Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful 1)

He smiled. “I love you. I can’t let other guys dance with you.”

“Oh yeah? How much did you love me when you were buying that box of condoms?”

Travis winced and I stood up, making my way to the table. Shepley and America were in a tight embrace and making a scene while they kissed passionately.

“I think we’re going to the Sig Tau date Valentine’s date party again,” Finch said with a frown.

I sighed. “Shit.”

Chapter Nineteen

HELLERTON

America hadn’t been back to Morgan since her reunion with Shepley. She was consistently absent at lunch, and her phone calls were few and far between. I didn’t begrudge them the time to make up for the time they’d spent apart. Truthfully, I was happy that America was too busy to call me from Shepley and Travis’s apartment. It was awkward hearing Travis in the background, and I felt a little jealous that she was spending time with him and I wasn’t.

Finch and I were seeing more of each other, and I was selfishly thankful that he was just as alone as I was. We went to class, ate together, and studied together, and even Kara grew accustomed to having him around.

My fingers were beginning to numb from the frigid air as I stood outside Morgan while he smoked.

“Would you consider quitting before I get hypothermia from standing here for moral support?” I asked.

Finch laughed. “I love you, Abby. I really do, but no. Not quitting.”

“Abby?”

I turned to see Parker walking down the sidewalk with his hands shoved into his pockets. His full lips were dry under his red nose, and I laughed when he put an imaginary cigarette to his mouth and blew out a puff of misty air.

“You could save a lot of money this way, Finch,” he smiled.

“Why is everyone trashing on my smoking habit today?” he asked, annoyed.

“What’s up, Parker?” I asked.

He fished two tickets from his pocket. “That new Vietnam movie is out. You said you wanted to see it the other day, so I thought I would grab us some tickets for tonight.”

“No pressure,” Finch said.

“I can go with Brad if you have plans,” he said with a shrug.

“So it’s not a date?” I asked.

“Nope, just friends.”

“And we’ve seen how that works out for you,” Finch teased.

“Shut up!” I giggled. “That sounds fun, Parker, thanks.”

His eyes brightened. “Would you like to get some pizza or something before? I’m not a big fan of theater food, myself.”

“Pizza’s great,” I nodded.

“The movie’s at nine, so I’ll pick you up at six thirty or so?”

I nodded again and Parker waved goodbye.

“Oh, Jesus,” Finch said. “You’re a glutton, Abby. You know that’s not going to fly with Travis when he gets wind of it.”

“You heard him. It’s not a date. And I can’t make plans based on what is okay with Travis. He didn’t clear it with me before he brought Megan home.”