Nic's Devotion: An Endless Series: Book One by Sara Hess Page B

her fingers to
her chest and widened her eyes dramatically.
         She was too adorable. “It really wouldn’t be a problem,
but that’s only if you feel comfortable enough to be off campus with me.” I
drove out of the parking lot.
         Her brows puckered. “I do trust you, and that’s saying
something because I don’t trust easily.”
         I had already guessed this about her, but to have her
say it made it more significant. I wanted her trust. 
         “So let me take you home. It’s one little ride, and not
to make you feel insignificant, but I have nothing better to do.” Come on,
say yes .
         She looked out her side window as I drove down Campus
Drive. I wondered what she was thinking. Reaching the corner near the bus stop
I heard her expel a deep breath.
          “Uhm, okay, thank you. That would be really nice.” She
turned to me with a tentative smile, and I got the impression that Carrie
wasn’t accustomed to people doing nice things for her which I had a hard time
believing. This girl was completely gorgeous and hella-sweet, you’d think
people would be bending over backwards to do nice things for her, especially
guys. All the beautiful women I knew habitually expected things to be done for
them as their due. 
         Carrie pointed to the right. “Go right. I live off
Vienna Dr. near the IGA. Do you know where that is?”
         The light was green so I turned right. “Yeah, I know
where it is.” And it wasn’t the greatest neighborhood. Is that one of the
reasons she’d hesitated? Was she embarrassed? Apart from her sexuality and
being somewhat shy she seemed pretty confident.
         “So you take the bus to school every day?” I asked. 
         “Yes, it’s not so bad. It would be a psychologists
dream. Some of the things I’ve seen you wouldn’t believe.” She laughed. “There
was this time when a group of five theater majors got on and acted out a scene
from ‘ Spaceballs ’, it was the funniest thing I’d ever seen.” She
chuckled in remembrance. I laughed at the idea of it, and imaged her sitting
there watching it and laughing. She had a great laugh.
         Something occurred to me that cut my amusement short
though. “When you worked at that restaurant did you take the bus home at
night?”
         “Yes,” she answered.
         My mood went immediately grave. “That doesn’t sound too
safe. You don’t know anyone that could have driven you, someone at the
restaurant that could have dropped you off?”
         “I’d only been working at the restaurant for two
months, and I don’t know a lot of people, and the bus is actually pretty safe, and I’m not even working at the restaurant anymore so don’t have a hissy about it.”
         I snorted at her harangue, but I wasn’t going to let it
go. “I may or may not agree that the bus is safe, but I do know walking alone
at night down the street is definitely dangerous. How far of a walk do you have
from the bus stop to your house?” I asked crossly. 
         She looked at me in surprise. I knew I was behaving
irrationally, but the thought of her walking at night, alone, in any
neighborhood set my teeth on edge. No girl should be walking the streets at
night alone.
         “I don’t know if I want to tell you?” She answered
crossing her arms over her chest. “I’ve lived in that neighborhood for three
years. I know it pretty well. I also know how to protect myself.”
         I rolled my eyes. “I hate it when girls say that. There
are so many incidents where you would not be able to protect yourself. Do I
really need to go through them all?”
         She turned to face me with a frown. “Are you really getting
angry at me because of the circumstances of my life? I have no choice but to
take the bus. I have no car, and I don’t have any close friends that I can ask
for a ride. These are the facts of my life, there’s no disputing them or
changing