“When we get married, we’re going to have the same initials. Clover Keller, Callum Keller. Has a nice little ring to it, huh?”
I blink once, then twice.Did he just say…
I snort out a laugh, not caring if it’s loud and obnoxious or that several students turn our way. I’d do anything at this point to rid myself of the flutters in my chest at the idea of being someone so important to him.
It’s a fantasy, though. That’s never going to happen. Someone like him could never want someone like me. He turns heads wherever he goes and is always surrounded by people. I prefer hanging out in my dorm room, my notebook and pen in hand. We’re two different people. We’d never work together.
“Once again, my name isn’t Clover. And that issonot happening.”
“Are you sure about that?” He uses the tip of his pencil to poke my cheek. “You’re blushing at the thought.”
“Stop it.” I smack his pencil away. “I am one hundred percent positive. Considering I can barely stand to be around you, I’d say the idea of us getting married is not just pure comedic gold, but it’ll never,everhappen.”
“Really? You’re telling me no part of you has ever thought about it?” He inches closer. “Come on. I know you have a thing for me.”
Oh shit. How does he know that? Did Talia say something? Did someone catch me staring at him? Didhecatch me staring? And why is he being extra obnoxious today? Did he make some sort of bet to flirt with me, and I’m the butt of the joke?
I swallow thickly, then force myself to say, “Dream on, loverboy.”
His grin widens, those amber eyes of his sparkling as he laces his fingers behind his head and leans back in his chair.
“Whatever you say, Clover.” His eyes fall shut, ready for his daily nap. “Whatever you say.”
The semester passes far more quickly than I’d like, and winter break seems to go by in a flash, sending us right back to classes and focusing on the final semester of our freshman year.
“Oh my gosh. I amsoover this weather,” Talia complains as we walk into the mess hall. She pulls her thick beanie off her head, shaking out her long blonde hair, which is dusted in snow at the ends.
“But we’re in freakin’college,” I echo her words from earlier in the school year. “Snow isn’t that surprising this time of year in Denver.”
“Yes, but I’m from Tennessee. I’m not built for this much of it,” she grumbles. “I guess it’s a good thing I look cute even when I dress like a lumberjack.”
I snort out a laugh, then peel off my own hat. Unlike Talia, I donotlook good dressed in so many layers. All it does is make my already big body look bigger, and I hate it. It also doesn’t help that I’m on my period and bloated as hell.
I take my coat off next, hooking it around my arm, then smooth down my hair the best I can, even though I’m sure I still look ragged. I overslept this morning, and my already minimal morning routine got even shorter as I threw on whatever I could find, ran a brush through my hair, and booked it to my eight AM class. I barely walked through the door on time.
I try not to think about how my parents would be shaking their heads if they could see me now. I bet they were never lateto class, something they so helpfully mentioned over the break when they found out I was struggling with my grades.
“College isn’t like high school, Chloe. You have to focus more. Have you considered quitting the paper? It’s taking up too much of your time.”That’s what my mother said when I rattled off my grades, even though I had worked my ass off to get where I was.Of courseshe blamed the paper, even if it was the only thing about my studies that made me happy.
But she’s right. Collegeisharder, and Idoneed to focus more, which I’ll admit has been infinitely easier this semester now that I no longer share a class with the most irritating guy on campus.
“Oh my gosh!” Talia gasps, pulling me to a stop in the middle of the room. “He’s here.”
“What? Who?” I follow her gaze across the lunchroom, where I soon find out exactly who she’s referring to.
Well, speak of the devil…
Callum Keller sits in all his glory at a table surrounded by his teammates. Most of them are tossing what look like chips into each other’s mouths, and it’s clear they don’t have a care in the world. And why should they? Their college experience is vastly different from mine, with them receiving preferential treatment just because most of them are hockey players on the fast track to the NHL.
But not Callum. He sits in the middle of it all, the corners of his lips tipping up every so often, but he doesn’t engage any more than that.
“Ugh, seriously? Can I not escape him?” I ask quietly.
Even though we no longer share a class, it doesn’t mean I see him any less. Just yesterday, I went to the library to get a break from Talia’s incessant need to blast country music every chance she gets, and guess who was there? Yep, him. And last week, I stopped by the admin building to see about a meeting with aprofessor, and Callum was there too, trying to talk his way out of a ticket.
Now here he is sitting in the lunchroom, and if I weren’t so hungry and craving something chocolatey, I’d turn around and march right back out just to avoid him. Thing is, even though I can’t stand Callum Keller, I also can’t seem to get enough of him.
Though it’s cold and the ground is covered in snow, it’s sunny outside, and that fact is only highlighted by the glow that radiates from him at his post near the windows. The light makes his already light brown hair look almost blond, but it doesn’t make him any less attractive, and neither does the way his strong forearms sit crossed over his chest. He has the lumberjack look today, too, sporting a forest-green flannel rolled up at the sleeves over a white t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and his usual black boots. It’s unfair how good he looks.
