Drawing a deep breath, she turned so she could start back through the crowd and accidently stepped on someone’s foot. “Oops. Sorry.”
Taariq turned his wounded expression toward her. “Damn, baby. Watch where you’re wielding those shoes.” He softened his rebuke with a smile. “So where are you running off to so fast? This isn’t the Dixie Speedway, you know.”
Anna blinked up at him. Damn. He was even better looking up close. She stepped back, hoping the space would help her pull herself together.
It didn’t.
“Let me guess, you’re looking for your boy, Stanley?”
“Stanley?” She blinked. “No. Um, Stanley is just a good friend.”
Taariq’s handsomely groomed brows sprung up in surprise. “Oh. Is that right?” He stretched an arm up and propped it against the wall behind her, effectively forming a human alcove. It was definitely better executed than when Stanley had tried it. “Sooo. Does that mean that you don’t have a man?”
Her face warmed. “No. Um, not at the moment.”
Taariq moved closer. “Do you want one?”
Damn. He doesn’t waste any time. His directness overwhelmed her. “Actually, I just need to find my roommate Roxanne and head out,” she said, escaping while she could still think clearly.
Taariq’s full lips kicked up into a wicked smile. “Sorry, l’il Ma. I didn’t know you scared so easily.”
“What? I’m not scared,” she bluffed.
“No?” His brows arched while his eyes roamed over her again. It was so intense that Anna swore it was a physical caress.
“If you’re not scared, why are you running away? I don’t bite … unless you ask me to.”
Anna swallowed while her nipples hardened inside her lace bra. As luck would have it, that was the exact moment when his gaze lowered.
“Since I know it’s not cold in here that must mean that you’re excited to be near me.”
Anna’s entire body blazed with embarrassment. “Wow. What a big ego you have.”
“Everything is big on me, baby.” He inched closer and glided his finger up the side of her right arm.
Anna gasped at the way her entire arm tingled. The playful glint in Taariq’s eyes morphed into something dangerously predatory within a blink. No doubt that if she stood there much longer, he was going to have her legs up around his waist—the crowded party be damned.
She removed his finger from her arm. “Let’s get one thing straight—I’m not your baby.”
“You could be. The night is still young.”
Anna rolled her eyes. “I gotta go.” She attempted to step around him only for him to grab her wrist and pull her back.
“All right. All right. My bad. I’m sorry. Can we start again?”
She pulled in a deep breath while she actually thought about it. “I … I’ve got a test … tomorrow,” she lied.
Taariq stretched up a dubious brow. “On a Saturday?”
“It’s a make-up test,” she covered. One look in his eyes and she knew that he wasn’t buying it.
Instead of calling her on it, he just hitched up his shoulders and widened his smile. “A rain check then?”
“Yeah. Sure.” Don’t hold your breath.
“All right. I don’t need a brick building to fall on my head. You’re not interested. I get it.” He tried to shrug off the rejection, but she could tell that it was something that he wasn’t used to. Then, he dipped his brows together as if suddenly a thought occurred to him. “You’re not …?”
“What?”
“You know.” Taariq winked as if he’d worked out a missing piece of the puzzle before leaning in close so that his minty breath would warm the side of her face. “You don’t bat for the other side, do you?”
Anna’s mouth fell open. “What?”
“I mean—I know that sort of thing gets explored with you ladies when you’re away at college.”
She was dumbfounded. “No. I’m not gay.”
The mischievousness returned to his chocolaty gaze. “Good. Then I still have a chance.”
Not in this lifetime. Anna, now completely turned off, pushed past him and then shoved her way back through the dancing crowd. She spotted one of the girls that lived two dorms down from hers and headed in that direction. “Hey, have you seen Roxanne anywhere?”
Jade turned, sloshing whatever she had in her plastic cup onto the floor. “What?”
“Roxanne. Have you seen her? ”
“Silly, my name isn’t Roxanne. It’s Jade.” She giggled in a drunken stupor. “Roxanne went upstairs a few minutes ago. Don’t you even know your own roommate?”
“No, I meant …” Anna waved her comment away. “Oh, never mind.” She turned and once again pushed her way through the crowd. Mercifully, she made her way upstairs but was then forced to try to figure out where to search next with there being so many rooms.
That is until she heard Charlie’s familiar laugh followed by Roxanne’s annoying giggly snort coming from a room directly to her right. From that moment on, she operated more on instinct than actual thought. She moved toward the closed door with her outstretched hand and her heart already breaking. By the time she opened the door and saw Charlie and Roxanne, tearing at each other’s clothes, her weak heart had already shattered into a million pieces.
Chapter 2
Big, fat alligator tears swelled in Anna’s eyes as she watched Charlie and Roxanne laugh and giggle while they playfully tore at each other’s clothes. She didn’t understand why they didn’t spring apart after having been caught in the middle of the act. But then she realized that her loud screaming was just happening inside her head and they didn’t know she stood there like a dummy watching them. When Roxanne pulled Charlie’s open mouth toward her exposed breasts, Anna finally uprooted her legs and backed away.
From there, she was vaguely aware of rushing back down the stairs and plowing through the crowd. A shove here, an elbow there, she didn’t care who got hurt as long as they got out of her way. But after five minutes, the door seemed to be getting farther away, not closer.
Anna swiped at a few tears only to discover that her entire face was soaking wet. Just great. She was a weeping mess in front of the who’s who of Morehouse and Spelman College.
Just hurry up and get out of here!
Anna moved so fast that she clipped someone’s leg and was sent sprawling toward the floor. She thrust out her hands, hoping to break her fall, but was surprised when a strong arm wrapped around her waist and jerked her back up as if she was tethered to the end of a bungee cord.
“Whoa there.” Taariq laughed, setting her back on her feet. “You know I’m beginning to think that walking isn’t your strong suit.” He chuckled once, but then the humor melted from his face when he took in her expression. “Hey. What’s wrong?” He swiped at one of her tears.
“Nothing,” Anna lied, and then tried to shove her way out of his arms.
Problem was that he just tightened them and held her in place. “Look. I might