to be. She’d dreamed about Princeton for longer than she dreamed about Nic. Now Nic hadn’t just ruined her for other men, he’d put her future in jeopardy. She couldn’t let that happen. She had plans, goals, and problems to solve. She didn’t have time to be distracted by schoolgirl crushes.
She sucked in another breath and swallowed everything down. Hatton was right. She’d been coasting. It wasn’t because she was bored. New Jersey was a world away from New Orleans. At home people were at least polite to your face. Here, they were cold and rude. The other students in the department had dismissed her on the first day as one step down from Elle Woods.
She’d spent the first twenty years of her life not talking about math and making people forget she was a mathematical genius so they didn’t treat her like a freak. Now she was surrounded by people who loved the same things she did and she had no idea how to talk to them. She was a freak. She didn’t fit anywhere.
The first day of class she’d discovered she didn’t know how to approach people. She’d never realized it before because she was always surrounded by people she knew. In high school and college, she’d always had Jen and Jen never met a stranger. Lizzie hadn’t realized she’d been floating in Jen’s wake all these years. When faced with so many strangers and Jen nowhere in sight to break the ice, Lizzie hadn’t known where to start. It was easier to keep to herself. Easier to go to class then back to her apartment.
Now, the last place she wanted to go was that empty apartment. She wanted to be as far away from this place as possible. But she also wasn’t ready to go home either. She wanted hot sunshine and warm sand. The beach. She wanted to go to the beach. Maybe she could get in the ocean and scrub her skin clean. She would call Rogan. He wouldn’t ask a lot of questions and he’d let her have a condo for a few days. She could watch a bunch of chick flicks, eat way too much ice cream and get this nagging pain out of her system once and for all. She would regroup.
She dug her cell phone out of her shoulder bag and flipped it on. She ignored the twinge in her stomach. There were no missed calls or text messages. Had she honestly expected to hear from Nic after she’d crept out of the hotel suite while he was asleep?
Had she really thought having sex with Nic Maretti would help get him out of her system? Talk about epic fail.
The memories washed over her again. His hand moving over her, the crisp hairs on his legs and chest tickling her skin. She could feel him moving inside of her, turning her into someone she didn’t recognize anymore.
She’d lost herself with Nic. She didn’t think her skin would ever feel normal again. Her lungs didn’t work right. She ached everywhere for something she couldn’t let herself have again.
Being with Nic had been too intense. The sounds he made and things he said to her. It had all been too much. She couldn’t feel the ground under her feet.
There were dozens of half-started e-mails in her Drafts folder, text drafts on her phone but she hadn’t known what to say. Sorry for running away from the best night of my life. She’d stared at her phone for days, trying to think of something clever to say and to apologize for leaving the way she did. At some point she’d realized the phone went both ways. He had her number but he hadn’t sent her a clever e-mail or text message either.
She’d done something stupid then. She Googled him and found photographs of him all over a southern bachelor gossip blog with a beautiful brunette who’d been Miss Austin. Sometime later, with her face pressed against the cold tile floor of the bathroom while the contents of her stomach flushed away, Lizzie decided it was for the best. That night had meant nothing to him. He’d probably been disappointed. He hadn’t been interested in a repeat performance.
No, he’d been at a loose end. She’d been a
She sucked in another breath and swallowed everything down. Hatton was right. She’d been coasting. It wasn’t because she was bored. New Jersey was a world away from New Orleans. At home people were at least polite to your face. Here, they were cold and rude. The other students in the department had dismissed her on the first day as one step down from Elle Woods.
She’d spent the first twenty years of her life not talking about math and making people forget she was a mathematical genius so they didn’t treat her like a freak. Now she was surrounded by people who loved the same things she did and she had no idea how to talk to them. She was a freak. She didn’t fit anywhere.
The first day of class she’d discovered she didn’t know how to approach people. She’d never realized it before because she was always surrounded by people she knew. In high school and college, she’d always had Jen and Jen never met a stranger. Lizzie hadn’t realized she’d been floating in Jen’s wake all these years. When faced with so many strangers and Jen nowhere in sight to break the ice, Lizzie hadn’t known where to start. It was easier to keep to herself. Easier to go to class then back to her apartment.
Now, the last place she wanted to go was that empty apartment. She wanted to be as far away from this place as possible. But she also wasn’t ready to go home either. She wanted hot sunshine and warm sand. The beach. She wanted to go to the beach. Maybe she could get in the ocean and scrub her skin clean. She would call Rogan. He wouldn’t ask a lot of questions and he’d let her have a condo for a few days. She could watch a bunch of chick flicks, eat way too much ice cream and get this nagging pain out of her system once and for all. She would regroup.
She dug her cell phone out of her shoulder bag and flipped it on. She ignored the twinge in her stomach. There were no missed calls or text messages. Had she honestly expected to hear from Nic after she’d crept out of the hotel suite while he was asleep?
Had she really thought having sex with Nic Maretti would help get him out of her system? Talk about epic fail.
The memories washed over her again. His hand moving over her, the crisp hairs on his legs and chest tickling her skin. She could feel him moving inside of her, turning her into someone she didn’t recognize anymore.
She’d lost herself with Nic. She didn’t think her skin would ever feel normal again. Her lungs didn’t work right. She ached everywhere for something she couldn’t let herself have again.
Being with Nic had been too intense. The sounds he made and things he said to her. It had all been too much. She couldn’t feel the ground under her feet.
There were dozens of half-started e-mails in her Drafts folder, text drafts on her phone but she hadn’t known what to say. Sorry for running away from the best night of my life. She’d stared at her phone for days, trying to think of something clever to say and to apologize for leaving the way she did. At some point she’d realized the phone went both ways. He had her number but he hadn’t sent her a clever e-mail or text message either.
She’d done something stupid then. She Googled him and found photographs of him all over a southern bachelor gossip blog with a beautiful brunette who’d been Miss Austin. Sometime later, with her face pressed against the cold tile floor of the bathroom while the contents of her stomach flushed away, Lizzie decided it was for the best. That night had meant nothing to him. He’d probably been disappointed. He hadn’t been interested in a repeat performance.
No, he’d been at a loose end. She’d been a
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