The alarm clock rang, not that it needed to because Lola hadn't slept for more than an hour after she nodded off. She was staring up at the ceiling with her phone lying on her chest. Clay's message was still very much in the front of her mind and occupied her thoughts-his face when she first met him, the way his eyes glinted, and how he held his own with Jax. There was something curious about him, something she wanted to get to know.
However, then there was the other part of her that wondered why she had caught his interest. She always kept her head down to draw as little attention to herself as possible, and people rarely showed interest in her.
And, of course, the other little detail that kept being pushed aside but then rose like a tornado and sunk her heart was that she was married to a werewolf.
* * *
Lola got dressed and walked downstairs, where Jax was waiting for her. They got in the car and drove to school without much conversation. She hadn't seen him after he had brought up her food last night.
When they reached the university, Jax grabbed her arm and softly held her still.
"I need to talk to the dean, but I'll see you in class later," he explained. She didn't understand why he felt the need to explain, but she nodded and took off to class.
Jax disappeared up the stairs to the dean's hall.
Lola grabbed her bags and passed the students on her way to the first class. To her surprise and delight, she was the first one there. Not even the professor had shown up.
She let the door slowly close behind her and relished in the silence. A smile tugged on her lips as she went to the back of the class without any eyes following her. She put her books down, and as she sat down and leaned back, her eyes caught the door slowly opening.
Clay stepped in, and the door shut behind him. He wasn't holding any books, and his eyes scanned the big room in one quick sweep.
He smiled as his eyes locked with Lola's, and he walked back to where she was sitting.
"It's you," he mused and sat beside her.
"It is." She smirked and leaned forward, placing her arms on the desk. Lola pressed her nail in the crease that someone had carved. "How did you get my number?" she asked and carefully looked up at him.
Clay grinned and awkwardly answered, "I asked the dean to give it to me."
Lola leaned back with a questioning gaze. "He's not allowed to give out students personal information," she informed.
Clay tilted his head back and forth. "No, I know, but I can be very persuasive. I'm sorry if you felt that I vialated your privacy by doing so." He saw that she was still in inner turmoil. "How about this," he said and picked up his phone.
He moved his chair closer to hers and showed Lola his screen. Clay took up her contact information and pressed delete. Everything disappeared. He then scooted back to his place and waited a beat before turning back to her.
"I know we don't know each other very well, but you intrigue me. Could I have your number so we can get to know each other better?" he asked as though he hadn't texted her last night.
Lola laughed at the gesture and felt a flutter in her core.
"Why not," she said and proceeded to give him her number.
He put it in his phone and sent her a simple message.
Hi, this is Clay.
She couldn't help the jittering as she pulled up her phone and added him to her contacts. However, as soon as she was done, she was hit with a thunderous pang of guilt over the fact that she was still tied to another man, at least legally.
"Is everything all right?" Clay's voice dripped with worry, and he leaned in. He placed a comforting hand over hers and looked deep into her eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She looked at his name on her phone. By chance, her eyes glanced at the clock in the upper right corner of the screen. "Where is everyone?" she whispered mostly to herself when she saw that class should've started ten minutes ago.
The door remained closed, and the silence that had brought her peace before was now starting to creep around her.
"Maybe we're in the wrong classroom," Clay said and looked at his watch.
Lola shook her head. "No, this is Mr. Adam's classroom. It always has been." She grabbed her things and went past the row of empty seats.
Clay followed her out of the classroom into the empty halls.
"This is so weird," she said, again not expecting anyone to answer her.
"They're probably just in another classroom. We can just wait it out. Do you like coffee?"
Lola looked up at Clay and shrugged a shoulder. "Sure, let's get coffee."
They walked out of the school and turned down to the Lilac café, which was on campus.
Nobody was in there, seeing as everyone was in class, and Lola couldn't stop wondering how she missed that they had changed classrooms today. Mr. Adams was a strict old man. If you were more than three minutes late, you weren't allowed in. He'd set the three-minute mark after checking himself how long it took to walk from the furthest locker to his classroom.
"Two coffees, please."
The barista, Clarissa, nodded and poured coffee into two cups. Clarissa was a fellow student but on days when she didn't have class or seminars, she would work here to earn her own money. She was the daughter of Professor Adams but they were solar opposites. Clarissa was a ray of sunshine whilst Professor Adams was cranky and stern. Clarissa knew that Lola took her coffee with cream but Clay denied any in his own.
Clay paid, and they went to sit by the window.
Lola was checking her phone to see if she had missed the email about the change, but there was nothing there.
"So weird," she said and took a sip from the coffee.
Clay taped on his screen and put the phone in his jeans pocket.
Since they were here, Lola figured that she might as well get to know him. "How'd you end up in Wild Cliff?" she asked.
Clay drew a breath and began explaining. "I'm from San Fransisco. My parents both live there and work at the company they founded before I was born. My dad hoped I'd join them there, and he wanted to groom me to take over, but I wasn't interested in working with packaging. I realized that I didn't know what I wanted to do, so I figured a change of scenery might help with that. Someone told me about Wild Cliff that it was a small town with a lot of character, safe and homey, so I decided to try it out."
"And how do you like it so far?" Clay gazed into Lola's eyes.
"I'm beginning to see the charm," He said and enjoyed how Lola's cheeks grew rosy.
Clay smiled. His eyes flickered behind Lola and turned a shade darker as his body stiffened. Lola saw the change. She watched as his eyes locked with something else and slowly turned her head to see who had come in.
"Jax." She stood up from the chair.
He wasn't acknowledging her. He watched Clay slowly rise from the chair.
"Jax?" Lola repeated.
The tension was rising rapidly, and she watched as Clay moved in closer.
She gulped as Jax lowered his gaze and narrowed his eyes on hers.
"We met yesterday. Clay Hall," he said to break the silence.
Jax stepped around Lola and pushed his chest out. "Leave." It was a cold, short word that shifted the dominance between the two guys.
Clay, however, didn't fold to his authority. "I think that's up to Lola," Clay said softly and looked down at her.
"Leave. I'll see you in class."
Clay nodded and walked toward the door. He cast one last look at her before exiting the café.
Jax turned around and looked at the lone barista behind the counter. "You leave too," he ordered.
Clarissa gulped and scurried out the door.
"Jax?" she asked again.
He walked over to the door and turned the lock. The sound rang loud in Lola's ears. Jax pulled the shades, and they fell, covering the windows.
"What are you doing?" she said under her breath.
When he turned back to her, his eyes were obsidian. There wasn't a flicker of recognition in them.
Lola stepped back, her hip pressed into the corner of the table behind her.
"What were you doing with him?" Jax asked as he walked slowly toward her.
"Having coffee," she explained and tried to remain calm.
Jax clenched his jaw and turned his head as a vein in his neck grew bigger. His wolf was fighting him.
"You're scaring her," Landon growled.
"It's not fear..." he said and locked Lola down with his gaze. "It's guilt," he explained to his wolf and pressed him back.