“Oh, this one’s a charmer.” Rosie laughs from beside me. “He’s the kind of guy they write in those romance books of yours, Willie.”
“Jesus Christ, woman. For the hundredth time, they’re mystery thrillers, not romance.”
The corners of her lips lift along with one of her shoulders.Spit fire of a woman.
I look back at Chloe who is watching this exchange, and even though I’ve only had a handful of short interactions with her, I’ve never seen her look this stunned. “Well?”
“I’m not here for a class.”
“What do you mean?” I tilt my head in genuine confusion.
“She shows up three times a week because believe it or not…” Rosie cups my shoulder with her delicate hand. “She likes us.”
Both Chloe and William shake their heads while laughing, and for once, I’m not in on the joke.
“I’m going to get the game room set up for later.” Chloe stands, grabs her camera from the table, and then bends down to hug the woman. “I’ll see you two tomorrow.”
“Goodbye, sweets,” Rosie says.
Chloe gives me a once-over but says nothing before leaving me with William and Rosie with an R.
“Well.” The older man drops his book to his lap, looking at me over the rim of his glasses. “You gonna go help your girl?”
“Well, she’s not…” I glance toward the door, catching Chloe peeking over her shoulder at me. She quickly turns away and I look back at William. “She’s not my girl.”
“Oh, so you just look like a little puppy around all the girls, then. I see.”
My lips twitch, fighting back a grin. “You’d better call your eye doctor and ask for a new prescription, my guy, because you’re reading this all wrong.” I smile, pointing a finger at him, and he waves me off with a chuckle as I leave to do exactly what he just assumed I would.
3
chloe
The media roomis the largest room at Creekside. It’s used for Bingo, movie night, trivia tournaments, Thanksgiving…basically anything coordinated. I’d rather be picking a film for movie night than testing the markers for Bingo, but since I won’t be here later, I want to make sure everything is set up correctly. I’ve met a few of the other volunteers; most of them are here out of some sort of requirement or obligation, so I don’t fully trust them to get things done the way they should be—which is perfect.
I drop a marker at the sound of the large door in the otherwise quiet room and look up to find Maverick Hall taking up all the space in the door frame. He’s intimidatingly good-looking, with his piercing blue eyes and his freshly shaven dark blond buzz cut. He’s not a small or even an average-sized guy. He’s easily over six feet, judging by the way he’s towered over me once before, and he has the wingspan of someone who should be playing basketball rather than hockey.
“Need some help?” He doesn’t wait for me to respond, but rather just begins moving the furniture that was placed off to the sides last night for the cleaning crew.
He pushes the sleeves of his sweatshirt up, and I quickly look away because I have no business ogling this man’s veiny forearms. For a solid second, I wonder if we’re going to be able to work together in silence long enough for my thoughts to simmer down, but it seems that would be too much to ask for.
“How was your summer? I feel like I didn’t see you at all.”
“You didn’t see me at all last summer either,” I respond, not looking up from my dotted paper.
“Your best friend wasn’t dating my best friend last summer.”
No, she wasn’t. I love Savannah and Noah, and I truly could not be happier for them, but their coupling has put me in the line of Maverick’s sight more times than I’d ever been in my previous three years at LCU. I’d be lying if I said I’ve never noticed him before, but Maverick isn’t exactly known for his long-term dating history. And I know myself. I could never have a casual hook up without spiraling after and thinking that it was anything more than that.
Not to mention, I’ve spent my first three years at LCU trying to prove to Nathan that I’m loyal to the soil and only want to be with him.
“I saw you last week leaving Kegan’s place.”
Now my head snaps to him.
“Saturday, I think?” He looks away like he’s trying to remember. “I don’t know. It was one day last week. I was driving by and saw you walking down the steps to your car.”
“Oh,” I breathe, realizing the confusion. “I was actually visiting Nathan, his roommate.” I shrug my shoulder like it’s no big deal; when in reality, I had taken an everything shower, put on a new outfit, and sat by my phone, waiting for him to call.
