17. Radley

SEVENTEEN

RADLEY

"Class, don't forget your essays need to be submitted before the Thanksgiving break; no excuses and no extensions. Pick one of the topics on the board."

Delaney leaned across Millie and me as we shut our laptops. "Professor Hawkes is very loud for a short person."

"Hey, I'm short and loud," Millie stated indignantly and stood up, as if to illustrate the point, though the second class was dismissed, the volume in the auditorium went from silent to stadium levels, and it was hard to hear her over the din of undergrads escaping.

"Yeah, you are," I nudged her shoulder, "but you're also blocking the board."

She shifted out of the way, and I took a quick snap of our assignment, and airdropped it to Delaney and Millie. "There, now you both have them."

"Fate, love, revenge, analysis of sonnets… we haven't even covered the sonnets yet," Millie grumbled as we eased down the row.

"Then write about love and revenge instead." My eyes flicked back to the board, before I added, "Or the feminist perspective of Twelfth Night."

She groaned loudly. "I can't think about anything until I've eaten. I'm too hungry to concentrate."

"Me, too."

My stomach rumbled in agreement. Now that they mentioned it, I was also very hungry. More hungry than a quick salad bowl on the go would suffice.

"Hey, do you want to go to the burger place near Brown's? My treat. I heard it's really good."

"We don't have time to get there and back before our next class," moaned Millie again, reminding me that hungry Millie was not someone you wanted to spend a prolonged period of time with, "and it's too cold to walk that far. I think it's snowing."

"It's not snowing yet, but we can make it in the warmth if Jake and Ethan drive us."

The pair of them spun around so quickly I stopped dead. Millie looked much more alive than she had a second ago when she was on the verge of starvation.

"I knew there was a reason I was friends with you. That's the best idea I've heard all day, and we can decide our topics on the way."

F orty minutes later we were in a booth, a tray of cheeseburgers in front of us, along with two giant bowls of fries Delaney and Millie had already inhaled half of. No one had spoken for at least three minutes, if you didn't count the moans as the food barely hit the sides of our mouths before it got swallowed ready for the next bite.

I don't know why they were eating like they'd never seen food before, but I knew why I was.

Sex.

All the sex.

I never realized it was so hunger-inducing. In all my years of running track and working out, I couldn't remember being this consistently hungry. I didn't have much – or any – experience in the sex department, but Millie did, and she never seemed to eat like her stomach had a hole in it. I'd even taken her pickles.

Maybe it was sex with Lux that did it.

It had been ten days, and I still couldn't get enough of it – of him; like I was on a mission to taste every inch of his body, and at six foot five, there was a lot of it. I'd even asked Doctor Jessops if it was normal that I couldn't seem to control myself whenever he was around. It was even harder when he wasn't. My mind wandered every two minutes as I remembered what his tongue felt like as it dragged the length of my body, or what his ass looked like, or his dick. I didn't even know dicks could look like that – impressive, mighty, powerful .

Yeah, Lux's dick was certainly powerful; wringing orgasm after orgasm from me.

It was a wonder I could even walk any more.

Doctor Jessops had merely smiled, and told me it was perfectly normal.

It hadn't helped; I'd only wanted more. It had been two days since I'd seen him, and I was convinced I was in withdrawal. My body craved him like a drug.

Maybe I'd become addicted to sex. Or Lux. Unquestionably Lux.

Delaney put down what was left of her burger and leaned back, her cheeks puffing as she eased her fingers under her waistband and released the top button of her jeans. "Need a break."

"Slacker," mumbled Millie before doing the exact same thing. "God, they're good. Why haven't we been here before?"

"Because we'd need to buy an entirely new wardrobe if we came here all the time." I picked up another handful of fries, loaded them with ketchup, and bit down.

"How are you still eating?"

I shrugged, though my smile spoke for itself, especially when Millie rolled her eyes. She picked up her Diet Coke and pointed the straw in my direction. "You know, someone asked me this morning if you were dating Lux Weston."

Delaney's eyes flicked between Millie and me. My fingers gripped another handful of fries, and they paused half-way to my mouth as I waited for my anxiety to spike.

