3. Rhys

3

RHYS

F or the tenth time in the last hour, I pulled up Instagram and stared obsessively at the photo I had bookmarked. Why did I do it? That was a fantastic question for which I had no sane answer.

I couldn't fathom why I kept torturing myself looking at his picture. Connor had gotten way more attractive since high school, and even back then he was no slouch. Puberty had hit him over the head with the hot stick and just like that, I had my sexual awakening at twelve-years-old.

It was both enlightening and really freaking inconvenient. Like when the strep test comes back and it's all great because you finally have an answer for why you felt so gross and sickly, but then it also sucks because, you know…strep. Not that I was saying that Connor was like strep! Not at all. Nope. That guy is amazing. After all, he's my best friend.

Well, I mean he was.

Now that spot had been taken up by Natalie. Beautiful, hashtag no filter Natalie. I hated her. I didn't actually know her, but did that matter in the grand scheme of things? Not so much. I couldn't figure out why I was so bent out of shape seeing them together. It's not like I still wanted Connor.

Not really.

Seriously, I don't! I don't even care if anyone believes me because it's true. I know it's true and that's all that matters. Because I don't. Really. Want him, I mean. Not one bit. Oh, shut up you babbling moron.

Inspecting the photo more closely, I could tell from looking at him how much he adored her. If you had Sharpie-d it on his face it couldn't be more obvious. He loved her. I mean, what was there not to love?

From everything I had learned…through my Instagram stalking, Natalie was a sweet, intelligent, well-rounded individual. She'd posted that she went to Spain once, she owned a cat, and she and Connor had just gotten back from the Bahamas right before school started. That was the photo I kept compulsively looking at, Connor all wet and tan in his swimsuit with Nat on his back on the beach. I saw her in scrubs in another post, but that one had me feeling all kinds of salty because of course she'd be a nursing student.

You know who else is a nursing student? Yours truly, that's who. Gold star for you if you guessed right.

God only knew the reason I kept scrolling through Connor's pictures from last year. I got the message loud and clear that I wasn't in best friend territory anymore. The message being that he straight up ghosted me right around the time he met the female version of me. She even had thick, brown hair similar to mine and a lithe build that was almost like me, but with boobs and no junk.

Unlike my eyes though, hers were a deep brown that looked at Connor like he hung the moon. I never really got that reference until I crept on their posts. But yep. Every selfie showed them looking at each other extra moony. It'd be cute if it didn't hurt so much. And then we circle back to the question of why do I even give a rat's butt??

I should just close out of the app. Shut it down. Stop looking at the photos.

Like now. Right now.

Any day now would be really smart and much appreciated by all.

Oh good grief, just sign me up for a VIP suite on the Hot Mess Express and ship me off already.

“Hey you. Ready for lunch?” A voice rang out very close to my ear, sending me jumping an inch in the air and letting out a decidedly unmanly noise.

My roommate Micah just stood there laughing lightly as I composed myself. “Holy heart attack Batman, give a guy some warning! Geez…” I griped as my heart rate came back to acceptable levels .

“I'm sorry, Rhys! Bash does that shit to me all the time and I hate it, but I've gotta admit it's kind of funny,” Micah said, but then his face fell. Bringing up Bash was bound to rub at the open wound that he'd been dealing with since the weekend.

Micah had a double-date this past Saturday with his best friend Bash, his girlfriend, and the guy Micah's been dating. I really only knew the Sparknotes version of Micah and Bash's complicated relationship, but basically my roomie was pining hardcore for his bestie. His straight, taken bestie.

Last I checked, that was going over about as well as Kanye running for President.

And from the little Micah told me when he got home and broke down after the date, things didn't exactly go well. I'd given him space the rest of the weekend, but he was still acting…off. Not necessarily bad, but he wasn't his usual awesome self.

“Did I tell you I figured out who that dirtbag from the party was?” I asked, pivoting that conversation faster than Ross's couch.

“The guy who tackled you to the wall? How did you do that?”

“Honestly, it was easier than I thought. I remembered seeing his UT Lacrosse shirt and the girl he was with called him Hawk, which I thought was a really stupid name. I mean, who names their kid Hawk? That's just parental cruelty. I almost felt bad for him,” I rambled.

