Impossibly Forever: Two Books in One (Impossibly Duology) (2 page)

  
Branden snorted, “Easy for you to say.” He made every word sound sexy without
trying. Or was it me letting my guard down? “Caroline’s still a startup
designer, she was working as an assistant. Her clothing line probably hasn’t
piqued interest yet so she most likely still needs her job—”

  
“Please,” It was my time to interrupt him. I ignored Professor Durant’s
motioning to take back control of the class by clearing his throat
repetitively. “If she hadn’t piqued anyone’s interest, her boss wouldn’t have
found out to begin with. Some buyer probably saw the name of the company she
worked for and wanted to learn more about her. Trust me, Caroline has no case
and should move on.”

  
After concluding, I stared at Branden long and hard. In return, he was trying
to charm me with a passionate look in his aquatic eyes. That smart ass sneer he
flashed me when Professor Durant said we both had a point made me shudder. I
knew the type of guy he was, though, the kind of games they liked to play. I
would not be fooled by his façade.

  
Still, I was somewhat bothered by Branden’s attractiveness. I even had trouble
steering away from his magnetic gaze until Durant’s voice zoomed in and filled
the room. “I look forward to reading your papers on a similar topic I’m about
to pass out. Nothing difficult or too overwhelming, simply state your opinion
in 500 words. No more, no less,” he explained, as he sent around the handouts.

  
Professor Durant quickly moved into the next topic for discussion, and I felt
lucky he didn’t call on me again for the remainder of class. I also managed to
unchain myself from whatever it was that made Branden get under my skin.

  
The period came to an end, and I exhaled an air of relief as I made my way out
the door. I never anticipated talking to Branden McCarthy before or after
class, so I couldn’t fathom why he was hurrying to catch up with me before I
went up the stairs to the next class.

  
“Hey, Moya,” he jerked my elbow slightly as he reached my side.

  
Turning to face him, I gave Branden an uninterested look. “Yes?”

  
His jaw twitched nervously. “Look, I hope you didn’t take any of that
personally. I mean, it was only a class discussion. Not everyone is going to
agree with each other, you know.”

  
Branden eyed me up-and-down strangely. Like, he had another motive for stopping
me besides to apologize, which he didn’t have to.

  
“It’s no big deal,” I said nicely, turning to leave.

  
“Wait.” He moved around and stood in front of me, his eyes lighting up like the
stars. “I was wondering if you’d like to go out with me sometime?”

  
Branden waited patiently for an answer.

  
For a fleeting second, I pondered on whether or not I should be polite in my
response. But I couldn’t help it. I let out a chuckle. His idea of me actually
going on a date with him was too funny. Not even his hotness could prevent me
from saying what I said next, “Not interested.”

  
I brushed past Branden. He gasped as I walked up the flight of stairs and
turned the corner. Several guys before him had reacted in the same way. Each
one stood stunned.

  
How could I’ve turned them down? Simple: I didn’t trust men. My hurtful past
with one in particular prevented me from doing so.

  
Branden McCarthy would be added to the list of guys who now knew the notorious
Moya Douglas was that kind of girl: one who wouldn’t give guys the chance to
deceive my heart with that silly emotion called love. It had already betrayed
me deeply, a long time ago.

CHAPTER TWO

Branden

  
Moya turned me down
. I wasn’t surprised. It was only my second week of
seeing her around campus and I could already tell what kind of girl she was.
Not that I wanted to make any assumptions, but she didn’t seem like the type to
say yes even if she wanted to. Still, from the way Moya glanced back at me in
class, I knew I was starting to affect her somehow, which fueled my hope that
soon she’d agree to go out with me.

  
Moya Douglas was a challenge I had never taken on before, because I’d only
dated one girl throughout high school.

  
There was something alluring about her, not only her hourglass figure and
hypnotizing beauty, but there was definitely something that drew me in like a
magnet.

  
Back at the dorm, relaxing in bed, I tucked my hand behind my head on the
pillow as thoughts of Moya consumed my mind. So far, I had discerned three
things from noticing her in class:

  
One: Moya was well-guarded.

  
Two: She questioned everything. Even if the facts were clear and concise.

