"Let's get you back to Cornwall," Palmer said with a Cheshire cat grin.
Ariana took a deep breath. She had to get control of herself here, get control of the situation. The other day Palmer had basically told her that he couldn't like her, that he wouldn't do that to Lexa, whom he loved. But now, here he was, kissing her like she was the only girl on Earth. Like Lexa didn't even exist.
Ignoring the fact that her whole body was still responding to his
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kiss, Ariana managed to take a step back. "What the hell was that?" she demanded.
Palmer's face fell. "What?"
"You just kissed me," Ariana blurted. "I thought you had a girlfriend. I thought you were all in love. You stood there in the boat-house acting all holier-than-thou like you're some perfect, stand-up guy and then you--"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Palmer said, holding up both hands. "I just did that to help you out. That's all that was."
"Oh, you're such a martyr," she said sarcastically, knowing full well he'd enjoyed the kiss as much as she had. "I'm sure Lexa would see it that way if she found out."
"Wait. You're not going to tell her, are you?" he said, his eyes suddenly wide.
Ariana sighed. "No. Of course I'm not going to tell her. But it's not going to happen again."
Palmer looked momentarily, gratifyingly, disappointed. Ariana's heart flipped. She knew it. He had enjoyed it. Not that it mattered. Palmer was unavailable, untouchable, off limits. Lexa was too important.
But still. It was nice to be wanted.
"No. It's not gonna happen again," he said finally.
"Good. I think I can make it back to Cornwall on my own now, thanks," she said. "You should probably go find your actual girlfriend."
Then she turned and swiftly walked back to her dorm, already thinking ahead to a cold shower.
196
WORTHY
"Okay, people, listen up!" Tahira shouted, quieting the relatively boisterous crowd of gold team members who had gathered around the fountain on Friday morning. Tahira was wearing a red top and red and purple sarong-style skirt with gold embellishments all over. Red, no doubt, because it was a power color, and she clearly lived to remind everyone that she was in charge. "I called this little impromptu meeting because you guys are slacking!" she shouted. "I need at least ten more volunteers to work the event tonight, and you can't slough this off on the freshmen and transfers. They are all accounted for already! So rise to the occasion, juniors and seniors. Show some freaking leadership skills already."There were general groans and whispers among the crowd where Ariana stood with Brigit, Lexa, Soomie, and Landon.
"Yeah, Soom. Why don't you show some freaking leadership skills already?" Landon joked, running his hand up under Soomie's hair from behind and letting it all slide through his fingers.
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Soomie blushed and knocked his hand away in a flirtatious gesture. "God! Quit doing that!"
"Why?" Landon teased, doing it again. "You have the softest damn hair on terra firma."
Soomie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Because it tickles," she said, shoving him away again. Her blush was so bright she could have directed traffic with it. Ariana wondered what Maria would think if she were there. Then Soomie's BlackBerry beeped and she whipped it out and groaned. "Maria's nine-one-oneing me from the Hill. I'd better go. You girls coming?" she asked the group.
Ariana bit her tongue. She had a feeling that Maria was nowhere near the Hill, but had somehow seen what was going on and stopped it. Nice play.
"She didn't text me," Lexa said, checking her phone. "You go. Let us know if she needs more backup."
"Okay," Soomie said reluctantly, backing away from Landon. "See you later?" she said, raising her eyebrows.
"Actually, I'll come with," Landon said, pushing his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.
Soomie lit up at his words, even though Ariana was sure that Landon's offer was born out of concern for Maria rather than the desire to stay with Soomie. The two of them strolled off together.
"You guys wanna bounce?" Brigit suggested. "I'm sick of listening to this crap already."