“Uh, catch a wave Rhys, you're drifting,” Micah warned me. A little over a month of being roommates and he was intensely aware that my mouth often ran the show while my brain struggled to catch up. It was a super fun quirk of mine if anyone was wondering.

“Oh, right! Anyway, with his name and the Lacrosse connection, it didn't take me long to find him. Turns out his full name is Callum Hawkins. He's also the captain this year. That alone had me convinced I needed to call his coach and report him. Come on, they can't have a frigging psycho running around the field like that! That can't be good for games…or maybe it is. Is aggression a good thing for sports? I feel like that would be a liability waiting to happen, yet it would explain so much about some of the jocks I've known,” I wondered aloud.

“You are really over-thinking this, Rhysie. Might I recommend decaf next time?” Micah sassed me as we got in line for food at the café.

“I just wrestled with it most of Saturday and I couldn't let it go. Even if I didn't care that he threatened me, that girl was in no shape to be doing…any of the things. I think I would have regretted it if I didn't say something.” I had agonized over whether I did the right thing or not. On one hand, I felt bad that I might have screwed that guy over with his coach for a drunken college mishap. People made mistakes, and all things considered it could have been worse that night. On the other hand, I couldn’t stop thinking about that girl and the position she would have been in. Guys like him couldn’t be trusted. I know that better than I wish I did…

I wasn't even supposed to be at that stupid frat party, but Murphy made his law just for me and I was no stranger to unfortunate events. I always managed to get myself into the worst situations purely by accident. It was like my super power.

My annoying and unwanted lab partner had taken all of my notes to study for an upcoming test that I desperately needed. That led me to frantically calling him Friday afternoon to meet up somewhere to get them all back, to which he inquired for the forty-fifth time why I chose to write them down on paper instead of typing them up. After again explaining the link between hand writing notes and improved memory, he whined that he had a party at his fraternity that night and I'd have to come pick them up from there.

So that's what I did. I went up to the room like he told me, spent ten minutes looking for my notes in the least intrusive way I could manage, and then was promptly interrupted by horny Bonnie and Clyde. When all was said and done, I was driven from the room and left the party with no notes, a foul mood and a tender throat to boot.

“Look, if you believe it was necessary to turn him into his coach, then I'd trust your gut. It's not like you can take it back now,” Micah weighed in. I chewed on his words as we grabbed our lunches and made our way to a table outside.

“You're probably right. It's over and done with, and I just need to m—” My words cut off when I was thrown sharply to the side by a young man sliding onto the bench next to me. He had come in a little hot and practically barreled me over in his attempt to sit down.

“Oh my gosh! I've been looking for you guys everywhere!” He chirped, his smile comically large and eyes wide open. He kept looking behind us nervously, and I was getting a little weirded out. The bewildered look on Micah's face matched my own as we took him in.

The guy looked to be our age with windswept cocoa brown hair, light teal eyes, and pillowy lips. He was beautiful, like seriously so. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had popped off of a magazine cover and declared “I'm a real boy now!” However, pretty Pinocchio to my right was clearly flustered about something.

“Um, hi. Are you okay?” Micah asked, concern creasing his brow.

The guy looked around quickly and turned back to us, the fake smile slipping off his face. “Not really. I'm so sorry to just crash your lunch like this, but I need your help. Do you see that hunky big dude behind us?” He gestured lightly with his head to a man who seemed to be searching for someone in the sea of students around us.

“You mean the young John Cena knockoff? Is he messing with you?” Micah asked quietly, trying to subtly keep an eye on him without tipping the dude off.

“Not in the super bad sense or anything. Look, he's my on and off again ex and he will not take the hint that I am no longer buying tickets to his show, you know what I mean?” the pretty guy said sardonically.

“Oh, is he a theatre major or something?” I asked. Micah just blinked at me while the intruder laughed gently at me. Even his dang laugh is beautiful. What gives with this guy? Does he fart glitter too, or does he save that for special occasions?

“Oh my gosh, you are too cute! No babes, I meant he won't get the hint that I no longer want to date him. We've been on this merry-go-round for too long, and it's just way too exhausting. He needs to take a cue from T-Swift, you know? Oh shitzle, he's coming over…please pretend that we're friends and I was supposed to meet up with you? I'm Fin, by the way!” he rushed out in a single breath, the fake smile sweeping back over his features.