  
Three: There was a part of her holding back, which contradicted the way Moya
fought to prove her point, especially when I debated her in class that morning.

  
But in spite of her hardness, her personality intrigued me. I was eager to
learn more. I had to find a way to break down her wall.

  
The sound of keys jingling as the door unlocked brought me back to earth.
Warren poked his head in halfway. I knew what that meant.

  
“Hey, dude,” he whispered, “you mind giving me and my girl some time alone?”

  
“Sure.” I hopped off the bed, grabbing my grey sweater from the small closet we
shared, along with my backpack off the floor.

  
“Thanks,” Warren grinned and gave me a fist pump as I opened the door to leave.

  
Selene sashayed past me behind Warren, closing the door quickly as I stepped
outside. She could hardly walk in her tight mini black dress and high heels.
Her flirtatious giggles reminded me of the other girl from last week. I could
already perceive the kind of guy my roommate was. Whatever the case, it was
none of my business.

  
I headed over to the library—which was less than two minutes from my dorm—to
finish my Statistics homework. Scoping out an empty spot in the lounge to
chill, a natural beauty caught me by surprise.

  
There was Moya, as captivating as ever, stopping me in my tracks. I struggled
to recover my cool. The rich, golden-honey tone of her skin glowed in the
ceiling light. Her thick black curls begged my fingers to twist every strand
across my flesh. Damn, she was the epitome of unearthly beauty.

  
Swallowing hard, I walked over to her table. Moya kept her eyes lowered as she
took notes from the humongous textbook in front of her. I cleared my throat to
draw her attention and nearly jumped out of my skin when she glared up at me
with anger.

  
Her chocolate brown eyes bewitched me. Moya’s fierceness made me smile. That
only pissed her off more.

  
“What?” she asked, irritatingly.

  
Settling my backpack down on a chair at the table, I asked, “May I sit with
you—”

  
Right away Moya said, “No,” her voice solid and without hesitation. There was
something exquisitely sexy about her deep and sultry tone. I would enjoy having
her whisper sweet words in my ear at nights.

  
She went back to writing. Instead of walking away, I pulled out a chair and sat
down.

  
Moya looked up at me, surprised and annoyed. “What are you doing? I said no.
Now go away.” She even emphasized by pointing her pen in the direction of the
exit.

  
“Well, this is not only a place shared by students it’s also my favorite spot
to study. Since it’s a large table and there aren’t any names written down, I
think I’ll stay.”

  
My assertion enraged her even more. Placing her pen down in the middle of one
of the textbooks, Moya sank back in her chair and folded her arms across her
chest. Oh yeah, she was definitely fuming and getting ready to light my ass on
fire with that biting tongue of hers.

  
As she examined me carefully with her enthralling eyes, I couldn’t help but do
the same. I glanced down to her mouth and envisioned kissing her lips
intensely.

  
Amidst my admiring her sexiness, I noticed a gold necklace with a butterfly
locket pendant reminiscent of the one my dad bought my Mom for Christmas last
year. The details seemed exact, right down to the ivory glaze. The owner said
they were unique to his jewelry store. Did that mean Moya was from Berlin
Heights? Baltimore wasn’t far from Harrington, so we could hang out on weekends
easily if she went home. Yeah, right. I was way ahead of myself. She hadn’t
even given me a shot yet.

  
“Do you like me or something?” Moya finally asked, disrupting my thoughts.

  
As I carried my eyes back up to meet hers, I nearly choked on my voice. “Well,
I would like to get to know you.”

  
Moya unfolded her arms, bending over the table on top of the books with a
questioning look. I admired her full lips as she parted them and asked
sarcastically, “Why is that?”

  
Honesty was my best policy. “You seem so closed off,” I explained. “I’d like to
get you to open up a bit.”

  
That didn’t go well with her. Moya jumped up, slammed the books shut, and
clutched them to her chest as she struggled to carry them all back at once. I
wasn’t trying to upset her. Still, those flares of intensity surging through
her shields only made me want her more.