The panic. The dread. The swirling vortex of bile and fear which rolled into a ball getting bigger and bigger, until it burst out of me and I had to run to the nearest bathroom.

I waited a little bit longer .

There might have been a slight twinge in my belly, but it also could have been because I'd just inhaled a quarter pound of U.S.D.A. prime beef with cheese.

In the end, the fries were getting cold, so I stuffed them in my mouth. "What did you say?"

She took a very loud, purposeful slurp. "That you'd never be caught dead with a New York Lion."

Delaney snorted in a very unladylike way, though it was more likely because she'd recently revealed herself as a Braves fan, and had a similar opinion of the Lions that my family and Millie did – that the Lions had been much more favorable when they stayed at the bottom of the standings.

"I didn't say anything, obviously ." She eyed me over the top of her Diet Coke. "What would you have wanted me to say?"

I sat back, picking up my Diet Coke, as annoyingly slowly as she did, and smiled. I was surprised it had taken this long.

It had been nine days since Lux had kissed me in front of Philosophy Hall. It hadn't been super obvious, but we'd been outside where dozens and dozens of other students were. And since then, he'd met me twice outside the dorms before we took off for one of our long runs, both times he'd fully embraced the opportunity to greet me with a kiss.

I knew it would happen. I'd known this time would come; I would never have been seen with him in public if I didn't. But after that weekend in the apartment, and my conversation with Holiday, I was done hiding. I was facing the consequences head on, because they'd gotten me to this point.

But even I was surprised at how little I seemed to care.

In fact, my heart did nothing but flurry about in excitement at the mention of his name.

"Well, if someone asks you again… you can say yes. "

My gaze darted between the pair of them, both grinning at me like idiots, and I found myself grinning back twice as hard.

"I'm so happy," muttered Millie, reaching for the rest of her burger.

"Me, too." I picked up the last fry in the bowl. "Me, too."

For the first time in a really long time, I could say that I was truly, properly happy. Not just okay, and not because I'd managed to get out of bed and function, or because I'd been for a run.

I was happy. H A P P Y.

"Oh, hey, did you guys see the video with the guy getting glitter bombed?" mumbled Delaney through the final mouthful of her burger.

This time I put the fry down. "Did you say glitter?"

She nodded.

"Glitter?"

"Yes. Glitter," Delaney repeated as she snatched her cell up. "It's so funny. The guy's covered in it."

My blood didn't go cold, but it definitely felt like the A/C had been turned way up, even though it was mid-November and freezing outside. There's no way this was a coincidence.

Millie snatched the phone as Delaney found the video, and held it up so we could all see.

There he was, looking no different than the day he'd left me standing on a street corner as he took off.

Christopher Ellington. The one person I never wanted to see again. The one person who'd almost ruined my life.

The video wasn't supposed to be of him. It was supposed to be of a girl standing with the White House in the far, far distance. In the corner of the screen, he walked out of a large office build ing with some other guys, and took a package from a bike messenger who happened to be walking in. Three seconds later, while they were making their way down the street toward the camera, a kaleidoscopic explosion rained down on him. The girl and the White House were forgotten. The screen zoomed in, capturing the air now filled with every color in the rainbow.

Millie let out a horrified shriek of laughter. Delaney's shoulders shook as she tried to silently hold it together. Even the guy behind the camera was laughing, based on the trembly, shaky film. And underneath the cloud of glitter stood Christopher Ellington. His suit was no longer dark, but a riot of reds, blues, greens, and golds. His face was pink, purple, and orange.

He didn't move. Didn't blink.

The same could not be said for the three guys he was with, who were all bent doubled and laughing so hard one collapsed on the ground.

Every single person walking past stopped and stared. Expressions ranged from being identical to Millie and Delaney's, as well as outright amusement and ill-concealed smirks, while most crossed the street to avoid the glittery rain coating them before continuing with their days.

Christopher Ellington had yet to move.

It was entirely perfect and glorious.

