“I heard Westbrooke’s a fun campus. And the guys on the team are the people to get to know.” I started cleaning up the bloody cotton balls and wayward tape. Dakota moved to help me.
“Who told you that?” He looked amused at the notion.
I shrugged. “Random people here and there.”
“Westbrooke is fun-ish, I suppose,” Dakota confirmed with a nod. “But I wouldn’t say the football team is any more interesting than any other group of people on campus.”
I smiled. “Interesting. Once again you avoided bragging. You know, for an athlete, you’re down to earth.”
Dakota chuckled and screwed on the alcohol cap’s top. “For an athlete? Sounds very prejudicial.”
I gave him a one-shoulder shrug. “I think I’ve earned the right. I’ve been surrounded by them since birth.”
“And your conclusion?” He raised a curious brow.
I studied him for a second, rethinking my response. Dakota didn’t look like he was easily offended. I’ve never been the best at filtering myself, so even if he was, I suppose it was best to know now before proposing we hang out.
“Cocky because you have to be to compete at a high level. In possession of a decent dash of narcissism. And that part seems inevitable since universities plaster your faces over everything they can.”
I’d tried my best to not let my previous relationship jade my opinions. It was near impossible not to use my experience with Tyler as an example, though.
“Go on?” He crossed his arms over his chest, looking intrigued by my judgments.
“Trouble,” I said. “An interesting kind of trouble and potentially an interesting kind of fun. Depending on execution, of course.”
“And is that something you’re looking for this semester? Fun and trouble?”
I smiled as I closed the medicine cabinet. “Depends.”
“On?”
I leaned against the sink and looked at him. “Whether the fun and trouble involve interesting people.”
Dakota considered my words for a second. He stepped closer with the rubbing alcohol bottle still in hand. My heart sped up when he leaned in enough so there was barely an inch of space between our bodies. It took me a moment to realize he was placing the bottle on the counter behind me. His arm brushed against mine as he reached over.
“I’m not the trouble kind of guy,” he confessed in a voice that made me think otherwise. “But I could point you in the direction…”
“Or?” I wondered, hearing the prompt in his unfinished sentence.
“Or, you could give me your number, and I could show you something better than trouble.”
“That so?”
He nodded. “It is.”
My breath caught a little at the crooked grin he wore. Dakota looked like a beautiful mix of an angel and devil. There was an invisible string in the air, tugging me closer. I wanted to see which side of the two Dakota would show me if I pushed the right buttons.
I’m not sure why I cared if some random football player was good or bad or a mix of both. But something about Dakota felt new. He felt like a beginning, and I loved those.
“I don’t give my number out to guys anymore,” I confessed. I still needed to stick to my rules.
His brow furrowed. “Anymore?”
I nodded. “So, if you want to show me something then, let’s make a plan to meet now.”
Dakota smiled at my request. “Fair enough. Got a pen and paper?”
Chapter 4