  
I shot up to help Moya gather her things. She brushed my hand away. “I don’t
need any man’s help. Give it a rest. We both know what you really want me to
open.” She lifted a brow and eyed me up and down suspiciously. Her body, on the
other hand, slanted with hesitation, as if she was finding it hard to walk
away.

  
“What?” I held my hands in the air as defense and backed up a few steps. 
“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

  
She rolled her eyes and walked off, mumbling. That was another failed attempt at
communicating with Moya Douglas. Wow, I was turned down twice in one day. My
pride was wounded by her pre-judging me. I wasn’t like my roommate. Warren was
the type of guy who ditched girls once he got them out of their clothes and
into his bed.

  
I was far from being that guy. But even though Moya was so hard to get through
to, I became even more determined to prove to her I was different. I was
adamant on making her mine.

CHAPTER THREE

Moya

  
After classes ended on Thursday
, I stopped by Vanessa’s dorm to hang out
before going shopping. More precisely, she wanted to shop, I was tagging along
because I wanted to find a weekend job at Sheppard’s Plaza near school.

  
While idling in her room, I told Vanessa about Branden and his mission to
torment me. 

  
“It’s because he can’t have you, all guys are like that. They love a good
chase.” Vanessa resolved.

  
I exhaled, falling onto her bed. “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t know why he’s
pursuing me though. Talking ‘bout how I seem so closed off. Who does he think
he is to say that to me? He doesn’t even know me.”

  
Vanessa sat down on the edge of the bed. “He kinda has a point, though.”

  
“What?” I got up fast. “You agree with him? Nessa, I’m not closed off.” My best
friend was taking a guy’s side over mine?

  
She said, “Girl, you haven’t had a boyfriend since like forever. You refuse to
date and you diss every opportunity. So, yes, I have to agree with this
Branden. You are closed off and somewhat angry, too. If only you could see the
way you stare at people sometimes. Like, the way you’re staring at me right
now.”

  
The way Vanessa squinted and puckered her lips made me laugh. Her teasing was
adorable.

  
I poked her in the side playfully, then hopped off the bed and walked over to
the full body mirror on the closet door to check my hair. “Where’s your roomie,
anyway?” I inquired to change the subject. “I swear, I never see her whenever I
come here. Not sure if I’ve seen her since the day you moved in.”

  
Vanessa groaned before answering, “I don’t know. That girl’s on some serious
power trip. I can’t stand her.” She shot up from the bed and walked over to me,
throwing her arm over my shoulder. “After this semester, girl, I’m finding a
way for you and me to room together. Why didn’t you do that in the first
place?”

  
I turned, giving Vanessa a tap on the forehead, then joked, “Because I refuse
to share a room with someone who snores.”

  
She puffed. “Whatever.”

  
I glided over to the chair by her desk and collapsed into it, resting my chin
on the back. Vanessa remained in front of the mirror, admiring her impressively
done braids with burgundy highlights, transfixed in her thoughts.

  
“Hmm…his name does sound familiar, though. Branden McCarthy? Branden McCarthy?”
she repeated.

  
“What the hell! Stop saying his name,” I squealed.

  
Vanessa spun and blurted, “The hockey player?”

  
My head sprang up. “He’s on the hockey team? I didn’t know that.” I was
surprised, yet curious. Branden never gave me the impression he played sports.
Well, his body did seem somewhat athletic.

  
“Oh, not here at Easton U,” she clarified, turning back to the mirror to
reapply lip-gloss. “But he was pretty good from what I’ve heard. He played at
Harrington High School. What’s his major anyway, and how come he’s not playing
anymore?”

  
So Branden was from Harrington. I guessed he didn’t want to travel far from
home to go off to college. Like me, he stayed within the state of Maryland.
Only I traveled nearly fifty minutes from my home, while he probably lived five
minutes away.

  
Still, Vanessa was asking questions I couldn’t answer and it seemed she knew a
lot more about him than I did.

  
I shook my head. “No idea. I didn’t know you cared for hockey much less kept
tabs on players.”

  
Vanessa strutted over and grabbed her red satchel off the desk. “Girl, my
boyfriend’s on the Easton U Tigers Basketball team. Most of the parties here
are attended by members from other sports teams. Of course I’m gonna hear about
Branden, especially if he was good.”

