“I’ll be fine.”
“You sure about that?”
“As long as I pass, that’s all I care about. In the real world, nobody cares about your GPA.”
Ethan slammed down his pen. Out of all the crap Greg spewed, that was the most ludicrous. “Oh, really? Then how will you get into a top law school?”
“A good internship and kickass LSAT scores. Not by killing myself for these four years.” He sat up in his seat, and Ethan noticed his pecs pulling against his shirt. “Don’t piss away the one time of your time when you have total freedom and no real responsibility except living it up.”
“You are just full of positivity.” That had sounded much better in Ethan’s head.
“Just the truth. College is a reward for working hard in high school, which I did. Do you really want to be one of those kids who spends college in a library?”
“I think our library is pretty.”
“You know what I mean.” Greg waved it off. “I’m trying to be nice and help you out. Ride the wave.”
“You’re just trying to distract me.”
“You’ve stumbled onto my evil plan.” Greg lifted his shirt to scratch his stomach, giving Ethan an extended glimpse of his abs. And then he yawned, not covering his mouth. “It’s too easy teasing you, dude. Take some deep breaths once in a while.”
Ethan didn’t say anything. He turned back to his notes. He knew why Greg didn’t need to do any work. It was a dirty not-so-secret that fraternities kept their brothers’ old papers and tests to use in the future. Since Sharpe probably didn’t change the curriculum much year to year, he figured that Greg already had all the papers and test materials he needed to pass. Guys like him didn’t have to do any real work. They could coast on their charm, their connections, and their looks. And then they used their old-boys network to get great jobs. Well, Ethan would work harder than all of them.
So he stayed quiet. He took the high road. Ethan listened to his professor, followed the PowerPoint, felt the knowledge pouring into him.
A few minutes later, he got a whiff of body spray as Greg leaned over.What now?
“Sharpe always begins class at 9:50. He believes that being punctual means showing up early, being extra-prepared or some bullshit like that.” Greg’s voice vibrated in Ethan’s ear, sending a trail of goose bumps prickling down his back. “All the suck-ups get here by 9:30, in case you were feeling left out.”
Greg shot him a smirk with raised eyebrows. At least Ethan knew why he was such a latecomer now.
“I can’t get here by 9:30.”
“Then I guess you’re stuck with me for the rest of the quarter.”
Maybe that’s not so badwas the first thought that jumped into his mind, and he instantly shook it out.Get it together, Ethan!
Greg kept looking at him, like he was waiting for a response, a continuation of their back-and-forth.
“I need to concentrate,” Ethan said and returned his attention to Professor Sharpe’s lecture.
CHAPTER FIVE
Later that day, Ethan went to the gym to do his usual forty-five minutes on the elliptical while reading for class. He never got much read—textbook materials were usually too dense to focus on while running—but he still liked being productive.
He tried reading over the Constitutional Law textbook, which struggled to stay on the bookrest on his machine. The plastic bar holding it up looked like it was going to snap any second, so he put it down and took out the PowerPoint printout from that day’s lecture. Professor Sharpe would probably pull any test material from the notes rather than the book. He promised himself that he would do all the textbook reading later.
He walked past the weight room on his way to the stretching room, and there, working some dumbbells, were Greg and an Indian guy. Greg wore a T-shirt that left his muscular arms in full view. Sweat mussed up his hair, and he stared into the mirror with an intense look as he lifted the weights, his triceps flexing with each rep. The other guy texted on his phone with one hand while doing half-hearted dumbbell lifts with the other.
Ethan hadn’t thought Greg could be that intense and focused about anything. Apparently, he was wrong.Verywrong. Ethan walked slowly to the stretching room to take in a few extra seconds of Greg in his weight-training glory. He knew he would never have a body like that, but it didn’t hurt to admire the guys who did.
Ethan stretched and did some sit-ups and push-ups. This had been a great day thus far. He’d learned, he’d studied, he’d done homework, and he’d worked out. All major boxes had been checked off.
When he finished, he walked to the back of the locker room. The sound of a loud guy telling a story wafted from his row. Ethan dreaded having to change next to guys like this. Instead of changing in peace, he had to actively try to drown out the voices. He felt awkward, like he was interrupting their conversation or becoming a de facto third wheel. Ethan reached his row and froze.
The loud guy was Greg’s friend. And Greg was next to him. Shirtless.
Greg greeted him with a head nod, but Ethan couldn’t manage a smile. Some feeling paralyzed him—fear, nervousness…something else? His face drained of all color, and he immediately looked down, though not before glimpsing Greg’s muscular, cut chest.
