Exposure Read Online Free PDF Page B

a tank top, she
doesn’t even look at me as I walk past her. Recently she cut her
straight hair super short so she didn’t even have to style it
between rolling out of bed and getting to work. The cut fits her
face nicely, I just wish she’d actually look at me more so I could
see how it looks from the front.
    I sit on the couch next to her,
wrapping my arm around her shoulder as she continues to clack away
at her keyboard. She’s emailing someone—must be a
client.
    “ You going out?” she
said.
    “ Yeah,” I scratch my head.
“I am. You wouldn’t want to come to a seminar on mitochondria and
metabolism, would you?”
    “ I’d love to,” she says
with such a straight face that I can’t tell if she’s being
sarcastic or just not paying attention. “But these clients are
murdering me.”
    I kiss right beneath her ear. “How
about I pick up a bottle of pinot on the way home and we can forget
about our clothes for the night?”
    She turns to face me, pecking me
quickly on the lips. “Maybe, babe. You know I’d love for nothing
more. But this client is paying this month’s rent.”
    I sigh, and slide my arm from her.
“I’ll be back in a few hours.”
    She says nothing as a leave the
apartment. Connecting with Tricia lately has been difficult. She
loves her job and works hard at it, mainly because we’re both
buried in student loans and rent in this area isn’t exactly cheap.
It’s why she pushed for me to audition for EPE. Maybe, if the gig
actually gives me a solid paycheck, she’ll be able to work less and
things can go back to being like how they were when we started
dating three years ago. Passionate. Somewhat interesting. More
action with her than with my hand.
     
    ^^^^
     
    The parking lot near the science
building is packed when I get to school. This guy is a big deal,
but I didn’t realize that every department in sciences and
mathematics would be attending.
    When I enter the building, I push
through people near the auditorium and hurry up to the biology
office to check my mailbox before the event. As I’m leaving,
sifting through papers that one of my professors dropped off for me
to grade, I don’t notice the person darting through the
hallway.
    I manage to hold onto my
papers as her shoulder connects with mine, but she drops her books.
They’re some of the published theory from the lecturer
I— we —are about to
attending.
    “ Shit,” she mutters,
stooping to pick them up.
    “ Damnit, I’m so sorry.” I
bend down to pick up a book that flew extra far. She grabs it at
the same time, and I look up at her.
    She wears these chunky
hipster glasses with dark blue frames, her dark hair piled on top
of her head in a messy bun. He t-shirt says, Dear Algebra, Stop asking us to find your X. She’s not coming
back. And when our eyes meet, her
expression morphs to terror. We both simultaneously stand, staring
at each other.
    “ Rylan?”
    She slaps me hard across the
face.

Chapter Four
    Evan
     
    I can lose him in this
crowd.
    There are enough people in the hall to
dart around and get away from Dallas. Night class must just be
starting. I rush away from him and around the corner, but he’s
desperate to keep up with me.
    “ Rylan!” he shouts again.
“What the hell was that for?”
    I spin on my heel to face
him. “Are you and idiot? Don’t you ever call me that name at school
again!” I hiss.
    And then it dawns on him.
“Oh.”
    I scoff and march away from him, but
he doesn’t get the hint. Right on my tail, he asks, “So what am I
supposed to call you, then?”
    I give in, halting and leaning against
the hallway wall. People rush out of classrooms and down to the
auditorium. The symposium’s going to start at any moment. I’m going
to get a terrible seat. “Nothing, Dallas. You’re supposed to call
me nothing, because you aren’t supposed to run into me on campus.
People shouldn’t see us together.”
    He narrows those gorgeous blue eyes of
his. “Why?”
    I sigh. I really