Pretending Hearts by Heather Topham Wood

take you in….”
    I shook off his grip and gave him an offended look. “What the hell? You assume I’m a bum trying to take up residence in the school’s library?”
    He didn’t say anything, but the answer was clear on his face. Between the bags and my frazzled appearance, he came to the most obvious conclusion. “You just told me you had nowhere to go,” he pointed out.
    “I had a fight with my roommate and I can’t go back to the dorms,” I clarified.
    He looked disappointed by the answer. I supposed a homeless girl in need of help required more sympathy than a disgruntled roommate. He walked back to the doorway and said, “Go to the housing office in the morning. But if you have nowhere else to go, you’ll probably just have to suck it up for the night and deal with the roommate.”
    “I can’t just ‘deal’ with it,” I huffed, using air quotes for emphasis. “You shouldn’t dispense advice when you have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    “Look, I was trying to be nice. I have gum to remove from under desks and soda cans to pick up and only five more hours to do it,” he said in a clipped voice. “The college doesn’t pay me enough to play therapist too.”
    My spine stiffened. “Like I need therapy from a janitor.”
    He smiled wryly. “We prefer the term custodial engineer.”
    “I’m leaving, so you can get back to work.” I stood up and started grabbing for my bags. Silently, Levi observed me and I guessed he didn’t trust me to leave on my own accord. The library contained three floors and I could probably spend the night ducking him if I wanted to. Finally, I brushed by him.
    As I stomped in the direction of the library’s main exit, I heard him behind me. I spun around. “I told you I was going.”
    “Where are you going?” He shoved both hands into his pants pockets. “I’m not comfortable with having you wander around campus in the middle of the night. There have been assaults before.”
    I stilled at his words. After a slight hesitation, I dug my cell phone out of my purse and ran my fingers over the buttons. I did have one other person besides my parents and brother to call, but using the number felt like a last resort. For the moment, I’d have to swallow my pride. Levi was watching me as I hit the call button and brought the phone to my ear.
    After five rings, I finally got an answer. “Hello?”
    “Hi, it’s Delia.” I paused and swallowed hard. “I need your help.”
     
    ***
     
    On the library steps, I awaited my ride. Levi decided to accompany me and I didn’t stop him. His words about there being assaults on campus rattled me. After I ended my call, he claimed it was almost time for his break. After grabbing a brown bag left on top of his maintenance cart, he followed me out into the cool evening. I sat on the steps with my elbows resting on my knees. Levi climbed on top of the retaining wall next to the steps. I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye as he swung his legs back and forth.
    The campus was quiet—too quiet for my noisy thoughts. I turned to Levi and found him watching me. His face was obstructed by the shadows, but I could still make out his soulful eyes. He was the antithesis of Wyatt: darker hair and eyes with a paler complexion. He had rolled up the sleeves of his uniform and I could make out some ink on his biceps and left forearm. He was lean and tall, but not wiry.
    The fact of the matter was Levi was incredibly hot and I’d taken notice. Above all, I was pleased that prick Wyatt hadn’t left me heartbroken. If he’d meant anything to me, I wouldn’t be scoping out the sexy janitor.
    “So, Delia…” Levi started. “What year are you?”
    “Freshman,” I replied. I sighed as I twisted my body to face him. “Sorry, about my bitchiness earlier. I’ve had a rough day.”
    “Do you want to talk about it?” He laughed, low and deep. “I mean I’m only a janitor , but maybe you need an outside perspective.”
    I