Fin's ex clambered over at that moment and I had to crane my neck back to take him all in. I didn't think men came in sizes that big. Must've been all the testosterone he ate for breakfast.

“Finlay, what the hell do you think you're doing? We weren't done talking,” Mr. Muscles ground out in a low, raspy timbre.

Fin swiveled his head nonchalantly and gave him a bored look. “Oh, we weren't? I must have missed that memo when your point got lost somewhere back on I-35. As it were, I found my friends and we're a little busy right now,” Fin retorted dismissively.

The dude was close to foaming at the mouth. He looked so pissed, but he glanced at Micah and me quickly and shook his head. “This isn't over, Fin. We will be finishing this conversation later,” he gruffed before wisely deciding to move along and not make a scene .

When he was out of earshot, Fin let out a huge sigh of relief and graced us with a bright, genuine smile. “I'm sorry about all that drama, but thank you so much for being my saviors of the moment! Let's start over. I'm Fin, and you are?”

“Well, we didn't really do much, but we're always glad to be of service. I'm Rhys and this is Micah. We're roommates,” I said with a smile. Micah smiled and up-nodded Fin in response.

“It's an absolute pleasure to meet you both! I swear, I've got to learn that just because they make muscles that big doesn't mean I have to make it my personal mission to always climb them like a tree. Apparently, everything in moderation also applies to beefcakes because whew! I hit my drama quota with him about thirty minutes into that relationship, but I live for it so it's my own fault,” Fin chatted away in his lilting sweet voice as Micah and I just took it in stride.

I didn't really know what clued me in, but I was suddenly hit with the sensation of being watched. The hairs on my neck even did that standy-uppy thing you always hear about on true crime series. I twisted my head around to see if I noticed anything out of the ordinary while Micah and Fin carried the conversation.

I was close to chalking it up to caffeine-fueled paranoia until my gaze collided with a familiar face. One I hoped I could avoid for the rest of forever.

I could feel his stare like a physical thing as surely as I had felt his hand around my throat. He stood across the grassy courtyard with his arm around a well-endowed blonde who was laughing with the group surrounding them. His curly hair was a melt of dirty blond colors that was a perfect match to his tan skin. Seeing him now in the daylight, I noticed that there was something strange about his eyes.

Coming from me, that was pretty rich considering my own unique eye situation, but it threw me off that I hadn't recognized it that night.

One green. One blue.

Both vibrant and intense in their own right.

It would make him even more devastatingly hot than he already was if I hadn't sworn to hate him on principle. I couldn't be attracted to someone like that. I had to have standards after all. But looking at him now and feeling heat slink up my neck and onto my cheeks had my standards sinking lower than a limbo stick.

It took an embarrassingly long time to realize that I had been caught in a staring contest with Hawk…Callum…for several minutes. I blin ked rapidly as awareness hit me and his stupidly symmetrical lips kicked up in a cocky smirk. Then he winked at me.

Winked.

That one flippant wink had my stomach…well, not fluttering exactly. It was more like a flitter. Whatever it was, the sensation was entirely unwelcome.

I flipped back around in my seat so fast that my knee hit the wooden leg of the table and almost sent my Coke flying. If I concentrated enough, I could swear that I heard him laughing.

“Hey uh, I'm gonna head for the library and get a jump start on my studying,” I interjected into Micah and Fin's conversation.

“Oh..okay? Um, I guess I'll catch up with you back at the apartment,” Micah replied, confusion clouding his features. Fin just smiled up at me.

“It was so nice to meet you, Rhys! Oh hold on! Give me your phone!” Fin demanded, holding out his perfectly manicured hand for my cell. I didn't even object as I fumbled pulling it out of my bag and handed it over to him. He punched a few numbers in before giving it back to me.

“Voilá! Now you have my number and we can hang out! Text me sometime,” Fin grinned up at me. Not in a flirty way, but in a way that reminded me of meeting a friend on the playground as a kid. It was…really nice actually.

“Yeah, I'll do that,” I smiled back. “It was really great to meet you. See you at home, M.” I grabbed my bag and darted off quickly.

I hadn't even made it two minutes down the Speedway corridor that ran up the center of campus before I sensed someone coming up on my left. I don't even know why I looked. I knew who it was.

