Free RECKLESS - Part 3 (The RECKLESS Series) by Alice Ward Page A

sharing the Battle of the Band results; Marcus promised to get back to me within the next twenty-four hours, which was better than a no.
    Classes dragged on, even more so than usual. Taking notes was a lost cause. Listening to anything my instructors had to say was pointless. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get rid of that nagging feeling, that sensation tugging at the back of my brain that something was wrong.
    Over lunch, I sent a text to Becca, just to be sure she was okay.
    Call me. Want to make sure you made it back okay.
    Just as I was sitting down to eat my chicken salad on rye, she walked in through the cafeteria doors. I thought the feeling would let up once I saw her in person, but it didn’t. At least I’d be able to talk to her; maybe she’d have some ideas on what in the world my problem might be.
    I went to send her another text, but she’d already spotted me and was flagging me down. She joined me with her tray just a few minutes later.
    “Hey, I’m here. Sort of,” she said, taking the seat next to me. Judging by her smudged makeup, raccoon eyes and splotchy skin, she’d definitely had a little too much fun the night before.
    “What the hell? Did you get hit by a semi?” I asked, only half-joking.
    She stuck her tongue out at me. “Shut up.”
    “Seriously, Becca, if you were any greener, we’d have to rename you Kermit. What happened?”
    “After Denny’s, we all met up at the bar where Robert was at. Did you know that your average rocker can kill a bottle of Jim Beam in less than two hours?” she asked, lifting her eyebrows. “You do now. And so do I. Those guys drank me under the table, and you know that’s not easy.”
    “Oh, my,” I said, my eyes going wide at the thought of them driving after all of that drinking. “Did you call a cab?”
    Becca rolled her eyes at me, but the wince she gave after told me the movement hurt. “Yeah,” she said, grasping her head between her thumb and index finger. “You should know me better than that, chick. Anyway, we went to Zane’s and I crashed there.”
    “Have fun?”
    “No,” she said, the disappointment evident on her face. “I passed out in the taxi, apparently.”
    “Fuck, sorry, girl.”
    Becca lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug. “We’re seeing each other tonight anyway.”
    “You sure you’re going to feel up to it?” I asked, lifting a doubting eyebrow.
    “Yep, staying hydrated.” She lifted her water. “And taking a nap after class.” After taking a few bites of her sandwich she sat back in her chair and shoved the plate away. “So what about you and sex on legs? How’d that go?”
    “Weird,” I said, not really sure if I should tell her all the sordid details.
    “Weird how?”
    I bit at the inside of my cheek for a bit before answering. “I went into a little Sean episode,” I confessed. Becca opened her mouth like she was about to speak but I lifted my hand to stop her. “And I asked about his ex.”
    “Shit, Andy. You really know how to kill a date, don’t you?” Becca asked.
    “I know.” I stared down at my plate, trying to figure out why it was I kept sabotaging things with Jace, why I felt this need to push him away. First it was the issue with whether or not he was going to drop me when he got tired of me. Now it was this. “At this rate, I’ll be lucky if he can’t stand six days of me, let alone six weeks.”
    “So what’s the deal? I mean, really?” Becca leaned forward and placed her head in her hands. “I know there’s the whole Sean thing, but Andy, it was falling apart way before you met Jace.”
    “I know. I think I’m just so confused about where my life is going now,” I said. “It’s like, one minute, I thought it was going to look like one thing, and now—now I have no idea what it’s going to look like next week, let alone next year.”
    “Honey, life’s like that for all of us. Shit happens. You adapt.”
    “But what if I don’t?”
    “You