Free Finding Us by Harper Bentley Page B

at me, a mix of emotions on his face. “Damn, Jag! That’d be awesome! We’d be back! Lewis and Clark at your service!” We both laughed again.
    He was referring to a nickname we’d been given in high school from Coach Martin, our baseball coach. Ross and I’d ridden together to a scrimmage our sophomore year and had gotten lost, not finding the field until an hour after the damned thing had started. Coach was pretty pissed that his first string battery (pitcher and catcher) were late and he’d started yelling at us, sarcastically calling us Lewis and Clark because we couldn’t find our way, and it’d stuck. We were never clear on which of us was Lewis or which was Clark, we just knew when he yelled it out, he meant us.
    And I’d been pissed at Dirk ever since he’d pulled that bullshit move on El, telling me I had to attend the party that’d been held by the company sponsoring the commercial with Alessandra, alone. As I said before, I hadn’t been happy about it, and I viewed it as huge part of what led to El and my downfall. So, when Ross was ready, Dirk would be hitting the road ASAP.
    “Would I have to move to California?” he asked.
    “I don’t care where you live,” I said with a grin. “As long as you do your part, it’s all good.”
    “That’s so cool, man. Thank you. As soon as my internship is over, I’ll be ready, I think. The guy I’m with is great. Bad thing is, he’s set me up at a modeling agency in the Artist Management division. No, I don’t get to work with hot models.” He answered my look of surprise. “I help negotiate deals with various companies on behalf of the agency. But it’s good experience. Damn, Mom and Dad are gonna flip out not to mention Rebecca. You’re gonna earn a gold star with her on this one.”
    God, I hoped so. Every guy knows his girl’s best friend’s approval is up there with gaining Nirvana or some shit. I just hoped he was right.
     
    I’d been downgraded to a Class B stalker. Welcome to my world.
    Later that morning, I was on Northwestern’s campus trying to figure out where El was having class. What can I say? I was bored. Since the campus was right on Lake Michigan, and there was, of course, a breeze coming off it, shock, I know, that that was actually occurring in the Windy City, I was freezing my ass off. Mom had taught me well because I even had on layers, but the t-shirt covered by a Dodgers hoodie all under a fatigue jacket just wasn’t getting it done. I had on a beanie to keep the old braincase warm, but had to shove my hands deep into my jeans pockets since I hadn’t brought gloves. Who knew it’d be eight billion degrees below zero in October. Jesus.
    As I walked, I called Ross to ask if he kn ew what building El might be in. I’d kind of gotten her schedule for the day. Okay, I’d absolutely gotten her schedule and knew what she’d be doing pretty much unto the hour, but I hadn’t planned anything beyond just watching her. Sick, I know. When he told me the physical therapy school was in Chicago and not Evanston, I hissed out a What? and wanted badly to punch a freshman who was walking by, making him look warily at me as he took a wide berth around me. Probably would’ve just broken my stupid, frozen hand anyway.
    Ross gave me the address of the school and I headed back to my SUV and drove south.
    And shock again. This campus was just off North Lake Shore drive, which was, of course, right on the lake too. Guess I’d gotten used to the warmer weather in LA and had turned into a pussy.
    I found the right building then, like the creeper that I was, and parked and waited. It wasn’t long before I saw her coming out with a guy and she was being awfully friendly with him. Shit. They stood and talked for a couple minutes before she tiptoed up, kissed his cheek then with a little wave and a smile walked toward where she’d parked her car.
    Uh. What?
    What the fuck was that? I watched the guy through narrowed eyes as he watched her