The Light of the World by Tara Brown Read Free Book Online

give her my best eff off look and lie back
down. "You wouldn’t make it through the colonics."

Chapter Five

    I'm not avoiding him as much as I am avoiding
myself. I grip my books tight the first time I see him. I think
he's watching me but I can't be sure. He is talking to someone and
I see his eyes dart my way. I bow my head and almost break into a
run.
    "Rayne wait up." He says goodbye to the guy he's
talking to and then runs to where I am. He looks sexy. He has a
dress shirt on and the sleeves are rolled up. Some of his tattoos
stick out through the bottoms of the sleeves. His forearms are big.
He's very muscled for someone as tall and lean as he is. I blush
remembering the way he looked all messy and in his boxers. I want
to touch his tattoos.
    His dark hair and blue eyes suit the pale blue
dress shirt and dark jeans. I bet he smells good.
    "Hey." I mutter it and pick up the pace. I just
want to pretend I barely know him. Not made out with him and slept
in his bed.
    In my granny panties no less.
    "Where have you been?"
    I don’t say the Living and Learning Center or
anywhere I think you won't go. Instead I shrug, nonchalantly.
"Around."
    He looks confused, "I tried calling you a few
times."
    I never gave him my number, "What?"
    He nods and looks around, "Yeah I got your
number from Michelle. You never answered."
    I swallow hard, "I never saw the calls." I'm
lying. I don’t know why. Just like I don’t know why I never
answered his calls. I never knew it was him, but the calls made the
magic in my tummy hurt. Something about him makes me feel unclean.
I can feel it now.
    "Want to have dinner tonight?"
    I shake my head. My stomach starts to feel
uneasy. "I can't. I have a night class." I don’t really. I have a
study group. It's our first night.
    "Night class. Which one?"
    "Study group."
    "So not a class?"
    I shake my head. He makes me nervous or I make
myself nervous when he's around.
    He puts his hands on my arms and pulls me into
him, "Hey are you mad at me? You know I was joking right? You don’t
owe me anything. Especially not what I was joking about. I mean,
unless you want to owe me. In which case you can start repaying me
anytime."
    I scowl, "Ewww. No I have to go. I have stuff to
do."
    His grin is boyish again, "I'm kidding. You're
so tense. Really you aren’t mad at me right?"
    I can't be. His boyish charm and cocky smile
have me beaten down. My arms spark from his touch. It almost burns.
My belly starts to feel funny. I'm starving.
    I shake my head, "No."
    "It's been two weeks and I've gone to your dorm,
phoned you. Why are you avoiding me?"
    I shake my head and notice the tension in his
fingers on my arm, "I'm not. I swear. I've just been busy and
trying to figure out classes and stuff."
    His eyes burn when he looks at me. I gulp.
    He bends his face and kisses my cheek, "Let me
walk you to your next class."
    I feel heat everywhere, "I have to go home. My
classes are over till later. Till study group. I need to get ready
for study group." I am a moron and a bad liar.
    He puts an arm around me and leads. I feel my
legs walk with him.
    "Let me take you to an early dinner."
    He swallows my hand in his and pulls me along
the grass. If I'm not careful I think he will swallow all of me
up.
    His car is nice. Nicer than I thought it would
be. I never thought that he would be rich but when I see his car I
know he is. It's a sleek looking white-silver Lexus. I don’t know
anything about cars, but I know this one is expensive. It has three
mufflers in a triangle and says LFA on the back. The interior is
blood red and black. It looks futuristic. I want to touch
everything, but instead I watch him.
    He drives sporadically. Fast and then slow.
Jerky and then calm. It's like he's trying to hide his true speedy
self from me. He talks about his frat brothers and how the freshmen
were a great selection this year. I don’t pay attention. I watch
him. Him and the conflict he is trying to hide.
    The restaurant is a pasta