“You’re not wearing my jersey.”
“Good eye, Hall.”
A group of people walk by, stepping behind me to get to the door and I move in closer to Chloe.
Out of my periphery, I catch sight of a tall, dark-haired figure, and without thinking, I lean forward, placing one hand on the wall behind Chloe and use the other to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.
Her eyes widen, and I swear I feel her pulse against my chest. I rub the pad of my thumb along her cheek, testing.
I lean in close enough that I can hear the way her breath hitches. “What are you doing?” Her breathy voice goes straight to my cock, and with how close I am to her now, I wouldn’t be surprised if she could feel it growing.
“Your little cornball boyfriend is watching you.” I brush my nose across hers. “I thought I might give him something worth watching.”
Her eyes shine with something caught between panic and desire, and her hand comes to rest on my chest. I wait to feel any sort of resistance, but it’s just there. Her lips part, only half an inch, but it’s enough to charge the air between us. I lean in, closing the remaining space, and her lips brush against mine, as she whispers, “He’s gone.”
I bite down on both my bottom lip and the disappointmentsurging through me, but quickly cover it by pressing my lips to the shell of her ear. “Too bad. I’ve been looking for an excuse to kiss those pouty fucking lips of yours all week.”
17
chloe
It’s beentwenty-four hours and my lips are still buzzing from a kiss that didn’t even happen, and for every hour that I’ve spent replaying it, I’ve spent two telling myself to get a grip. I am too damn busy between classes, making sure I’m ready for that interview, and all my extra curriculars to be concerned with any sort of heat that might have coursed through my body when Maverick’s lips brushed against mine. And I’m definitely too busy to dissect why I was so disappointed that’s all it was.
“Chloe?”
Or at least I should be.
“Huh?” I drop my fingers from my lips and whip my head back to Oliver. “Sorry. What’d you say?”
“No worries,” he says with a laugh. “I said, I gave your number to a friend of mine who needs some help, too. I hope that’s okay.” He stands from the table, gathering his laptop and books, and the library around us finally starts to come back into focus.
“Yes.” I shake my head, clearing my throat. “Yeah, of course.”
“Cool. You doing anything fun tonight?”
I lift my shoulders with a deep inhale, hoping something will come to me and I don’t have to tell this guy for the third week in a row that I’m getting take-out and spending the night with Hulu. “Yeah, maybe.”
“My brother is in a fraternity,” he says, pulling on his green Carhart jacket. “They’re having a party tonight. You should come.”
Fraternity parties and I don’t usually go hand in hand, but I smile anyway and say, “Sounds fun. Text me.”
He smiles again, and I wave him off before pulling out my phone. My stomach does that heavy plunge thing when I see that I have five missed text messages. The first one is from an unknown number, which I almost immediately delete until I remember it could be Oliver's friend.
Unknown: My vote for Rowdy’s tonight got veto’d and the house decided to go to the Kappa Si party tonight. Be my date?
Unknown: BTW this is your boyfriend. I had to put Noah in a headlock just to get your number from Sass.
I cover my mouth when I let out a small snort. I reread the texts once more before deciding he can wait a little longer and open the other messages.
Sav: Where are you?
Sav: I got chicken and dumplings.
Sav: Also, your boyfriend is harassing people for your number. Weirdo.
They both use the term boyfriend sarcastically, but theway my little romantic brain is wired, tricks me into believing that I don’t hate the thought of it being real.
Chloe: If you got my second favorite food, you must be trying to butter me up.
