One
Harper
Snow blanketed the city, making the roads dangerous, and yet, somehow, we still had classes to attend.It didn’t matter that it was twenty below zero outside, with windchill, or that my fingers were freezing inside my gloves.
Buses on campus took us from the dorms to some of the buildings.But try to get on one of those buses in this frigid weather?Good luck.
Ditching class wasn’t an option.I made that mistake during my first semester of freshman year.I wasn’t going to do it again and risk my scholarship.
I needed a piping hot cup of coffee, but that was in the opposite direction of class.I trudged outside through the snow, my fur-lined boots keeping my feet warm.My legs, however, were quickly growing numb.
What was I doing walking to class in this blizzard?Would our teacher even show up?
“I hate winter,” I grumble under my breath.
“What’s that?”A male voice catches up with me as I wait to cross the street.The roads are slick; the plow hasn’t come through this section yet.They’re probably still trying to keep the highway from becoming treacherous.
I glance up at him.His dark eyes glint in the brightness of the snow surrounding us.
“It’s cold,” I say, stating the obvious.I’m practically hopping from one foot to the other, bouncing to keep warm.I swear I’ve seen him before on campus, but I don’t recognize him from any of my classes.
Evergreen University campus isn’t a small school, with more than twenty-thousand students in attendance, but you tend to recognize faces when you take the same route every day to class.
“It’s winter,” he says with a hearty laugh.It’s deep and warm, and he offers me a friendly smile.The traffic light switches, and I hurry across the intersection, my feet slipping and sliding, and I nearly lose my footing.
The handsome stranger catches my arm, steadying me.“Careful,” he warns, keeping me upright.
My heart pounds in my chest.“Thanks.”
He has yet to release his grip as we cross the street.
“You can let go, I’m good,” I say.
I feel the heat of his stare, and if my cheeks weren’t red from the cold, I’d certainly be blushing.
“If you insist,” he says, releasing his hold.The warmth that he possessed vanishes as quickly as it came, and I feel even chillier than before.
I can feel the heat of his stare as we walk, his gaze on me and then facing forward.Every so often, his arm brushes against mine through our thick jackets.It’s an accident.I’m sure of it.
“Do you want to grab coffee?”he asks.
Perhaps it isn’t an accident.
“I can’t.I have to get to class.”
Does he honestly think I’d be out in this cold if I didn’t have to be?The windchill is brutal, making my cheeks sting.Even with the beanie on my head, covering my ears, I’m still frigid.
“I meant after.I’m Ashton,” he introduces himself.“And you are?”
“Late for class,” I say, glancing at him.His dark eyes warm me, but I don’t have time for this, for him, for any of it.“It was nice meeting you, Ashton,” I say as I approach the building.
“I didn’t catch your name,” Ashton says, his gaze hopeful as it lingers on me a little longer than necessary.
My gloved hand grabs the door handle.“That’s because I didn’t give it.”I smirk.I yank open the door and am greeted with a gust of heat that slaps me in the face.
I hurry down the hallway, removing my hat and gloves, shoving them into my jacket pocket before unbuttoning the monstrosity.I head into the classroom and grab a seat in the middle of the auditorium.
“Hey, McKenna,” Luca says, coming to sit beside me.
