New Romantics

Chapter 4

THINK FAST! My mind screamed just as I scrambled forward, panicking, and shoved Leo into the hallway before Jules or Dani noticed.

If Jules saw Leo—I had no intention of knowing the end of that thought.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, praying my abrupt exit wouldn't raise curiosity from Dani and Jules. Leo looked at the door over my shoulder and shook his head, surprised, and asked,

"Was that Jules Wilkinson in there?"

The thread of tension in his voice had me straightening my back, and I crossed my arms over my chest. "And what if she was? Are you here to grovel?"

His bright blue eyes met mine. "Grovel?"

"Yes, grovel," I affirmed. The nervous ripple in my voice subsided. Jules may not have been my sorority sister or friend, but that didn't mean I wasn't protective of her. And I related to her in a way. I wanted love, too. I knew what it was like always getting so close to it, and then nothing. Either a change of mind. Or a misunderstood kiss.

That was the curse of a hopeless romantic.

Sighing, Leo produced a tiny pink lanyard with my lab keys from his jacket pocket. "You dropped this outside near the main entrance. I came here to return it."

My eyes widened and I clutched my chest for the lanyard that obviously wasn't there. The keys were for Dr. Teller's research lab; my responsibility included ensuring the samples of his latest experiment were secure.

It was safe to say I failed catastrophically.

"Shit," I muttered and then awkwardly grabbed them from his outstretched hand. "Thank you..."

A smile ghosted his lips and he nodded. "What's the keychain?" Leo asked, referring to the small acrylic keychain of a red heart with a golden dagger protruding from a ventricle.

Heat flushed my face. "Oh! Nothing!" I said. Actually, it's the logo for my favorite serialized romance, Daggers of Love, but he doesn't need to know that.

Leo leaned back into his stance and crossed his arms over his chest in a way that said either he was very amused or ready to tease the crap out of me. "Does it have to do with those... what did Magda say? Smutty contemporaries you love so much?"

"Maybe it is!" I said with a pout, refusing to let a man tease me for simply liking feminine things.

But Leo's gaze was more curious than bemused. Just as he opened his mouth to say more, Jules' wailing sob ripped through the cracked door and into the hallway, and both of us cringed.

"Whatever you did really hurt her," I said, the words ripping out of me before I had the chance to stop them.

Moment ruined.

Leo stared at me as though I'd suddenly grown two heads, and then chuckled—dry and humorless. "Hurt her? That's funny."

I didn't like the dismissive tone of his voice. Just because you wanted no-strings-attached hookups with people, didn't mean you had to be a total jerk about if real human emotions got in the way.

"There's nothing funny about fucking around with someone's feelings."

The air around us frosted. His face had the indignation of a crossed rich boy with time on his hands. I met plenty of his type back in high school, and now here at the prestigious university tucked on the coastline. It tugged at something inside of me—something that wanted to wipe the look right off his face—but I shoved it away as I forced myself to focus on Jules and Leo.

His gaze caressed my cheeks and then dropped to the golden cupid locket I wore today. "Come on, Aria, I know you're better than that."

It was unfair how handsome he looked in fluorescent hallway light; the usually unflattering glow painted long shadows along his cheeks and jaw, making him look like the chiseled, morally gray hero of a romance novel. Except, Leo was blonde. And that blondeness snapped me back to reality.