Delaney had enough of holding it in, and her head fell back with a loud roar of laughter that had the surrounding tables turning to find out what was so funny. Millie was in a similar state, trying and failing to keep the noise down by muffling her mouth with not one, but two hands.

"Oh my God… oh shiiit… this is so awesome. Can you imagine… "

I turned to Delaney. "When did this happen?"

"Last week, I think. Someone posted it Friday, and it's already had ten million views."

Three times Millie scrolled it back to the beginning, and it was only on the fourth time of watching, after she wiped the tears from her eyes, that she paused it and zoomed in.

"This guy looks…" she stopped, her gaze shooting to mine and back before a gasp escaped. "Radley…"

"I know."

"Did you know about this?"

"No," I shook my head. "Nope. Not exactly. No."

Delaney eased her phone out of Millie's grip, and stared at the screen. "What's going on? Do you know this guy?"

I glanced at Millie who'd gone uncharacteristically quiet, chewing on the end of her thumb. While we'd been spending more time with Delaney on account of the fact she was in most of our classes, I'd never opened up to her. I'd never put any level of trust in her beyond the basics of hanging out sometimes after class. But I'd begun to realize that unless I did put my trust in someone, how would I ever know they could be trusted?

Honestly, Doctor Jessops should be giving me a gold star or something. Everything she'd been drilling into me for the past few years was finally beginning to sink in. It had only taken a baseball player, a Hollywood darling, and a lot of sex.

"That guy is the one who leaked the pictures of me."

To her credit, Delaney didn't ask what pictures like I'd expected her to. She didn't pretend to not understand what I was talking about in an attempt to save me some dignity. She just looked back down at the phone, and up at me. The amusement had been replaced by something else… satisfaction, if I wasn't mistaken .

"He's covered in glitter," she whispered.

I glanced back down at the screen. She'd zoomed in on his sparkly face.

"Yes." A giggle bubbled up, and burst out. "He is."

" Covered, " she repeated, louder this time, adding a giggle of her own.

"There has… to be… a pound of glitter… in there," cackled Millie between breaths as the tears started pouring again.

"More."

The diners near us all turned around again as the three of us erupted in laughter; deep, cleansing, belly-aching laughter. Every time we looked at the screen, at Christopher Ellington's face, it started up again.

"I'm gonna pee my pants!" announced Delaney, as she took off for the bathroom.

Millie pressed the sleeves of her sweater onto her face, and wiped her eyes. "Radley, how did you do this?"

I sucked down the rest of my Diet Coke and sat back shaking my head. "I didn't."

"How did you know about it?"

I'd already told her what happened during the weekend I'd spent with Lux, or rather, everything that was mine to tell. I'd left out Holiday's story.

"You know I said I told the guys about the photos?"

She nodded.

"The boys wanted revenge…" I shrugged. "I guess, this is the revenge."

Her mouth formed into a perfect little O. "It's awesome."

"It really is."

"They did this for you? "

I nodded. "I don't know for sure it was them, but I can't believe two independent sets of people would come up with the same idea at the same time."

"It's really awesome they did this for you," she smiled. "I wish I'd have thought of it."

"Me, too."

"I asked for the check," Delaney announced as she dropped into her seat. "What are you two doing later?"

"I'm going to the gym with Lux, and then studying. I need to decide what essay to write."

"I'm doing the revenge one. I've just decided I'm a big fan," grinned Millie.

L ux was waiting for me in the same spot he always did as I jogged out of my halls. Only this time, I launched myself into his arms. It was all credit to him that he caught me. Good thing he was paid to catch for a living.

"Hey," he greeted as he smashed his lips to mine with a chuckle. "You look happy."

"I am happy," I replied, as he placed me back on the ground, slinging an arm over my shoulders until I snuggled into him and we walked to his car, parked next to the Secret Service. "Someone asked Millie today if we were dating."

He stopped, his eyes fixing on mine, and he pulled the rim of my cap down an inch. My Lions cap. "Yeah, we have not been very good at hiding it recently. "

"Nope."

"Then next time, tell her to say that yes, we fucking are."

"That's what I told her."

His mouth found mine again, his broad smile pressing hard against mine. "Good girl."