Loren POV
“...and that is why you always want to enunciate your incantations as much as possible,” Alex explained. “Think of chaos mana being that rowdy three-year-old at a family reunion; it needs stern words in order for it to behave.”
We had been sitting in one of the study rooms as Alex explained the fundamentals of Sorcery that I had missed. For a jock he was extremely well studied and not at all like the popular guys I had encountered in high school and my previous college.
“Do I have something in my teeth?” he asked, looking puzzled.
Oh sh*t! I didn’t realize that I had been staring at him for a good few seconds after he finished speaking.
“Uh, no! Sorry, I was just getting a bit hungry and starting thinking about food,” I said quickly, trying to hide my flushed cheeks. “The food here is really good.”
“I’m aware,” Alex said with an amused smile. “Well we should probably end this session if you’re hungry and maybe, if you need a refresher on Monday, I could help you before class starts.”
“That would be amazing, I owe you!” I said gratefully to him as we packed our books away.
After a week of treating him coldly, I was surprised that he could still be so nice to me.
There was no way that the rumors that Riley had told me about him were true; yes he was handsome, popular and an athlete, but he was more nerdy than even Riley or me. He was also sweet and thoughtful and had not even made a move on me again since the first night that we met at the bar.
“I’ll see you on Monday then,” he said with a smile and walked towards his dormitory.
I smiled and waved, trying to ignore the fact that I would be looking forward to Monday.
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“Where have you been all morning?” Riley asked me when I joined him at the cafeteria for lunch.
“I had a study session,” I told him as I placed my tray of food on the table and sat down, “With Alex Silver.”
Riley’s face immediately changed from upbeat to irritated, with a hint of anger.
“I told you that guy is bad news. You should stay away from him! I’m serious!” he scolded.
“I get that you’re looking out for me, Riley, but you’re being extremely overbearing by telling me who I can and can’t hang out with,” I snapped at him. “If Alex does turn out to be bad news, then I’ll figure that out for myself. But in the meantime he has been nothing but a gentleman and a help.”
“So you have a thing for the first hot guy who gives you the eye on campus?” Riley asked bitterly.
“I might have a thing for him but it’s not because he’s hot, okay,” I said irritably. “Tell me, have you ever had a conversation with the guy, or are you just basing your judgment on hearsay?”
Riley turned red with anger and didn’t say anything else. Instead he got up with his tray and left the cafeteria.
I did not feel bad about making him angry; he irritated me by trying to control who I was spending my time with. Sure, he and I were best friends, but that didn’t mean that we only were allowed to hang out with each other; I could have other friends just like he did. I didn’t blow a gasket when he introduced me to all of his new friends.
“Ooh! What was that about?” Jamaiah asked as she sat down next to me. “He looked really pissed, didn’t even say hi to me when I walked past.”
“He’s upset that I hung out with Alex Silver and won’t listen to him about keeping my distance from the guy,” I explained to her.
“That makes sense,” Jam said as she dug into her chicken salad, “I did tell Riley that Alex ghosted me after sleeping with me, but that was a lie.”
I looked at her in surprise; Jamaiah did not seem like the kind of girl who would recklessly spread rumors about people.
“I know what you’re thinking and I feel terrible about it,” she said with guilt. “I was hurt when he told me that he didn’t feel that the two of us were compatible. I was embarrassed to tell my friends the truth, so I just said that he used me. I did try to clear it up with Riley afterwards, but he just thought I was covering up for Alex because I still liked him.”
“Still though, it doesn't give Riley the right to think he can be so controlling,” I said. “What is Alex really like?” I asked her.
“He’s sweet,” Jamaiah said, “much smarter than you would think by just looking at him, and a bit of a cliche romantic. I do feel that I should apologize to him for that rumor I spread, but I am so ashamed and embarrassed.”
“I was pretty mean to him, too, this week. I still haven't apologized even though he helped me so much,” I admitted to Jam.
“You like him, don’t you?” Jam squealed as she nudged me in the ribs.
I blushed profusely.
“I’m not sure,” I said, “I mean he’s definitely got a nice personality from what I’ve seen so far, and he is really handsome. I just never saw myself falling for someone or dating this year. I wanted to focus on getting used to being part of the supernatural and learning as much as I could.”
“No one said you can’t do both,” Jam said with a wink.
She got up and offered me her hand.
“Come on,” she said.
“Where are we going,” I asked as I took her hand. I hoped it was not another pub.
“To the first basketball game of the season,” Jam explained.
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I had seen basketball games before, but never had I seen a game played entirely by werewolves. They ran so fast and jumped so high that my eyes could barely keep up.
Silverstone was playing against a team of werewolves from another supernatural university somewhere in Montana.
Our school was winning by ten points with the top player being none other than Alex Silver. I felt my cheeks become flushed as I witnessed Alex display his amazing strength, speed, and skill on the basketball court; his well-defined muscles shined beneath the sheen of perspiration.
Jam smiled knowingly at me while I stared at the handsome werewolf.
“I think you do have something for him,” she said teasingly.
“Is that why you brought me here, just to prove yourself right and that I get weak in the knees for werewolves?” I said, covering my face.
Jam laughed and hugged me tightly.
“I love being right,” she admitted, “but it’s also not good for you to deny how you feel about someone. You should admit to yourself that you do like him and decide what you want to do from there.”
“Trust me, if you don’t you’ll just end up with bitterness and regret.”
I watched as Alex scored another magnificent point which caused the crowd to go wild with excitement. I did like him, but I had never actually gone up to a guy and told him how I felt. I had never even had a boyfriend, preferring to keep guys just as friends, because I was afraid of getting hurt after seeing how my dad left my mom.
But maybe Jam was right. Perhaps I did need to grab the reins and take a risk, even if it was simply to make myself feel better.
Riley would not be happy but he would just need to get over himself.
The whistle blew for half-time and Alex ran to his bag to get some water. He noticed me in the stands and gave me a wave and a wink.
My stomach did a million somersaults.