You even know who it was. If you don't, you haven't been paying attention. Gold star denied.

Hawk just continued to stare straight ahead, keeping in step with me as I gawked at him like a weirdo. My annoyance was climbing the longer he seemed to ignore me. It took him a painful handful of seconds before he acknowledged my presence.

“Hey,” he said.

“What, you get paid by the word or something?” I spit out, a little stunned at myself for snarking at him. Oh well. He was the worst.

“You know, we never properly introduced ourselves on Friday. I'm Hawk. And you are?” He asked, completely ignoring my sass as if I hadn't even talked.

“I already know who you are,” I mumbled and sped up my steps the tiniest bit.

“Ah, but see, that puts me at a disadvantage because I don't know who you are. So I'm here to rectify that,” Hawk said smoothly. “If you don't tell me your name, I'm gonna be forced to make one up. Trust me, no one wants that. I suck at names. I had a goldfish named Goldie once. That was about the extent of my creativity, so you can see how badly this could go for you.”

My eyes rolled so hard I was almost concerned they'd dislodge completely, but I held my tongue. I wasn't going to entertain this…whatever it was. I didn't trust him.

“Come on…not even a hint? Just the first letter?” Hawk nudged my elbow and I instinctively flinched away. “Hmm, the strong, silent type. I can dig it. Alright, I'm gonna give you a name. How about…Herman? Abner? Cornelius? Ooo, what do you think of Eustace?” He waggled his eyebrows at me.

“Eustace? Seriously? Where did you pull that one out of because it can't be anyplace pleasant,” I snapped out.

2.5 seconds and he broke me. Good job, Rhys. Way to hold out.

“Aha! He speaks!” Hawk proclaimed victoriously. His face broke into a grin as dazzling as it was nauseating. “So, what's it going to be, Eustace? Is the name sticking?”

A deep sigh escaped me before I answered “Rhys. Rhys Evans.”

Hawk merely nodded like he was somehow impressed by it. “Rhys. Solid name, I like it. Much better than Eustace.”

“Right. Well, I've got somewhere I've gotta be, so…”

“The library, right?”

I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at him suspiciously. “How do you know where I'm going?”

“Because it's right in front of us,” Hawk said matter-of-factly, pointing up at the massive building we were steps away from without breaking eye contact with me.

“Oh. Yeah. Lucky guess,” I muttered, cheeks flushing in embarrassment. Hawk just continued to observe me with an eerily perceptive look. His head was cocked the slightest to the left. It was reminiscent of a predator taking in its prey, determining its weak points before it sunk its teeth in. It was a specific look I was all too familiar with, and I freaking hated it.

We stood in the most uncomfortable silence known to man, but you'd never know it by looking at Hawk. He radiated a palpable intensity, but his outer facade was cool and calm. I shifted on my feet a couple times, unable to comprehend why I wasn't walking away already.

“Okay, so…see ya,” I stuttered awkwardly. But when I moved to go around him, Hawk sidestepped in front of me, blocking my path. My gaze snapped up to meet his, and the charming glint from earlier was gone. In its place was nothing but ice. I froze.

“You know, I forgot to thank you for the good word you put in for me with Coach,” he said, low and menacing. My stomach dropped as a harsh realization washed over me. I had fallen for the act. I was the idiot prey that the lion had toyed with before the kill.

“No problem,” I bit out, summoning up the irritation and anger from the night of the party to give me courage.

“About that though…we're gonna need to do something to fix that sooner rather than later, Rhys. You really screwed some things up for me, and I'm just trying to make sure things don't get…messy.” Hawk's casual words were said almost innocuously, but that dark look in his eyes pierced straight to my core.

“But that's a problem for another day,” he sighed as if it was an inconvenience for him to put it off. “Gotta get going. It's been nice chatting with you, Rhys. I'll see you around—” he leaned in close, his lips ghosting over my ear. “Soon.”

A shiver involuntarily ripped through me, and there was no doubt Hawk noticed. He strolled off, whistling a tune that was digging at my memory as I rushed up the steps into the building.

As I settled at a table in the back, it hit me what he had been whistling. Dread seeped through my bones and I knew I was in deep trouble.

Every move I make, every step I take…

He'll be watching me.