  
She knelt down and tapped my nose. “Plus, the last party I went to, which you
failed to attend, Branden was there and some chick wouldn’t stop going on about
him. I think his family’s loaded and she wants a piece of that. Whatever, let’s
not waste the rest of the day. It’s time to go shopping!”

  
Vanessa clutched my hand and hauled me off the chair, tugging me out the door
as I left my thoughts and all things Branden behind.

***

My
intention was to find a job at Sheppard’s Plaza. When that didn’t turn out so
well, I decided to give it a rest for the time being and enjoy the remainder of
the day with Vanessa.

  
While browsing the new arrival rack at Donna lee’s clothing store, Vanessa
sighed as if something was bothering her.

  
My head shot up.  It was rare seeing anything but her liveliness. “You
okay, girl? What’s with the gloomy vibe all of a sudden?” I asked.

  
Vanessa continued checking out an embellished, blue sweater as she answered,
“Hmm…just thinking about Calvin and how Basketball takes up so much of his
time.”

  
I observed her expression. Vanessa seemed awfully bothered, with her forehead
cringed and a worried look in her chocolate brown eyes.

  
Moving around the rack, I squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. “Don’t worry so
much about it, Nessa. He has to put in a lot of work to be part of the team.”

  
She shrugged, recovering her exuberance. “Yeah, I know. It’s just hard
sometimes. Like, we barely spend time together anymore. But,” she exhaled,
taking the sweater over to the fitting room, “I hear what you’re saying. I
shouldn’t let it bug me so much.”

  
I nodded in agreement as Vanessa stepped into the room to try on the sweater.

  
Going back to the new arrival rack, I let out a snort when she called out, “So,
girl, about this Branden,” I knew she still had him on her mind and wouldn’t
simply drop it. “Would you consider the possibility of dating him?”

  
“Nessa, how did we end up on Branden again?” I chuckled.

  
She came out of the fitting room then, fixing the sweater on her body as she
asked, “What do you think?”

  
I bobbed my head to signal my approval. “You look nice, girl. Are you getting
it?”

  
Vanessa turned and stared into the mirror. “I haven’t made up my mind yet.
Anyway, back to Branden.”

  
 “Oh, jeez,” I breathed, lowering my head in exasperation.

  
She walked over and lifted my chin. “I’m just saying, in a perfect world, would
you consider going out with Branden?”

  
“No—” I made to answer.

  
Vanessa pressed her finger to my lips and stopped me. “Hold that thought while
I change.”

  
She hustled back into the fitting room. I waited outside to see if she was
going to purchase the sweater or not. Either way, I certainly wasn’t giving any
thought to what Vanessa said.

  
I wouldn’t.

  
But unwillingly, I did. Branden really was attractive, and even I could admit
that. It would be hard for anyone to forget those enchanting blue eyes of his.
Thinking about him now, how he sweetly annunciated my name in class and stole
glances at me every second, made me lean my head to the side and twine my
fingers around my curls.

  
I shuddered and put aside the silly feeling as Vanessa came out of the room.
She shook her head ‘no’ and went over to the new arrival rack, setting the blue
sweater back in its rightful place.

  
Leaving the clothing store to continue shopping around the plaza, Vanessa
turned me around to face her. Her eyes got bigger as she asked, “Well?”

  
I blinked in my astonishment. “Well, what?”

  
She jerked me slightly and I released a chortle. “Okay, yes, Branden is a good-looking
guy. But there’s no way I’d go out with him. I told you, I’m not interested—” I
stopped abruptly, realizing Vanessa wasn’t listening to me anymore.
       

  
She narrowed her eyes and cocked her head to the side. “Isn’t that Branden,
girl?” she asked, nodding in the direction behind me.

  
I spun swiftly. It really was Branden, walking rather hastily down the street.
I found myself admiring his behind—how perfect he appeared in his jeans. The
thought was short-lived as Vanessa strutted past me, hollering his name.

  
I cringed. What the hell?

  
Branden swiveled, eyes widened, brows raised. His undeniable good looks stirred
me inside.

  
I had to shake it off. Whatever it was.