“Hey!” Turner yelled down the hall as I closed the door.

I walked towards him and waved. I could only hope he wouldn’t bring up what happened the night before.

Turner had thrown on a pair of faded jeans, a white shirt, and a jacket. He looked pretty cute when he washed up. The two of us went downstairs to the front sidewalk that led to the ice cream shop.

“I don’t feel like driving. Do you want to just walk there? It’s not like it’s that cold out.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Turner agreed.

He grabbed a hold of my hand and linked his fingers through mine. I wanted to push his hand away. After being held down by him I just wasn’t that into him.

As a boyfriend anyway.

Friends sure.

Together we walked to the ice cream shop. The night air was crisp and nippy. The sun had set, taking whatever warmth with it. Unable to wrap my arms around myself, I shivered a little.

“Are you cold?”

“Yeah,” I said nodding.

Immediately Turner shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders.

“Better?”

“You don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine,” I told him.

“I’ll be fine too.,” Turner assured me. “I’m not the one shivering anyway.”

I didn’t know what I wanted. I already regretted what had happened the night before. My mind just took over after seeing Nash and another girl all over each other. Turner was so nice to me and I was hurting. It was a mistake. How was I going to let him down easy without losing him as a friend.

We continued to walk.

“I didn’t think I could recover from that horrible first date. I thought that was it; I thought I was toast. I’m glad I’m not Lily...”

He smiled at me.

“Yeah, It takes more than one horrible date to send me running,” I responded, giving him a fake grin.

“Really? Even though you hadn’t dated much? I thought that I completely ruined it for you.”

“”Nah.”

The way he was acting made it obvious he thought we were together.

I didn’t want to hurt him.

I still wanted to be friends.

“Well, well, well, look at the happy couple.”

My head whipped around to the voice. Nash was standing there, partially hidden in the shadow, smoking a cigarette.

I wrinkled my nose. He just had to show up.

“Nash,” Turner said and I felt him tense next to me.

 I threw a little prayer up that the two of them wouldn’t get into an all-out brawl.

“What do you want?” I asked Nash.

“Nothing,” Nash sneered and stumbled closer.

I could smell the alcohol on Nash’s breath.

“And I’m doing much better, thank you. You’re pussy punch didn’t keep me down for long.”

“Whatever, now if you’ll excuse us,” Turner responded.

“Wait a minute!” Nash cried. “Tell me about this happy couple. When did you guys get together? Last time I checked Turner, you let this lovely woman stumble back to her dorm, drunk, while you partied.”

“Nash-” I said under my breath.

“How do you know that?” Turner asked.

His eyes narrowed as he stared at Nash.

“Because I was the one who had to bring her back. She was in no shape to walk all on her own.”

Turner turned to me.

“Is it true?”

“I didn’t ask him to walk me home,” I tried to explain. “I was walking home and he saw me. He just wanted to make sure I got there safe.”

It was beginning to take a lot of effort trying to keep them both happy.

“And that’s all?”

“Well-” Nash started.

If this led to me spending the night at Nash’s then I knew there would be another fight. This time, Nash wouldn’t hold back.

“That’s all,” I said, cutting Nash off.

I shot daggers at Nash but he pretended not to notice. What the hell was he trying to do? What the hell was his problem? Would Nash really tell Turner about our night together? Yeah, he would. Anything to get a rise out of him.

“Come on Turner, let’s go get that ice cream.”

“I’ll see you two love birds later,” Nash said.

He dropped the cigarette onto the dirt and rubbed it out with the toe of his sneaker.

“You know where to find me sexy.”

Now he was trying to get a rise out of me.

Nash turned and sauntered away. Turner didn’t budge until we couldn’t see Nash anymore.

“That son of a bitch! What the fuck is he getting at?! What was he trying to prove?! Bastard!”

“He was just trying to get under your skin. Ignore him. He’s not worth it.”

In that moment, I truly believed my words. I wasn’t sure if it was because Nash was angry at me still for leaving his place the other morning, or because of his immense hatred for Turner, but he was acting like an asshole. He knew those words would hurt Turner, humiliate him even, and yet Nash didn’t care. Turner’s shoulder’s sagged and he hung his head.

“I guess this is yet another date that was ruined.”

“Just focus on other stuff. How about we go in and get some ice cream?”

I didn’t want to tell him the truth that this wasn’t a date for me to begin with. I’d rather make everyone happy. It was obvious Nash was angry at me already even when everything was his fault.

This was a real disaster.

“Of course,” Turner said.

He spun me around until I was facing him and then with his finger Turner lifted my head. His lips felt tender as they begin to massage against mine.

“Stop Turner,” I told him, pushing him back.

 “Sorry, I’ve just wanted to do that since we left the dorms.”

“Okay, but not out in public.”

“Sorry…”

Chapter Twelve

“So, uh, what do you like to do in your spare time?” Turner said for the eighth time.

I smiled at him as he flushed but my smile was forced.

“I’m sorry. I know I keep asking the same question but my mind went blank. I’m just so nervous.”

Nervous about what, I wanted to ask. This was our third so called date, and our first date was disastrous and the second one was going good until he held me down in bed. I tried to put it to the back of my mind but it kept coming back to me, reminding me that I didn't like Turner as a boyfriend.

“There’s no reason to be nervous,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. “I think we’re close enough to skip the polite conversation, don’t you think?”

Turner flushed again as the spoon he was holding slipped from his fingers. It clattered against the ice cream bowl and others around us jumped, glaring at us. I bit the inside of my lip to refrain from rolling my eyes.

God, could this get any worse?

“Sorry,” Turner mumbled. “I guess all I know how to do is fuck up. I mean, obviously that’s all I know how to do because that’s all I’ve been doing.”

And here comes the self-pity.

“You’re not fucking anything up,” I lied.

I tried not to sneer as Turner rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. At first Turner’s awkwardness was a turn on; something that made him cute and vulnerable. But now… It was becoming annoying. The guy sitting in front of me wasn’t the guy I originally met and it was a complete turn off. I didn’t want to be mean to him though.

 “Is it good?” I asked.

“It’s amazing,” Turner gushed.

“Oh wow, it’s late. I think once we finish we should get going. I have a lot to do.”

“Want me to keep you company in your room?” Turner said with a wink. “Or, if you’d rather, I can take you back to my place. We could pick up where we left off?”

How could I go back there when everything already sucked right where we were?

“I wish I could,” I said, feigning regret. “But I have a test to study for… A big one. If I don’t ace this, my G.P.A. will drop.”

Turner frowned and actually put his milkshake down.

“That’s a bummer. Do you want me to help you study? I’m used to pulling all-nighters. I can get us some coffee, some donuts, and we can make a night of it. Nothing else, I promise.”