“That ratty floral thing Dalton was sitting in?That thing looks—”
I put my finger to her lips.“Stop right there.‘That thing,’” I said with one-handed air quotes, “is the most comfortable piece of furniture I’ve ever sat on.The guys know it’s not communal property, though Dalton apparently has a short memory.”
She laughed at the sourness in my tone.“I’ll have to try it out sometime—that is, if I’m granted permission.”Those gorgeous eyes danced, and I swooped in and stole a kiss as payback.
“So you earned college credit for hanging out with celebrities all summer?”I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear because I wanted to enjoy the silky strands running through my fingers.
“I earned college credit for running a camera and learning every last thing I could about making kick-ass music videos.”She sat up a little straighter.“Olivia even used some of my ideas in the newest Balefire video they’re releasing this fall.She showed me the next-to-final cut right before I came home and said I could put the clip with my idea in it in my portfolio.”
Holding my fist out, I said, “That’s awesome, babe.I can’t wait to see it.”
“After spending the summer working with musicians on scripted videos, I have loads of ideas for how to make concert footage big enough and cool enough to complement the music.I’m going to research some local bands who might be interested in collaborating with me this year so I can practice and build up my portfolio.”In her enthusiasm she kind of bounced on the bed, and I didn’t bother to suppress my grin.“I loved working with the rock stars, but I’m going to need some examples of what I can do for other music genres as well.”
Slipping my arm around her, I pulled her in close.“I’m truly jacked about how your internship went.Are you thinking about making a music movie for your senior project?”
An eye-roll accompanied her, “I wish” even as she kind of melted into my side.Her sweet body pressed along my side distracted me until I heard “…Barry the jerk.”
“Wait.I thought you had that all worked out before you left for the summer.”
“I did.”She blew at her bangs.“I do.But I stayed in touch with Esme, one of my classmates, and found out he’d switched sections to be in mine.On Monday I’m headed to the registrar to rearrange my schedule.Whatever his deal is, I am not letting him upend my senior year.”
“Does he know how you spent your summer?Who your new contacts are?”
She blew at her bangs.“Probably.Not that it makes any difference.The guy is never going anywhere in the movie business no matter how much money his daddy has.”
“That doesn’t stop him from being a pain in your ass now.”
“Pretty much.A couple of people I know who’ll be in the spring 401 class would have been super-cool to work with, but I imagine I’ll meet some people in the fall section who have something going on too.”She picked at the hem of her dress.“Maybe I’ll reach out to Tamir, see if he wants to switch sections to fall too.”
After the high of her excitement over how her summer had gone, it pissed me right off that one asshole could put even a hint of defeat in her tone.“Do you like your schedule for senior year?”
“It’s perfect, actually.”
“As it is, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So don’t change it.”
“I’m not working with Barry again.Ever.”
“He’s baiting you.Beat him at his own game.”
She shot me a skeptical brow, and I went on.
“Find out who else is in the section, line up your team before the spring semester starts, and present your proposal to the instructor on the first day.Your preparedness will put you in charge while Barry spins his wheels to catch up.”
A slow smile tipped up the corner of her mouth.“You know what I like about hanging out with you?”
“Making out?”I asked hopefully.
She snorted, but before I could be offended, she said, “That too.But also your competitiveness.You don’t like to lose—and you don’t like anyone you care about to lose either.”As if she realized exactly what she’d just said, she smoothed her palm over the top of my thigh.“We’re just having fun, the two of us.Right?”
“I have a ton of fun when I’m with you.”
“As long as we remember that.It’s only about having fun.”
If that was what she needed to believe for now, I’d let her, but with the off-the-charts sex we’d shared and all the fun we’d had supporting each other over text during the summer, we’d already passed the “we’re only in this for fun” point of no return.The trick would be to hold onto my patience while she figured that out.
