My stomach churned slightly. I wanted that. But as soon as I had the thought I stopped myself. It wasn’t the devotion I wanted from Logan Kade. I wasn’t jealous about that; it was the loyalty. Eric hadn’t been loyal. He’d left me, literally. And my dad… No. I wasn’t thinking about my crap right now.

I forced a smile. “Has Jason texted you today?”

“You’re not going to talk about Logan Kade?”

I shrugged, glancing to the side. “I have no idea. I think he just likes to mess with me or something.”

“Oh.” Her eyebrows pulled together. “That’s all?”

I focused on her again. “I didn’t think you liked him.” I glanced over at her table. The guy she’d been sitting with was still watching. “What’s his story?”

She cast another look over her shoulder. “That’s Ben, and before you ask, I have no clue what’s going on with him.”

“But you want something to go on with him?”

Her head did another little shake. “I have no clue, like I said, and I’m over thinking about it. He pays all this attention—sits next to me, calls me, wants to study together, go get food together. But then when we get around other people? Nothing. I have such a hard time reading him. I don’t know what he wants, or if he even wants anything.” She began picking at the edge of the table. “You were here before, right?” She tilted her head and looked at me. “That’s what Malia said. She saw you first. Well…” She rolled her eyes. “She saw Logan first, but she said the girl was already there when we got our table.” She paused, her eyes flicking down to the table and back to me. “Why didn’t you say anything? You could’ve sat with us.”

I inclined my head toward her. “I thought about saying something, but you were with your friends. You know me. I’ve not been the most social creature lately.”

Her eyes grew sad.

“I didn’t want to bring you down,” I murmured. “Me and lots of people don’t mix well.”

Her eyes lowered, and she began picking at the table again. “I could’ve come over to sit with you. You didn’t have to sit here alone.”

I gestured to the empty seat next to her. “I wasn’t alone, remember?” Logan had occupied that seat. “Unfortunately.”

Her lips pinched inwards, giving her a thoughtful and almost disgusted look at the same time. She moved to the edge of her seat, her hand now weaving figure eights on the table. “Yeah. That’s…weird, huh?”

I sat back.

“Logan Kade’s kinda taken a liking to you or something.” She jerked up a shoulder. “I mean, that’s what it looks like to me…” Her voice trailed off, like she wanted to say something else.

I sat still as the realization hit me. Claire was jealous, and her friends were, too—the girls anyway. I scanned the food court. There were more than a handful of girls watching us, watching me. This wasn’t a normal reaction. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew it wasn’t normal. If Eric had come to Cain University and become popular, I wouldn’t have gotten this reaction from people. Others might’ve noticed me, but I couldn’t imagine this envious, suspicious, and somewhat guarded scrutiny. It’s like they were trying to decide if I was a threat or not.

Shit. I let out an abrupt laugh. “Does this guy have semen made of gold or something?”

“What?”

“Nothing.” I started gathering my stuff. Staying here meant another girl might come over with questions. I didn’t want to chat. So I stood, hoisting my bag onto my back. “I have to go to class.”

YOU’RE BAD

TAYLOR

The rest of the week passed without drama. Thankfully. Classes ran on a Tuesday/Thursday or a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule, so I had to see Logan one more time. I expected debauchery, lecherous jokes, or a crapload of innuendos, but when he dropped into his seat Friday morning, I got none of that.

I tried to tell myself the feeling of being let down had nothing to do with him, but it did. I was disappointed. In just a few days, I’d grown accustomed to Logan’s…well, to Logan and how he was. There wasn’t a word to describe him perfectly, so I went with Loganisms to explain encounters with him. And I didn’t get any of them that morning, and I missed them. Somehow, Logan made me forget the things I needed to forget.

When class was over and he offered me a nice “see you later” as he got up to go, I almost called him out. He looked tired. He’d run his hand over his face a few times during class, and his eyes seemed heavy. Something was wrong…. But I couldn’t handle my own stuff, so how could I take on someone else’s? And Logan was gone before I could ask if he was okay or not.

In class, Jeremy, who I now tried to call Mr. Fuller because using his first name made me uncomfortable, mentioned the Honors Study Group one more time. And as I opened my mouth to tell him again that I couldn’t, he interrupted. He placed a hand on my shoulder and said, “Just think about it. It helps to have friends in high places sometimes.”

It did. I couldn’t deny that, but my dad… Finally, I nodded. “I’ll think about it.”

“Great.”

After that I ducked out of the room, and now here I was, filling out my third job application. The first had been for the university library, the second for the coffee shop on campus. This one was for a small pub a couple of miles from my house. It was off-campus, had nothing to do with Cain University, and though the owner said she knew my dad, she didn’t seem to care one iota about him. It was perfect.