The weirdest movement of his head, like he’d just been punched. And then a swallow so hard I could see his Adam’s apple moving in his deliciously thick neck from here.
I knew I looked good tonight, had put in the effort. But even at my best, I would put myself at a seven. Chloe was a beautiful girl sitting right next to me. And Abby was a tempting pixie. I knew I could pull a guy if I wanted to tonight (and when had that ever been hard for a girl looking for a quick one-nighter?), but I wasn’t going to win any contest with the number of pretty girls in the house.
But him? He looked at me like I could take them all down.
No. That wasn’t it. Or just notallof it. He looked at me like he knew me. Recognized me. But that was impossible. I’d hung mostly with the girls in our dorm since arriving, when not out getting my classes organized and picking up supplies here and there. And classes didn’t start until Monday. He wouldn’t have been in our freshman orientation sessions. First, because I would have remembered him, and second, because if he lived off campus, he wasn’t a freshman.
Although, it was the second time through that orientation for me, so who knew? He made his way toward me, and I made a quick decision.
I am going to sleep with that Puck tonight.
Yes, you are.
I had promised myself when I came back to Bribury that I was going to do only things I wanted, what made me feel good. I’d told myself I owed myself that after the year I’d had of trying to hold things together for my family.
This year was about me. And it would start tonight.
“No need to wait for me, Chloe,” I said softly to my suitemate.
She turned her head from the guy she was talking to, who had gotten deep into her personal space, which she seemed to like. She saw the guy zeroing in on me. “Got it. Be safe. Be happy. And may I just say, congratulations.”
“Not a done deal yet,” I said just as he got to me.
“Yeah, it is,” Chloe said, and turned back to the player she’d been talking with.
“Hey,” he said. “I can’t believe you’re here. I’ve been—”
I didn’t wait for him to finish, though I vaguely registered that his words didn’t make sense to me.Hadwe met? It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered tonight except to feel his body on top of mine and the burn of human contact.
“Wanna go to your room?” I asked him as I put my hand on his chest. I moved my legs a bit so they were open, but not so much that I was flashing myself to the whole room.
He stared at my hand on his chest, taking in my words. He opened his mouth, a very sexy mouth with a very full and kissable bottom lip (the top was fine too, but oh, that bottom one). And thatchin. Strong and chiseled with a bit of a dent in it. Not deep enough to be called a cleft, but deeper than a dimple. I really wanted to put my tongue right on top of it.
“Do you want to talk a—”
“I really want to go to your room,” I said, interrupting him. Seriously? I was offering myself up and he wanted to play twenty questions? Where was the indifferent Puck that Philly had spoken of?
Was this guy one of the exceptions to the rule, like Dex and the players dancing with their girlfriends in the next room? Yeah, that would fit with my luck lately.
“Yeah, yeah, of course. I’m—”
“I don’t really care,” I said. Score one for all the Cheses of the world. I’d been one a time or two. This not giving a fuck was infinitely better. “I just want to hang out for a while in your room. You up for that?”
There was a look that was almost… defeat? Deflation? It was enough to make me think I was going to be going home to my dorm room alone rather soon, but then he rallied and put his hand (warm, big, and strong!) on top of mine, still on his chest. “I am totally up for that.” He took my hand from his chest and, still holding it, tugged me off my barstool.
“Later, girls,” I said with a wiggle of my hand behind my back as I left my friends.
Philly was busy doing something and didn’t see me, which was probably just as well. She’d think her warnings had fallen on deaf ears. When, in fact, they had been music to my ears. A balm to my soul in the package of a six-two (an educated guess), shoulders-that-wouldn’t-quit, ass-you-could-bounce-a-quarter-off Puck.
We didn’t speak as we climbed the stairs and he led me down the hallway. We passed an open door to a bathroom and I said I needed to use it. “I’m right there, end of the hall, on the right,” he said, pointing to his room. “I’ll wait for you there.”
I nodded and was about to shut the bathroom door when he put his hand out to stop me. “And hey, no pressure. If you want to go back to the party when you come out, I get it. If you want to come to my room and we can just talk, that’s cool, too. I’m just glad you’re here.”
Again with the weird words that seemed like more than they should. Maybe I had a doppelgänger on campus?
“I’ll be right there,” I said. He nodded and smiled. I’d thought the stern look on his handsome, but in no way pretty, face was panty-melting. But his smile? Uh, yeah, let me just empty my bladder from the beer I’d had and I’d be in his room and on top of him in some sort of land-speed record.
I made fast work of my potty break and looked myself over in the mirror after washing my hands and primping my hair and makeup.
