Distracted By You: Book 1 in The Exeter Running Girls Series

further down the spectrum, though I was still pissed off.
I pushed off the wall and paced round in a tight circle on the pavement. Leonora had been very kind about my parents’ divorce, offering support when I needed it, but I hadn’t revealed to her that divorcing parents are obviously strapped for spare case, and student loans don’t cover much either. I did not have enough money for an expensive taxi ride and to still be able to buy food for the rest of January. To be honest, I preferred the idea of being able to eat.
Perhaps it was time I got a job.
“Taxis aren’t cheap,” I could hear the whine in my voice, it must have sounded pathetic.
“Please, I’ll owe you a million.”
Well, we both knew she wasn’t coming back at this rate. She was too drunk to drive and god knows what she had planned with Mr Something Special. She was really pleading with me not to be too angry.
“Fine.” I scuffed the ground with my shoes, watching as the grit flew up from the pavement around my black heeled boots.
“Thank you, thank you!” Her voice was delighted down the phone. “See you, hun.”
“Damn, you hun!” I muttered, ensuring I had definitely hung up the phone first. My gaze drifted up to the night sky as I stretched my neck, but there were far too many orange streetlamps and car headlights to see the stars. It looked like I was walking back to halls. It would take about an hour from this side of the city centre, but it wasn’t as though I had a choice. I could stick to fully lit roads and I’d get there eventually.
“In need of a ride?” A voice walked past my shoulder. I turned round sharply at the deep voice – it was Tyler Aritza, swinging his car keys and walking straight out to his car parked in one of the spots in front of the bar. It was a smart car, a BMW with tinted windows. It seemed the guy had money in the family.
I looked round on the pavement, there was no one else he could be talking to.
“You offering?” My voice high with surprise. I coughed surreptitiously, trying to remove the sudden squeak.
He popped the keys and opened the car door, looking up and catching my gaze with his dark eyes.
“I was. You coming?”
I couldn’t get in a car with him, no chance. For one thing, I didn’t know the guy, so he was still sort of a stranger. I may have been beginning to sober up, but the tipsy part of my mind thought I might just go giggly all over him if I got in that car anyway. I was smart enough to know it would not be a clever plan.
“No thanks, I’m going to walk,” I moved away from the car, crossing my arms over my body to shield from the cold and what had just happened. I started walking down the path, but the guy was not going to give up easily.
“First year, right?” He leaned his elbows on the roof of the car, drawing me to look back and find his eyes in the tinted orange streetlights.
“Yep,” I stopped, curious as to where this was going.
“So you live in the campus halls?”
“Yep again.”
“That’s an hour’s walk easily.” He shook his head.
“I’m a good walker,” it seemed Tipsy Me wanted to sound stupid tonight.
“I’m sure you are, but wouldn’t you rather be home quicker than that? You’d also be walking through the dodgy end of town. Dark night, girl walking be herself. It’s asking for trouble.”
I suddenly felt all my feathers ruffled at the insinuation.
“If a girl is attacked it is not her fault.”
“I didn’t mean that,” he shook his head and his dark eyes held mine, imploring me to believe him. “Believe me, I would never say that. Yet the world is not always a nice place.”
“Are you trying to be chivalrous?” I cocked an eyebrow, surprised by this turn.
“Maybe,” he smirked, slightly pleased with himself. “I just don’t like taking the risk. Do you?” His tall frame climbed into the car, not pushing me any further. His new tactic made me hesitate on the path. Neither did I move towards the car or away. Seeing me pause, he leaned over to the passenger side and popped the car door open, swinging it so the streetlamp light bounced off the paint of the door.
He waited, just sat inside the car where I could no longer see his face.
Maybe three toffee apple ciders had influenced me more than I thought. I found my feet walking back to the car and pretty soon I had climbed inside.
“Alright,” I huffed with a sigh. “Before we go, have you been drinking?” I asked warily as he put the key in the ignition, his profile coming into focus in the darkness of the car.
“Only half a pint two hours ago so you’re safe with me.”
Safe? The nerves in my stomach did not agree! If nerves were little people they were standing on each other’s shoulders, causing a ruckus and commotion.
He backed out of the space as I attempted to convince my cider-hazy mind to look at the road and not at him.
“So, are you going to tell me your name yet?” His dark voice was gravelly in the confined space of the car.
“You never asked,” my eyes seemed out of control as they drew back to watch him drive. His left hand rested lazily on the gearstick; his right was placed at the top of the steering wheel.
“Maybe not,” he winced, perhaps recalling the memory of when Leonora had been whispering about him. “But I do remember hinting for it.”
“Not the same thing,” I half laughed. “It’s Ivy.” I closed my eyes,