“Guys aren’t like girls. They don’t take sides in something like this, but a few told me they thought he was an ass.”
“Just make sure you aren’t quitting for the wrong reasons. That’s all.” I hated when one bad apple spoiled the bunch. I didn’t want Kyle to throw away his experience because of one jerk.
“I know. That’s why I’m making myself wait until at least the end of the semester. I’ve already paid dues, so what’s the point?”
“Good luck either way.” I took another sip.
“Now your turn. What’s the long story?”
“It’s really not that exciting.”
“I beg to differ. Just tell me.”
I sighed. I decided to just get it over with. “I met Chase at a party and we hooked up. I refused to give him my number and thought I’d never see him again, but then Jade unknowingly dragged me to his show.”
“That wasn’t so long.” Kyle smiled. “And I’m guessing you changed your mind about the one time thing and decided to give it another try?”
“Something like that. I mean, he’s not here much, so I have no idea what’s going to happen.”
“Are you guys exclusive? I guess that’s really the only potential issue.”
“He says he wants us to be.”
“That’s cool. That would be what I worried about most. Maybe his being away is a good thing. You can focus on you and not a relationship.”
“Focus on me?”
“Are there any activities you wanted to do but couldn’t find time for?”
“Not really… but I wanted to start doing some more volunteering, maybe find a part time job. Oh, and I’m going to check out Jade’s radio show.”
“That’s a nice list. It’s a place to start at least.”
I finished off my latte. “All right, you about ready to head home?”
“Sure. I wouldn’t want to keep Chase Denton’s girl out too late.” He gave me a wry smile.
I pushed his arm. “Don’t start.”
“I won’t, but don’t forget your hat, cowgirl.”
A thought occurred to me, and I put the hat on. “Can you get a picture of me?” I held out my phone.
“Sure.” I posed as seductively as appropriate in a coffee house. I took my phone back from Kyle and laughed. “It looks like I can pull off a cowgirl.” I texted the picture to Chase.
He didn’t answer right away which didn’t surprise me. They were playing in Baltimore that night.
I took off my hat, and we headed back toward my house.
“Thanks again for coming tonight. I know it wasn’t the best way to spend a Saturday night.”
“It was nice. We’ve never talked outside of class. We should do it more often.” I’d never really had a male friend before. Neither of us were each other’s types, so there was zero sexual tension between us which made it even better.
“Definitely.”
My house came into view, and my stomach dropped. Aaron was waiting outside again.
“Is that who I think it is?” Kyle asked.
“Unfortunately.”
“I’m guessing he’s waiting for you.”
“Let’s hope not. I really don’t feel like dealing with another confrontation with him.”
“Another?” Kyle tensed beside me. “You had one before?”
“Yes. I’d spent the night with Chase, and he was sitting right there.”
“And now you’re being walked home by me. He’s going to assume I’m the same guy. Are you okay with that?” Kyle looked at me questioningly.
“He can think whatever he wants. He has no say in what I do. But if you don’t want to deal with him, I can take it from here.”
“You actually think I’m going to let you face an angry ex-boyfriend by yourself?” He patted my arm. “Let’s do this.”
Aaron started toward us. “Oh, this is fucking brilliant. An Omega? A fucking Omega?”
“Keep your voice down and leave us alone. I already told you I want nothing to do with you.” I tried to step around him.
“Bullshit. This is absolutely bullshit. I’m not going to sit back and put up with this.” His eyes were partially blood shot. He was plastered. Aaron wasn’t a nice drunk.
Kyle stepped in front of me. “Calm down, man. She’s not your girlfriend anymore. She can hang out with anyone she wants.”
“In other words, Cara can become a whore now?”
A whore? He was calling me a whore. My mouth was dry. Why wasn’t I saying anything back?
“What did you just call her?” Kyle stepped toward Aaron. I touched his arm to pull him back, but he shrugged me off.
“A whore. We’ve been broken up a few weeks and she’s already moved on? And my bet is you’re not the first guy. Was she with you last time? Or was she fucking someone else?”
“Don’t talk about her that way. She’s a nice girl who never should have wasted her time on you anyway.” He shoved Aaron in the chest.
Before I could even process what was happening, Aaron’s fist made contact with Kyle’s face and he was on the ground with blood splattered across the sidewalk.
“You asshole!” I yelled at Aaron, doing my best to pull him away.
He stumbled back and just stood there like he couldn’t believe he’d just done it. I couldn’t either. “You are such a jerk.” I knelt down next to Kyle. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry.”
Kyle sat up, covering his bleeding nose with his hand. “You weren’t the one who punched me.” He glared at Aaron who was still standing there with a frozen expression on his face.
A group of girls from my house spilled out onto the sidewalk, mingling with a growing group of onlookers.
As soon as the crowd moved in, Kyle stood up. “I’m fine. It’s just blood.”
“You really need to get that checked out.” A guy looked nervously at Kyle. “Want us to call someone?”
The wail of a siren made me jump.
“Campus PD is here,” another guy said.
“Fuck.” Aaron uttered his first word since shedding Kyle’s blood.
“What’s going on here?” an officer asked. He came right over to me. Maybe his bias was trust the girl.
“He—”
Aaron interrupted. “Nothing. Nothing is going on. Just a little misunderstanding.”