“Absolutely not!” Bristol shoves me away. “I’m fine.” She stands, and I wrap an arm around her waist.
She’s trembling. It’s slight, but I notice it with her in my arms.
“Are you sure you’re not just nervous because you’ve fallen in love with me?” I joke, trying to make light of the situation.
Bristol rolls her eyes and groans. “I assure you, Liam, that will never happen.”
I try not to take offense. I mean, it’s Bristol Greyson, my mortal enemy. Not that I have an immortal one, but the two of us would kill each other, even if we were the last two people on the planet. Humanity wouldn’t survive us.
“Ouch.” I’m smiling, teasing her, trying to make light of the situation. “Where are you heading next?”
“Honestly—”
“No, lie to me.”
She snorts. “I should head home.”
“You came all this way to campus for a cup of coffee?” I glance at her, my arm firmly around her waist. “Maybe you should lay off the caffeine. How many cups did you have?”
“Just the one.”
“And this morning?” I ask, trying to figure it all out.
“I’ve only had the one cup of coffee today.” She forces a smile. The color has returned to her cheeks, and the tremulousness has eased up. If she’s shaking, I don’t feel it.
I doubt she could hide it from me. At least not with the way she was earlier on the bench.
“Are you sure it’s okay for you to drive home?”
Bristol cracks a grin. “Are you catching feelings for me, Moretti?”
“I don’t want to see you crash into another unsuspecting family,” I offer in way of an explanation. “Let me drive you home.”
“It’s fine. I took the bus. You don’t have to worry about me killing some pregnant woman behind the wheel of a car, because I don’t drive. I mean, I have my license, but I don’t ever drive anywhere. No car. Always had a chauffeur growing up, rich kid problems.” The smile makes me think she’s not entirely happy about that little fact.
“Do you mean to tell me your dad didn’t buy you a car for your sixteenth birthday?” I’m surprised. I always imagined Bristol to be spoiled.
“He wouldn’t even let me get my license until I turned eighteen,” she grumbles. “Overprotective asshole. Don’t get me wrong, I love my parents, but he just made my life hell in high school.”
“If you say so.” There’s no sense in arguing with her. Although I don’t remember her life being ‘hell’ while we were in high school.
While we had different social circles in high school, I mostly spent my four years avoiding her. Luckily, we didn’t have many classes together.
However, middle school is a different story. We fought, constantly. Same in elementary school. There were a lot of trips to the principal’s office, both of us constantly in trouble.
“I’m going to drive you back to campus.”
I walk with her slowly in the direction of my house, where my car is parked. I’m not keen on her seeing where I live. Next week, she’ll probably throw toilet paper over the trees just to give me grief.
“You don’t need to do that.” Bristol’s body tenses, but I keep walking, ignoring the feel of her warm back against my fingers.
The sun is bright, causing me to squint as we walk. “I’m driving you, but you have to promise not to laugh or make fun.”
“Make fun of what?” Bristol glances at me curiously.
I inhale sharply, hoping not to humiliate myself. I could ask to borrow Luca’s vehicle, but then I’ll have some explaining to do. Taking her back in my car will just be easier overall.
“My car.”