Didn’t matter today, though, because I was busy. Grabbing the vacuum from its closet beside the dryer, I said, “Don’t have time to beat up on your donkeys, my man.”
How a guy as cool and badass as Danny Chambers could be a fan of the Denver Broncos mystified me. He’d had to master the video game for a chance to compete with the rest of the league, given the lack of premier players available to him since he always chose his favorite team.
“Chicken,” he taunted, which on any other day might have been enough to goad me into playing a game with him, but I had bigger things on my mind.
“Busy.” I headed upstairs with the vacuum and shut off his noise with the machine’s whine as I went to work on the carpet in my room. Since my space wasn’t the size of Callahan’s master suite, and it wasn’t my turn to clean our communal bathroom, my chore only took a few minutes. It helped that I’d tidied up earlier.
Satisfied I wouldn’t embarrass myself with being a slob in front of my girl, I returned the vacuum to its designated home and stepped into the kitchen to check out what, if anything, we had for snacks. I already knew Chessly liked hot chocolate with marshmallows, and checking the pantry, I saw we had plenty of both. I also spied a bag of peanut M&Ms and several bags of chips, so snacks were covered.
Back in my room, I couldn’t settle in to make a head start on my homework, even after I promised myself I’d do exactly that—give myself a little cushion in case studying with Chessly led to other things. Not that I was planning on other things per se, but it didn’t hurt to be prepared.
I snort-laughed at myself. Who was I kidding? The question wasn’tifI was going to spend quality time kissing Chess, buthow muchtime I’d be spending with my lips locked with hers. No wonder I was so antsy.
But it was only noon. I had to give her time for lunch before I texted her to ask if we were still on. I mean, of course we were still on, but it didn’t hurt to let her know I hadn’t made any assumptions, my thoughts of kissing her notwithstanding.
I dropped to the floor and knocked out forty push-ups. When that barely calmed me, I added thirty squats. Then I remembered my laundry and jogged downstairs to move it. After I jogged back up to my room, I settled myself down enough to sit at my desk and solve five of the twenty problems Professor Fox had dumped on us “to keep us out of trouble” over the weekend. The guy was a peach.
When I checked my phone again, it was after one, which gave me the green light to text Chess at last.
Me: You still up to study together this afternoon?
I kicked back and waited as the little dots waved across the bottom of the screen.
Chessly: In the middle of something. Text you in thirty.
The fuck?I had to wait another half hour to see if we were still on?
Tossing my phone across my desk, I headed downstairs. When I’d scanned the fridge for burritos before breakfast, I’d noticed someone had left half a pizza behind, and I decided it had my name on it. I shoved down several slices of meat lover’s and topped it with a beer then returned to my room. A text waited on my phone.
Chess: Do you want to study here or at Hillman?
Me: My place. I’ll be over in ten to pick you up.
She didn’t need time to think about it and back out. Though she was majoring in physics, she needed reminding that we had chemistry, lots of combustible chemistry. Less than a minute after I texted her, I was backing down the driveway in my truck, headed to her dorm.
When I arrived, I walked past a couple of girls I recognized as running with Tory and her band of jersey chasers. Not wanting to be rude, I gave them a chin tip when they smiled at me, but I kept moving to the phone at the end of the desk. Dialing up her room number, I waited for her to answer.
“Hello?”
“Your carriage awaits, milady.”
“You sure? We can always study here. I think the Passion Pit is open.”
Was it my imagination, or did she sound a little nervous? What would she have to be nervous about?
“As intriguing as the Passion Pit sounds, I left my books back at my place.”
A tiny sigh puffed through the line. “Okay. I’ll be down in a few.”
She clicked off, and I wandered over to a row of vinyl couches lined up in front of the wide windows overlooking the drive where my pickup waited. I sat on the end of a couch and glanced around the lobby.
Big mistake.
Those jersey chasers took my lack of occupation as an invitation and parked their asses right beside me.
“Hey, Finn. We’ve missed you at the library.” The girl wore a Wildcats jersey over a short skirt. How had I missed that?
“Yeah, Finn, where have you been?” Her friend stood in front of me, twirling her hair and blocking my view of where Chess would arrive from.
