Too busy observing, I let Nicole’s lead grow. Something was wrong. This was what typically happened to me. Granted, dressed as a man, the attention I normally drew had flagged a bit when we’d arrived, but if I’d worn something like Nicole wore...they would be eyeing me as they were her. Their behavior was so odd for me to see as a bystander and not a participant.

Automatically, I got up to follow at a distance. A sudden, dizzy spell sapped the strength from my legs, and I wilted a bit.

Clay had his arm around me, instantly. I didn’t look up at him, but instead tried to keep my eyes on Nicole as I waited for the spell to pass. Maybe I’d gotten up too fast or skipped lunch a few too many days this week. Whatever its cause, it passed, and I did my best to follow Nicole despite the crush of bodies.

Clay had to physically shove a few people out of the way since they were too busy staring after Nicole to pay attention to my attempts to squeeze past. When they did see me, they barely spared me a glance. They just moved out of the way while trying to crane their necks to see Nicole. I didn’t like their reactions to Nicole. Not out of jealousy, but out of concern. If all these guys didn’t snap out of it soon, Nicole would be in trouble. She was too introverted to deal with all of this attention.

I made it to the porch in time to see Nicole say hi. She shimmered beautifully in the light. Randy, the guy from our class who she spoke to, appeared captivated. He’d dressed as the man from the Old Spice commercial, with a towel wrapped around his waist and nothing else. I figured it a frat house thing because I’d spotted several others dressed similarly. As the only spice-guy willing to brave the temperature outside, I guessed keeping the keg company also kept him warm.

He laughed at something Nicole said and offered her a beer. His own. He didn’t seem willing to look away from her long enough to fill a new cup. I couldn’t believe this was the same Randy. Since school started, he hadn’t noticed Nicole once. What was going on here?

As unobtrusively as possible, I moved so Clay and I stood close to a railing. Better line of sight from there. The crowd continued to shift around us as people moved from group to group to talk.

After ten minutes of watching, I didn’t know how she could stand the cold. Shivers shook me so badly my head ached. Naturally, I leaned back against Clay and wrapped my arms around myself. The heat of him penetrated through the back of my borrowed flannel and warmed me fractionally, but not enough to stop the shaking.

Giving up on the attempt to warm myself, I reached back, grabbed both of his arms, and pulled them around me. He willingly wrapped me in his arms and tried to warm me. His chin rested on the top of my head. I could feel his heat, but the tremors continued.

“I don’t feel good,” I said with chattering teeth.

When he placed a hand briefly against my forehead a few minutes later, I knew he’d heard my complaint.

“Do I feel warm?” I turned my head to look at him.

He met my eyes and shook his head. I lost my train of thought for a moment. I’d forgotten he’d pulled his hair back so I could see more of his face, and I smiled absently. He had nice eyes. Expressive. My brain began to feel foggy, and I knew he could tell when his brows drew down in concern. I didn’t like his frown. It detracted from his lovely brown eyes. Chocolate. That’d taste good.

I realized my mind had wondered and reined it in.

“I think I’m ready to go, but I don’t want to leave Nicole here. What are my chances of getting her away from him, you think?”

He shifted his regard to the couple on the other side of the porch. I followed his gaze.

A few of Randy’s towel-wearing friends had joined them, and their quiet talk had grown into an animated conversation. Nicole still smiled, but I could read a new tension in her stance. I’d been right. She wasn’t ready for all the male attention she was receiving.

“I think now’s a good time to s-see.” The chatter at the end slipped out despite my Herculean effort to keep it in.

Clay loosened his hold on me and let me lead the way while he kept a hand on the small of my back. Whenever someone moved in my way, an arm snaked out from behind me and jostled them aside. There would be a few hung-over people tomorrow wondering how they bruised their shoulders. But I wasn’t going to complain. It felt like a plague had struck me, and I really wanted to get to Nicole so we could leave.

The men in the group saw our approach and bristled. I tried on a rare smile but knew it lacked wattage because I felt like crap.

“Hi, guys. Sorry to interrupt, but we need to pull Nicole away for just a minute.”

“I’ll be back in just a bit,” Nicole said to them. “Can someone get me a soda?”

She took me by the arm and turned me around so fast that Clay had to step aside for us. We didn’t look back but walked right off the porch and cut across the yard in the general direction of my car. Her arm linked through mine propelled me along more than she realized.

“Thank you for that. It was really weird the way they were acting tonight. I guess mermaid sends off the wrong vibes. I hope he remembers talking to me, though. I liked it until his friends showed up.”

Her astute observations brought a trembling smile to my lips.

“Yeah,” I agreed, “He s-seemed okay. D-don’t trust his friends.”

“Are you okay?” Concern laced her voice.

Behind us, I could hear Clay’s soft footfalls.

“I think I’m getting sick or s-s-something.” I felt colder without Clay’s borrowed warmth. “Clay felt my head, but s-said I didn’t feel warm.”

“Is Rachel going to be home tonight? You said she’s going to school for nursing, right? She’ll probably know if there’s something going around on campus. The nursing students doing clinicals always seem to know.” Nicole switched position so her arm wrapped around me, chafing me in an attempt to warm me. I thought it funny since I wore flannel and she had a strapless dress on.

“Good idea.” The sounds of the party slowly faded to a normal decibel. I tried using my sight to make sure none of the men followed us and felt a sharp pain in my head, instead. I flinched and immediately stopped. Nothing had appeared in my brief peek. No lights at all. That had never happened before.

When I spotted the car down the block, I sighed in relief. All I could think about was getting home, taking a hot shower, and going to bed. Clay surprised me by jogging ahead to the car. I heard the engine start a moment before he was back on the sidewalk, opening the door for me. He looked worried as Nicole helped me into the front.

“Do I look as b-bad as I f-feel?” I tried to joke.

Nicole looked at Clay but he kept his eyes on me so she answered.

“Well, you do look like you’re coming down with something. I’m so sorry I begged you to come out tonight.”

“Don’t w-worry about it. It w-was rreally interesting,” I said, forcing the words through my tensed jaw.

Very interesting. The sudden interest of the men...the animosity of the woman...I was certain I’d somehow passed my pull onto Nicole. And broke my mental fish finder in the process, too.

Clay drove fast, dividing his attention between the road and me. I continued to shiver despite the heat pouring from the vents. Minutes later, Clay smoothly pulled into the driveway. The house was dark.

“I hope you feel better,” Nicole said. “I’ll see you on Tuesday.”

I nodded, unable to speak. My clenched jaw ached from shivering so much.

Clay was out as soon as he parked by the porch. He stalked around the hood. His eyes never wavered from me as Nicole slid from the back seat and left. I blinked tiredly and wondered how I’d get into the house.

He opened the door, and his eyes traced my face a moment before he wrapped an arm around my shoulders to help me out. Between the shaking, the headache, and the stiffness I felt from shaking, I had all the symptoms of the common flu. And I wanted it to go away.