Page 43 of His Reckless Freshman

I chew my lip, wondering if I should also read the novel, just to really see what it’s all about. Pulling out my phone, I search the Nolan U library app and put a hold on a copy of The Duke and I by Julia Quinn. Maybe if I read the entire series, I’ll get some more answers.

In fact… I start searching the app for romance novels and set aside five, which I’ll pick up tomorrow.

I know I’m not really supposed to read these types of books. According to my mother, they’re “pornography on a page,” which is why I never dared to tell her that Esther—the girl I sat next to in about three of my classes senior year—snuck me copies of her secret stash, and I read a few of the pages she’d earmarked for me.

It was kind of scandalous… but also kind of delicious.

Maybe that’s why I’ve been curious about it all, you know?

I wanted to experience what these women on the page were experiencing—the rush, the high… kind of like what Ben described.

But it wasn’t like that for me at all.

I frown, wondering if reading these books is a waste of time. But surely they can give me some kind of guidance.

I want to figure out this sex thing, and what safer way to do it than through books and TV. No one’s touching me. No one’s expecting anything from me. I can make sense of it at my own pace.

My lips twitch, a little thrill running through me. Picking up books from the library is so fun, and yes, I know I could download them to my phone and read the e-book version, but I’m a paperback girl, and it’s not like I’ll have to hide them under my bed. I don’t live at home anymore, and Nylah probably won’t care what I’m reading.

She seems worldly and wise.

She’s probably had lots of sex and been really good at it.

Me, I’m gonna learn.

I’m gonna learn everything I can about this whole new world of sexual pleasure, and then maybe, I just might change my mind about whether or not I want to do it again.

14

BEN

It’s Monday morning and I’m just getting back from my run when I hear a “No fucking way” from the kitchen. It’s Mac, and he’s laughing over something.

Curiosity gets the better of me and I head around the corner, wiping my sweaty face with the bottom of my T-shirt.

“What’s up, man?” Darian asks from the dining table. He’s chowing down on his morning oats with blueberries and banana. The girl he let spend the night is perched next to him, sipping a coffee, her nose wrinkling every time he inhales a mouthful like he’s competing in some eating contest.

Mac waves his phone in the air. “Just reading an article about us in the Nolan U Star.”

“What?” Darian pings up straight. “What do you mean? Did that fucking chick write about us anyway? We all said no to interviews.”

My stomach clenches.

“She never asked me.” Mac shrugs, then turns to smirk in my direction. “But it looks like she asked someone, and he didn’t say no.”

Jimmy walks in just as Darian explodes out of his seat.

“What the actual fuck, Evers!”

His one-night stand flinches, watching him curiously as he stalks toward me.

I raise my hands before he can thunder any closer.

Sawyer is just loping down the stairs, strapping on his watch and looking confused. “What’s up?”

“He spoke to that reporter!” Darian points an accusing finger at me, and I take a step back, distancing myself just a little more.

How the fuck am I supposed to explain myself here?