Choosing August

Chapter 5

Up close, Titus was somehow even more beautiful.

My breath vanished the second I looked at him.

There was a little stubble along his jaw, though he would probably shave it soon. Guys in his circle always seemed polished, especially around all the wealthy students who treated appearances like another form of currency.

Then I noticed my shoulder hurt.

Only slightly, but enough to remind me that I had walked straight into him.

He was solid.

Titus held out my other AirPod.

“Oh, you probably don’t want to touch that,” I said. “It’s been in my ear.”

He looked at me as though I were strange.

Honestly, had I been watching myself, I probably would have reacted the same way.

“Well, obviously,” he said. “It’s your AirPod.”

“I mean because of wax and stuff.”

Oh my gosh, Augie. Quit talking.

“Yeah,” Titus said.

I took it from him. “Sorry again. I should’ve been paying attention.”

I started to turn away, desperate to end the interaction before I found another way to embarrass myself.

His voice stopped me.

“You seemed pretty lost in thought. Like you were worlds away.”

I glanced back at him.

“You should be careful on this path,” he continued. “A lot of people use it.”

“Yeah, they do. Lose weight and stuff. Like I need to.”

What was I doing?

Why was I drawing attention to every single thing that felt weird or wrong about me?

Titus studied me for a moment.

“You’re not bad,” he said. “A regular workout plan might help, I guess. Not that you desperately need one. You’re the one who said you wanted to lose weight.”

His voice was beautiful.

He was clearly trying to be nice.

Did he feel sorry for me?

Was that all this was? Had I looked so pathetic wandering around alone that Titus decided to spare a few words for me?

Of course he felt sorry for me. Why else would he be talking to me?

“Yeah,” I said. “Well, I won’t bother you. Sorry again. I was lost in another world. I should probably come back to Earth.”

“Just be careful.”

“I will.” I hesitated. “It was nice meeting you.”

He tilted his head slightly. “I didn’t even get your name, so we didn’t really meet.”

“Oh.” I shifted my AirPods in my hand. “Right. I’m August. People call me Augie.”

“I’m Titus.”

I nearly said, I know.

Thankfully, I caught myself.

“Yeah, I’ve heard about you. I think you’re really good at sand volleyball. You won state or something.”

“Yeah, I did.” His eyebrows lifted. “How’d you know?”

“I think I went to a rival school. My best friend played sand volleyball. Calvin. Calvin Fowler.”

“Oh, I remember Cal.” Titus nodded. “Yeah, he’s pretty good.”

“Well, not as good as you, obviously.”

Titus looked slightly taken aback.

“I mean, you won state.”

“Yeah.”

A small smirk touched his mouth.

“Well, it was nice meeting you, Titus. I’m going to go.”

“Catch you later, Augie.”

I walked away.

Catch you later?

There wasn’t going to be a later.

This would be my one and only interaction with Titus, and I had spent it talking about earwax, warning him not to touch my things, and calling myself fat.

I had also made it perfectly clear that I already knew who he was.

Of course I had.

A little farther down the path, I looked back.

Titus was looking back too.

What the f**k?

I faced forward again.

No. Guys like him did not go for guys like me.

And even if he did, he would probably turn out exactly like Bryson.

But that wasn’t going to happen anyway. Titus could have any girl he wanted.

He probably already had five.