When I unlocked the passenger door, I noticed her teeth chattering, and I wished I had a remote starter so I could have warmed up my ride for her while we made our way across campus. My old beater pickup probably wouldn’t have tolerated one, and I usually didn’t care if the cab was a bit chilly. Actually, I preferred it. But that wouldn’t do for my date.
Date.
Huh.
I smiled to myself as I cranked the heater to high. What started as a chance encounter in the Union had progressed to a study session that had morphed into a date. Not that I’d mention that. Most of the time when it came to women, I was clueless. But every now and then, I picked up on their cues. What I picked up on with Chess was that she was too polite to tell me no after her stomach had outed her at the precise second I asked her to pizza. As dates went, this one was uninspired owing to its serendipity. Still, I had the common sense to appreciate my good fortune.
“Why did you decide to be an RA?” I asked as I let my truck warm up.
I’d bailed on the dorms the second a room had opened up in our house my freshman year. Turned out, I wasn’t a big fan of communal living, and I struggled to understand how Chessly could stand it for going on three years.
She turtled further down into her coat. “My scholarship covers tuition and books. Being an RA means the college pays my room and board. It takes the financial burden off my dad.”
Remembering the story of how she’d lost her mom, I put the truck in gear and took my time easing out of the snow-covered parking lot.
“Yeah, but you have no privacy in the dorm.”
Turning her head on the seat, she gave me a long, slow blink. “As opposed to how much privacy you have at your place? Jamaica says you all have to lock your doors on party nights to keep people from using your beds for shenanigans. Trust me, I’ve never had that problem in the dorms.”
“It’s a minor inconvenience.”
She snorted.
“It might be a bigger deal if we had parties every night, but the team takes turns when we win.” I signaled and took my time navigating a slick corner. My parents had given me new snow tires for Christmas, and I’d loaded a couple hundred pounds of sandbags in the box, but sheer ice covered the streets. I didn’t need my date to freak out if the ass end of the truck decided to take us on a little slide.
“From what I hear, you and your roommates like to host several of those parties a season.”
“What we like is to win. The parties are a bonus.” I shot her a side-eye. “Most of the time, it’s only the four of us at the house, as opposed to twenty or thirty people trying to use the same five showers every morning. Doesn’t that drive you nuts?”
With a shrug she said, “You figure out how to schedule. I wake up super early, grab a shower, and study for an hour before breakfast. I’m usually one of only two people in the bathroom then, which means I skip the 7:30 a.m. rush that starts most of the freshmen off on the wrong foot every day.” She smirked.
“Yeah, that wouldn’t work so well at our place, with three of us sharing one bathroom and Coach Larkin expecting us in the weight room fifteen minutes before training starts.” I laughed. “Bax and Danny are even less morning people than I am, so if we didn’t shower at the facility after morning workouts, we’d probably start each day with a fight.” The thought of us racing to the head and bouncing off each other like a trio of clowns made me grin. “Plus, the water heater in our old house is all the way in the basement. It takes it forever to heat up and then as though it’s worked overtime, after about twenty minutes, it stops making hot water. With no warning. If you’re the second guy, chances are good you’re going to freeze your nuts off before you can rinse off. The third guy is just shit out of luck.”
Chessly’s amusement warmed my chest, and I discovered I wanted to keep entertaining her so I could listen to more of her sultry alto laughter.
“So your shower arrangements aren’t that different from the dorms if your morning routine includes a trip to a locker room full of people all needing to get ready for the day at the same time.”
“Except there are twenty-five showers with an endless supply of hot water. I’m never late for class because some moron decided he wanted to spend thirty minutes under the spray, and I never endure a shocking surprise.” She laughed again, and I glanced over to see color rising high on her cheeks. Guess all this talk about showering maybe had her thinking naughty thoughts.
I hoped.
It certainly had me thinking about a naked Chessly—preferably in the privacy of the shower across the hall from my bedroom when my roommates weren’t home.
It seemed only seconds had passed before we arrived at the pizzeria. By some miracle, an open parking space waited directly in front of the bar. After showing off my expert parallel parking skills, I shut off the engine and turned in the seat to smile at my date.
“I thought you were going to feed me.”
Touching two fingers to the side of my ball cap, I said, “Yes, ma’am.”
I held the door to the bar open for her and followed her inside. The heavenly smell of garlic and cheese assailed my senses, and it was my stomach’s turn to rumble loud enough to make Chessly giggle as she walked in front of me. Without asking, she led me back to the football team’s booth, which, surprisingly, was open.
As much as I wanted to slide in beside her, we weren’t there yet. Sitting opposite her, I said, “I like everything on the menu here. Pick what you want.”
“My favorite is chicken and artichoke pizza with extra cheese.”
“Extra-large.”
She laughed. “Of course.”
