Soar

“Two more months and we’re done with school. I’m sure you’ll find plenty of excuses to leave New Orleans.”

“Depends. Levi’s been keeping me busy.” I stretched my arms above my head. I needed to get a good work out in. That was probably Owen’s problem. Pterons tend to get cranky when we don’t get enough physical exercise. Maybe it’s because we descend from bird shifters—the whole stretch your wings thing.

“Yeah, because he was dumb enough to make you head of security.”

“You’re his chief advisor. What does that say about the new king?”

Owen grinned. “That he’s very well advised.”

“Let’s hope he doesn’t actually need your sorry ass.”

“I wouldn’t worry.”

“I’m not worrying. Levi doesn’t care about much that doesn’t involve Allie.” Levi had been my other roommate until recently. He’d gone from prince to king and was living in a mansion with his mate. Although I found Allie to be annoying when I first met her, she’d grown on me. We’d fallen into a weird sort of friendship that worked for us.

“Can you really blame him after all the hell he went through to get her?” Owen grabbed a soda from the fridge.

Allie put Levi through the ringer when he was trying to get her to become his queen. Her resistance had made him miserable, but in the end, I got the sense that it made them stronger.

“No…but eventually he’s got to get tired of f**king the same girl constantly, right?”

“That is the queen you’re talking about.”

“Really? I didn’t know that.” I got off the couch and headed into the kitchen.

“I’m just saying, Levi can’t get tired of her.”

“I’m just saying, eventually he’s going to have to come up for air.” I opened a beer.

Owen laughed. “I’m sure Levi would love to know you want his sex life to suck.”

“I don’t even want to talk about it anymore. We need to go do something though. Where do you want to go?”

“Isn’t the question who do you want to do? Are you looking for a tourist or a coed?”

“Does it matter?”

“Is this your version of depression? You no longer care what girl you screw?”

“Shut up, dip shit.”

“Not a chance.”

“Let’s go to The Boot.” I suggested Tulane’s “campus bar” not because I particularly enjoyed the atmosphere, but because it was the fall back option on Tuesdays. Fifty cent night made it a happening place.

“Why not.” Owen scooped his keys off the counter, knowing we wouldn’t be coming back together. When possible, I went home with the girl. It made it easier to slip out in the morning.

The Boot was as packed as usual, but it wasn’t hard to find a table. Humans tended to stay out of our way, thanks to a combination of good sense and our reputation.

“I’ll grab us a pitcher of something.” Owen headed for the bar while I took a seat at the table. I wasn’t looking forward to drinking the cheap beer, but it was all part of the experience.

“Hi.” A cute enough redhead walked over. I could see her group of friends watching her approach.

“Hi.” You never wanted to seem over eager.

“My friends and I were wondering if we could sit with you?” She twirled a strand of her hair around her finger nervously.

I glanced over at her friends. There was a blonde I wouldn’t mind talking to. “Sure.”

The girl ran back over to her friends, and they took seats just as Owen returned with two pitchers. “Glad I grabbed two.”

I gave him a look the girls probably didn’t notice. At least they’d kill the time.

“I’m Ava, and these are Jackie and Katie.” The redhead introduced her blonde and brunette friends. They each smiled shyly. Clearly, Ava was the outgoing one of the group, which explained why she approached me first.

“I’m Jared and this is Owen.” I nodded to Owen who was already getting lost in his glass.

“Cool. What year are you guys?” Ava moved her attention between the two of us.

“Seniors,” Owen answered without looking up.

“That’s awesome. Do you have cars?” The blonde, I couldn’t remember if that one was Jackie or Katie, asked.

Owen groaned quietly enough that only I could hear. These girls were freshman. At one time, I would have been glad for that. They were the easiest mark, but now I was tired of them. Maybe I was getting old.

I smiled at Owen and decided I might as well have some fun with them. “Yes, and we even have drivers licenses.”

Jackie or Katie laughed. “Yeah, we figured that.”

“That was a joke.” I poured myself a cup, not bothering to offer any to the girls. We wouldn’t be staying long.

Owen pulled out his cell. “Just got a text from Anne. She wanted to see if I could give her a ride to Target.”

I laughed. “And you’re going to do it, aren’t you?” Owen had a soft spot for this little friend of Allie’s.

“Am I doing anything more interesting here?” He spoke quietly, still concerned with hurting the feelings of the girls across from us. They were whispering, but I could hear them clearly. They were deciding whether they should ask if we had a third friend. What were they, twelve? If we’d been interested, sharing wouldn’t have been a problem.

“I’ll join you.” I pushed away my nearly untouched cup. “Excuse me, ladies.”

“Are you guys leaving?” Ava asked.

“Yeah, we’ve got to be somewhere. Enjoy the beer though.”

“Oh. Bye.” She didn’t bother to hide her disappointment. Either did I. Was I really choosing a Target run over flirting with girls?

Chapter Five

Casey

Rhett took a break from packing to ask me the same question for the millionth time. “Are you sure you’re feeling better? You still look a little out of it.”

“I’m fine. Just tired. You need to go on this trip.”

“I could probably postpone.” He tossed more clothes into his worn out black duffel. Even my luggage was in better shape.

“And what did you do before you started babysitting me?” I took a seat on the one clear spot on his double bed. For such a nerdy guy, Rhett liked his clothes. I packed lighter than he did.

He grunted something unintelligible involving frustration and my name.