In other words, she wasn’t willing to take me there. That wasn’t surprising. “Yeah, I should do that.” I needed my booksfor tomorrow, and that was an amazing excuse to get away from here and explore the campus. “Thanks for the information.”

“Sure.” She ran a hand down her gray EEU shirt, which showed the outline of a black wolf and a silver full moon. “Anytime.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and yawned. “I gotta get some things ready for class tomorrow, or I’d offer to go with you.”

“No worries.” I sensed she was lying, but I wouldn’t call her out on it. At least she was being nice.

“Yeah. Okay. Text me if you get lost or need anything.” She lifted her phone then spun and left just as quickly as she’d arrived.

That had gone well. And what was it with all these people sniffing me?

When Samantha’s bedroom door closed, I hurried past the sterile gray dresser and headed through the den and kitchen out the door. The hallway was surprisingly empty. In all the shows I watched, students were always hanging outside their rooms in the hallways. Maybe that happened in the residence dorms and not here.

Samantha and I lived in an end unit. Apartment doors lined the light-gray hallway walls, and my sneakers padded over the dark-gray carpet to the elevator.

On the ground floor, I marched through the double glass doors and headed across the road toward the student center.

The damp wind filled my lungs, making things feel not quite so bad as I walked between two massive brick buildings that were damn near identical, except the one to my left was taller.

Some guys were playing frisbee in the open area between the buildings and the student center. I watched as they laughed and joked with several girls who lay on blankets, all of them comfortable in their own skin and with friends… two things I’d never experienced.

A pang of jealousy surged through me, and I inhaled, keeping my gaze focused straight ahead on the student center. I needed to hurry before the bookstore closed.

I marched on, but the laughter and shrieks of fun behind me had tears burning in my eyes. I’d been foolish to come here. I wanted to go home, but if I did, my parents would never let me live it down.

Worse, I’d disappoint them again.

Something I’d done far too many times.

When I reached the back of the student center, I blinked to clear my eyes. I found a back door and stepped inside.

The bookstore was to my right, and luckily, the lights were still on. Near the front, by four open glass doors, an employee stood at the cash register. I scanned the area and saw that each section was marked with subjects. On the left, by the history section, was one person I never wanted to see again.

Dante.

That strangetugurged me to close the distance between us, but I wasn’t an idiot. Someone like him would never want to be with a person like me.

He was handsome, strong, and confident.

I was not.

Forcing myself to ignore him, I went to the section labeled Science. A sizzle ran down my spine, and I somehow knew Dante had seen me. But that was crazy. It wasn’t possible.

Shaking my head, I focused on locating my microbiology and chemistry books. This educational opportunity was important to me, and I needed to excel in those two classes to get into veterinary school.

My microbiology textbook was shelved at the bottom, and I dug around for a decent used copy.

Something rattled over my head, and metal groaned. When I glanced up, I couldn’t believe what I saw.

My lungs seized, and I stared in horror as three textbooks tumbled off the bookcase toward me.

I’d pushed myself back to get out of the way when strong arms wrapped around my waist, yanking me against a human brick wall I already knew so well.

The tugging in my chest stirred again, confirming my suspicion, as three ginormous chemistry books landed, kicking up a bit of dust where I’d been squatting mere seconds ago.

Silence surrounded us as I froze in Dante’s arms.

When his chest expanded, the moment was over.

“I swear, you have a fucking death wish,” he gritted out and dropped his arms from my waist, taking a huge step back. “Are you okay?”

My blood was pumping, but it wasn’t only from the jolt running through me from whatever strange phenomena I lived with. Pure, unadulterated fear had mixed with attraction to make my pulse race, which never happened.

I spun around, coming way too close to slipping on one of the fallen textbooks. I caught myself and hoped like hell he hadn’t noticed my clumsiness. “Yeah, but I don’t understand what happened! The bookcase wasn’t shaking. Then suddenly, I heard a noise. It was as if something other than me pushed the books.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted saying them. That was definitely weirdo level.

I blamed his rugged good looks and sculpted body.

The corner of his mouth tipped upward, and he shook his head. “You say that after almost tripping and falling over books that barely missed your head. You’re a magnet for trouble, and that’s a huge problem for me.”

Of course he’d noticed. I was beginning to think he noticed everything about me, and the thought had my body thrumming with feelings I didn’t understand. Feelings that risked me doing something incredibly stupid. I studied the top of the bookcase. “Did you see what made the books fall?” The shelf hadn’t moved, and while I’d been scanning the course names for the books I needed, I hadn’t seen any books near the edge. “It sounded like something scooted above me, but the entire shelf was sturdy where I was.”

“Are you sure?” He stepped beside me, our arms brushing. “Because it’d be strange that something like that would happen to you.”

Ugh, I sounded paranoid, but he was right. It wasn’t like books could move on their own. I hadn’t felt my blood humming, so maybe I was remembering wrong? “You’re right.” I exhaled noisily. The one time I hadn’t caused the weirdness, I still sounded like I was imagining things. Maybe I would never fit in. “Sorry. I don’t know what happened. I must have knocked into the bookcase while digging for a biochemistry book.”

I kept my attention forward, not wanting to see the inevitable look of disgust on his face. He’d witnessed two of my “special” incidents in the span of mere hours. A new record for me.

“Hey, everything will be okay. It’s been a long day, and I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said softly and turned to me.