Page 11 of Mistaken Prejudice

Andrei13: Gotta go, have a good night. Dream of our tour, Miles.

Oh, I’ll be dreaming of something for sure.

***

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t counting the minutes until lunch break. It had nothing to do with the Jambon-Beurre Papa made for me this morning and everything to do with the person I planned on sharing it with.

I started the day in the best possible way, with a “Good Morning” DM from Andrei, and a couple more flirty texts that made me smile like crazy.

The bell rang signaling the end of class. Without wasting time, I grabbed my books and bag and got up from my chair. I walked through the halls as fast as I could and made my way toward the stables—that’s where we agreed on meeting—when I checked my phone. It was five past twelve, meaning I had five minutes to get there. If I went a little bit faster—

“Miley! Where the fuck are you running to?”

Oh, for God’s sake.

“Sorry, Shay-Lee, not right now,” I said as I continued to walk.

With a light run, Shay-Lee caught up and stopped me with a hand on the shoulder.

“What the fuck, Miley? Are you blowing me off or something?” Even though his voice came out cocky, I could hear the worry in it. I looked to my side to face him and was about to explain myself when I noticed the black eye he was sporting. My excitement to meet Andrei was replaced with concern, and I reached my right hand to touch his skin, which turned into a nasty shade of purple.

“What happened to you?” I asked, still examining his bruises. His bottom lip also had a deep cut I knew for a fact wasn’t there yesterday.

“Are you turning senile and I don’t know about it? Did you forget all about that fucker who punched me yesterday?” His mouth curved into a smirk.

“Don’t bullshit me, Shay-Lee. I know it’s not from yesterday’s fight in the cafeteria. Where, or should I say, how did you get yourself into another fight?”

He dropped his smile and stepped away from my touch. “We went out drinking and bumped into some thugs who thought they were big shots. Nothing special.”

“I thought you partied at Ty’s yesterday.”

Shay-Lee stretched and flexed his arms behind his neck, showing his impressive muscles. Because of his position as a quarterback, he was cut, not bulky. With a perfect six-pack I’d seen more than once, and not by choice. Shay-Lee was the type of guy who wasn’t shy about his looks—quite the contrary—and you couldn’t blame him for that. I mean, he was practically perfect when it came to good looks.

“Yeah, we did. But we went to the bar after, you know, the one that doesn’t care about ID and stuff? Anyways, it was nice. Well, except for the part where I got punched.” He stopped and lingered for a moment. “You should have seen the fucker who punched me…” He laughed and wrapped his arms around me. “The poor guy could barely walk after. Anyway, where are we eating, Miley?” He pinned me with his baby blues. “I was thinking of Eddie’s. What do you say?”

Eddie’s was a small Italian bistro not too far from the campus. It wasn’t anything fancy but a nice replacement for cafeteria food. Technically, we weren’t allowed to go there during school hours, but Shay-Lee wasn’t one to follow the rules, not that it mattered at the moment because I had other plans.

“Sorry, but I already have plans for lunch. We’ll go another time.” I made a move to go, when he grabbed me by the hand.

“What plans?”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m meeting a friend for lunch. Now bye.”

“Who?”

“Seriously?”

He glared at me, waiting for an answer he wasn’t owed.

“Who?” he asked again, and I let out a tired sigh.

“It’s none of your business, so stop annoying me.” I continued to walk, knowing very well he was right behind me. Oh my God, he knows how to annoy me. I stopped and turned around to face him. Luckily, he managed to stop before bumping into me.

“If I go with you to Eddie’s, will you get off my back for the rest of the day?”

“You’re making it sound like I’m a nuisance.”

“Good. ’Cause you are.”