fingers through his hair. “Okay. Alright. Fine. Goodnight.”

Jared threw a nasty look my way and stormed out, throwing the door shut as he left. I felt my spirits crumple into dust at the display of anger over my emotional state.

“Ignore him,” she sighed, shaking her head.

“I’m sorry for ruining your night,” I muttered, moving my legs as Natalie dropped to sit down beside me on the couch.

“Nah, you didn’t ruin anything,” she reassured me. “Honestly, you might have just done me a favor.”

“How’s that?”

Natalie blew at her bangs in exasperation. “He’s cute, and he knows how to handle that dick of his, but good lord, is he a complete idiot,” she chuckled. “After that little stunt there… I’m pretty sure whatever I saw in him is gone now.”

“Well, at least there’s that. I’m gonna be frank, I’m not really sure what you ever saw in that guy.”

Natalie gave me a smirk. “Yeah, well, hey! Silver linings! I haven’t been single in ages. Maybe it’s time to get my slut on, you know? I could totally pull off a revolving bedroom door. I wonder if I can call Daddy’s contractor to get a literal one installed…”

She paused when she saw my expression.

“What, too much?”

“You’re too much,” I smiled, pulling her into a big hug. “Look, you can call him back. I’ll be fine.”

“No, dude. You’ve gotta tell me what’s…” Natalie paused, her face falling. “Oh shit, it’s the wedding. That was today. Okay, yeah. I’m gonna dock myself some points for misplacing that vital piece of information and bringing my guy home–”

“Nat, it’s okay,” I reassured her.

“Oh yeah? I’m not convinced,” she replied, letting her eyes trail towards the melting pint of ice cream. “Anyway. Give me a minute. Let me change into something a little more comfortable, and then I’m coming back out here, ordering a pizza, and we are talking it out.”

“I’ve already eaten,” I shrugged.

“First off, okay, but it’s fucking pizza,” she laughed. “It’s like dessert. There’s always room for it. Secondly, if you insist, that’s just more for me, but I’m starving.”

Natalie jumped up, whipping out her smartphone. I could hear her placing a pizza order in her bedroom as she changed, and she finally walked back out in expensive, silky pink pajamas as she hung up the phone.

“Cool. It’s on the way.”

She slumped down onto the couch, her back against the armrest, and looked at me with the most endearingly sincere eyes I’ve ever seen.

“Alright, Clara. Tell me everything from the top…”

Chapter 14

When I arrived the following morning, Clara was waiting for me in the spot where I’d left her the previous night. I’d connected the spare helmet at the back, and I handed it to her as she walked up towards me.

“See if that fits,” I instructed.

She slipped it on. “It’s not exactly snug, but it’ll definitely do,” she told me, before eyeing me curiously. “Who exactly does this belong to?”

“It’s my old one. I outgrew it eventually.”

“Really?” She sounded impressed. “Must have been ages ago. How long have you been riding?”

“Since long before the marines,” I answered.

Apparently satisfied with this, she climbed onto the back and put her arms around me again, straddling the seat tightly. Once I decided that she was properly secure, I kicked off.

Clara was surprisingly close that morning. I don’t mean that just physically, with her arms actually wrapped around me, but emotionally, too. As we sat in Psych class, still working off of my textbook, her cold exterior seemed to have melted away somewhat.

She laughed at the jokes I made, didn’t shy away from eye contact, and didn’t make a move when I scooted my chair a little closer to her (under the guise of easier book sharing, of course).

“Okay, what’s gotten into you?” I asked her after class, guiding her to the side once we left the building.

“What do you mean?” She tilted her head.

“Yesterday, you were full-on ice princess, but today… you’re acting as if everything’s perfectly fine between us.” I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. “What changed?”

Clara sighed. “It’s just… a combination of things, really.”

I crossed my arms boldly. “Enlighten me.”

“Well…” Clara bit her lip tentatively, gazing up at me. It had the distinct effect of making my cock twitch in my jeans, although I tried to ignore its sudden alertness. “Look, all that destiny crap you fed me last week…

I couldn’t help but think that you maybe had a point.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I mean, we had our night together, and I loved every second of it. But then our parents were getting married, and I needed to extract myself from you. Then, they actually got married, and there was no way you and I could have a future together. But no matter what, I just can’t get rid of you, can I?”

“I’m not following…”