Page 2 of Savage Heart

Old habits die hard, especially when they’re the simplest and purest meaning of who you are.

“Are you coming to meet up with Ash and a few of her bio friends? She swears they’re hysterical when they aren’t under pressure and always studying, so I think we should put that theory to the test.”

As much as it could be fun to sit with Natasha and quietly make jokes about how completely stressed out those science people are, even now that nearly all finals are over, I force a smile and shake my head. “I’m going to have to take a rain check on that. I have too much to get finished around here.”

Natasha shrugs and turns to leave. “You probably won’t miss too much. Those bio people are boring, but I swear ever since Ash started going out with Noah, she can’t seem to see that anymore.”

Looking back at me, she smiles and adds, “I have a feeling Jesse might be there with them. Does that make you change your mind at all?”

I shake my head and smile at her attempt to get me to admit I still have any interest in Jesse McCallister. Tall, dark, and full of himself, I ended up at a party with him in an attempt to forget about Alaric right after I arrived here at Yale. Big mistake. Jesse has a one-track mind, and after our single time together, I wanted off that train. He didn’t, though, and ever since, he’s been around as much as he can arrange in the hope that I’ll change my mind and want to try another round of mediocre sex with him.

Sorry, Jesse. I had someone rock my world once, and you don’t come close, sadly.

“Did you forget about Trent? We’ve been dating for almost six months.”

Natasha cringes and shakes her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I never think of him. It’s probably because you never bring him around to hang out.”

Her excuse is a valid one. I’ve been seeing Trent Michaels since last semester, but we’ve never hung out with my friends in all that time. He’s not the partying type. In fact, he’s not really the type to want to do much at all. Trent’s more of a workaholic. I don’t even know if he’ll be able to get away from the office to attend graduation. I gave him a ticket, but the best he could promise was, “We’ll see.”

“Okay, I’ll be back later and maybe we can do something then. Toodles!”

Again with the talking like she’s from another time. It’s all part of her charm, though. I just hope Jesse doesn’t try his routine on her today. Natasha deserves so much better.

She deserves an Alaric.

I pluck my earbuds out and stuff them into the pocket of my hoodie as I spin around to see if someone’s behind me. I’m alone in my apartment, but I could have sworn I felt a person behind me.

All this emotion about leaving school is making me squirrely. I wasn’t playing my music that loud that I wouldn’t have heard someone walk in.

Relax, Sienna. I mean Sabrina.

Jesus, you’d think after almost two years that I’d have that routine down cold.

I glance over at my desk beneath the window. How many hours did I spend sitting there hidden behind those while cellular shades as I studied? The bent section on the lefthand side is evidence of how many times I peered out hoping for once to see him standing out on the grass for me.

He told me our time together wasn’t over, but he’s never appeared again. No matter how many times I’ve checked, he’s never there.

All week, I’ve wondered if maybe he’d show up. Does he even know I’m graduating in a couple days? Then again, with how he feels about Ivy League people, he likely wouldn’t care even if he did know.

I’m foolish to hope for something that’s never going to happen. Two years have passed since that night we stood in that hotel lobby and I told him I loved him. I don’t regret that, but it’s clear the reason he didn’t say he loved me back is our time together didn’t mean as much to him as it did me.

He moved on and as much as it appears I have too, I haven’t. It’s time I do, though.

A knock at my front door tears me out of my thoughts, thankfully. Helix made sure to get me an apartment in a secure building, so I don’t have to worry about who’s waiting for me in the hallway. It’s probably Trent. He did say he’d stop over tonight if he got finished with work early enough.

I open the door as I say, “I’m glad you tore yourself away from your desk.” But it isn’t Trent standing in front of me.

It’s the man I’ve waited two years to see.

CHAPTER TWO

Sienna

The sight of him takes my breath away, and I step back from the door in shock. After all those times I waited for him, finally Alaric has found me once again.

He looks the same as he did the last time I saw him. His dark eyes stare into mine, and I shake my head, unable to believe this is happening. Two years and he suddenly shows up at my door just days before I graduate.

“Sienna.”