Out Of The Ashes Read Online Free

are at the bar. Have another.”
     
    I walked away, shaking my head.
     
    What was wrong with me? I turned around, thinking maybe I should take Hannah back to my room and snap out of it.
     
    Then the balcony door opened, and my bookstore girl walked into the room, looking like my every fantasy come to life.
     

 
     
     
     
    Four

    Paige
     
    I stood there a moment, my mouth hanging open, before I turned and closed the balcony door behind me. I also took a moment to count backwards from ten before turning back around to face the guy I’d met at the bookstore a few days ago. Clay.
     
    I knew he went to school here, but I honestly hadn’t expected to run into him again so soon.
     
    And now he was walking toward me.
     
    “Hey,” he said.
     
    “Hey,” I answered, smoothing my too-short mini self-consciously. Why had I let Gillian talk me into wearing it? My scars were visible everywhere. And I had never wanted to hide them as much as I did right now.
     
    He let his eyes run from my face and down my body, traveling slowly to my wedge heels and back up again. When his eyes met mine they were…what? Was that interest? As in…attraction? To me?
     
    “So, I didn’t get to introduce myself the other day, did I?” he asked with the ghost of a grin on his face.
     
    “No, you did. In between bouts of making fun of me,” I answered. I smiled, against my will.
     
    “Oh I wasn’t making fun,” he quipped. “I was teasing. There’s a difference. Don’t you know boys tease girls they like?”
     
    My eyes widened. Was he teasing me now? He couldn’t like me. He didn’t even know me.
     
    “I think I’ve heard that somewhere,” I said cautiously. “I’m Paige Hill.”
     
    I stuck out my hand for him to shake.
     
    He took it, holding it in both of his. “Again, I’m Clay Forbes. I live here.”
     
    “Oh, you do?” I scanned the room, searching for Gillian. “Then you probably know my roommate, Gillian.”
     
    Recognition crossed his face. He did know her.
     
    “You’re the roommate?” he asked. “Damn. I knew I should have gone out to that balcony.”
     
    Whoa. This guy, Clay, was acting all kinds of flirtatious tonight.
     
    “I’m guessing you’re this sweet to all the girls,” I assessed, rolling my eyes.
     
    As if on cue, a stumbling redhead boasting a voluptuous body currently poured into a short black dress staggered out of the kitchen, red cup clutched in her hand.
     
    Ew. She was drinking the trash can punch.
     
    She spied me talking to Clay and looked me up and down with bloodshot eyes. She made a beeline in our direction, and I could smell the drama rolling off of her in waves. Not to mention the liquor.
     
    I took a step back. Clay noticed, and took a step closer to me. What was his deal?
     
    “Hey babycakes, you come to your senses yet?”
     
    She leaned into him, her large breasts squishing against his arm, and bile rose in my throat. She whispered loudly enough for me to hear every word. “Let’s. Go. To. Bed.”
     
    Oh. So he was exactly what I though he was. A player. A man-whore, even. I spotted Gillian across the room and veered off in her direction.
     
    I made it to the group of girls before Clay caught up. Why did he bother?
     
    “Hey,” he said. “Where are you going? I thought we were talking.”
     
    “Uh,” I said. “Well, we can be done. You seem…busy? With that girl, maybe?”
     
    You know, the one who was my opposite in every way?
     
    “It was nice to meet you, Clay. Again.”
     
    I turned to Gillian, who was watching us curiously.
     
    “Do you know Clay?” she asked.
     
    I shook my head. “No. Not really.”
     
    “Hey,” he interjected, still standing there. “I’m offended. We officially do know each other now. And I wanted to talk some more. Get to know you a little.”
     
    I gazed at Gillian, hoping she could read the panic in my eyes.
     
    She could, of course. “Clay, you don’t talk. You do. I’m sure Hannah is waiting