Once we had gathered all her belongings, I stood and offered her my hand to help her up. She hesitated for only a second before placing her small hand in mine. Pulling her to her full height, I realized that she was a tiny little thing, at least a full foot shorter than me, lining up right where she’d run head first into my chest.
She quickly let go of my hand, adjusting her shirt and smoothing out her hair. “Sorry I ran into you.” Her cheeks turned slightly pink. “I was worried about being late to my first class. I’m new here, and I got lost.”
“So are you a freshman?” I asked.
“Uh, no,” she answered, gripping her strap on her bag. “I’m a junior. I just transferred here this year.”
I nodded. “Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of the campus layout soon. Where are you headed?”
She took out her phone and looked down at the screen. “Um, kinesiology in room 202 with Professor Larsen.”
Huh? What do ya know, we were in the same class.
“Well, you made it.” I held out my arm toward the open doorway next to us. She had run around the corner so fast that she hadn’t noticed we’d been standing right in front of the classroom.
Her shoulders sagged in what I assumed was relief. “Oh, good. I was literally on the other side of campus like ten minutes ago.”
She turned and made her way through the door and down one of the aisles.
I turned, following after her, and watched as she walked in front of me. “You’re right, your buttisfine.” And I was only half joking with her. She really did have an amazing butt.
A small gasp escaped her as she spun around to face me, her cheeks showing exactly how my comment had affected her.
I gave her a smile and a wink, trying to see just how pink her cheeks could get.
She opened her mouth but quickly closed it before bolting for the closest available seat.
I chuckled under my breath and sat in one of the empty seats next to her.
“What are you doing?” she asked, a look of surprise on her face.
“Sitting down.”
Her brows creased. “You’re in this class, too?”
“Yep.” I leaned back in my chair and stretched out my long legs as much as the small space would allow. “Exercise Science major.”
“Really? Me too,” she said, her features smoothing out, her body relaxing. “What are you planning to do with it after college?”
“If things keep going well for me, I’m planning on playing for the NFL. This is more of my backup plan.”
“Oh, I should have guessed you were a football player from your size.” She grabbed her water bottle out of her bag and took a sip.
“Sizedoesmatter,” I said, my comment causing her to choke on her water. I tried to hold back a smile. “In football, of course.”
She swallowed and cleared her throat. “Of course.”
I finally let my smile out, enjoying talking to this girl. I wasn’t used to women not flirting with me and not trying to take me back to their place. Most girls would have been chomping at the bit to have me sit next to them or give them any kind of attention. But not this girl. With her being new around here I guessed she was totally oblivious to my popularity, although I had the feeling she wouldn’t care anyway. The way she was acting toward me was actually refreshing and kind of fun. I hadn’t had a real conversation with a girl in a long time, aside from my friends’ girlfriends.
“What are you going to do once you’ve graduated?” I asked, surprised that I genuinely wanted to know the answer.
“I want to be an exercise physiologist,” she answered. “I want to work with people who have chronic conditions and find ways to help them exercise again.”
I nodded. “That sounds nice.”
“Many people have health problems that make it hard to exercise. We’re supposed to make sure we exercise for our health, but what if someone has an ailment that makes it hard to do that?” Her hands moved animatedly, her speech picking up speed. “Or maybe they don’t know what exercise looks like for them anymore? They want to be active, but they don’t know where to start. And that’s where—hopefully—someone like me can step in and help them figure out what is best for them and their body.”
I smiled at her. “You’re very passionate about it.”
