I’m broken out of my perusal by Stella saying, “Uh, well, okay. I’ll go. I haven’t been before, so it will be nice to go with someone who knows what to do.”
Hot damn, my begging worked!
“Then I’m the man for you!” I say loudly.Because I definitely know what to do; you just don’t know it yet, Stella.“Don’t forget your Flexcard,” I remind her. That’s our meal card system. “If you don’t have one, you can use mine.” I smile down at her.
“No, I’ve got one.”
“Of course she does,” the roommate mutters. Will she never leave?
Ignoring her, Stella grabs her card, along with her keys from her desk while I wait at her bedroom door. When she reaches the doorway, I step back and let her go first. Out in the hallway, I point to the elevators. Walking side by side, the urge to reach down and take her hand is intense. Instead of doing that, I place my hand on her lower back. I immediately feel the touch down to my dick. This is going to be a long night. I do my best to concentrate on other things, like football, the state of the union, and what I'm going to eat for dinner.I’d like to eat her for dinner.Crap! Stop thinking about Stella. Think about anything but the way she makes you feel.
At the elevators, I push the down button, then smile at her. A few other people have moved closer too. “Hey, Emerson.”
I turn to see a guy I recognize. He was in my English Lit class last semester. “Hey.”
“You ready for Saturday?”
Seriously? He’s gonna do this right now? “Uh, yeah.” I mean, what else am I supposed to say? No?
“Cool.”
I nod then ease in closer to Stella. Maybe he’ll see I’m with my girl and leave me the hell alone.
“We gonna win?” the idiot asks.
We?Is he on the team too? “Hope so.” This I say without looking at him. Instead, I stare straight at the purple set of elevator doors. When it dings, I sigh with relief—that is until we step on and Mr. Chatty steps on with us.
“You think our QB has what it takes?”
This time, I sigh, loudly. “Yep.”
“Cool.” The guy nods. “You going pro?”
I don’t want to answer that question. I like the fact that Stella knows nothing about me. She doesn’t know that I playfootball and that I’m a semi celebrity on campus. It’s nice to hang out with someone who just knows me as plain old Alex.
When we finally reach the bottom floor, the doors open, and I let the guy out first. As soon as he’s gone, she turns her head and looks up at me with big, doe eyes. “That guy was quite a chatty Cathy, wasn’t he?”
I’m caught off guard by her comment, so I laugh. “He was.”
“I could tell you were getting irritated.”
“Nah.” I shake my head. “I’m used to it.”
“Still, kind of annoying.”
I reach down and take her hand in mine. I’m tempted to lift it to my mouth and kiss it like they did in the old days, but instead, I gently squeeze her fingers and let it go. “It can be, but he meant well.” That is until we lose, then guys like that enjoy telling me what I did wrong. It’s all part of it, though.
“If you say so.”
With my hand still on Stella’s little back, I nudge her gently. As we exit, the small group of people waiting for the elevator move apart so we can pass through. I hear my name mentioned by a few people, but I ignore it.
Chapter Six
STELLA
Ican’t believe Alex came to my room to see if I was okay. Not only that, but I’m about to have dinner with him. I’m living in an alternative universe. My lower back tingles where his large hand rests. The elevator doors open, and when people see him, they part like the Red Sea. I now know he’s an athlete. He must be pretty good if people treat him like he’s royalty.
Before we enter the dining hall, I stop. Placing my hand on his forearm, I urge him toward the wall so I can ask, “Are you some kind of a celebrity around here or something?”
