First Kiss with the Quarterback (How to Catch a Crush Book 4)

by Maggie Dallen

  I had to assume Will was making a joke again. Most likely at my expense. I didn’t have to look in the mirror behind his head to know that I was not exactly Helen of Troy. No wars were about to be fought over my beauty.

  Stick straight mousy brown hair. Glasses. Skin that was so pale you could see my veins.

  Glamorous, that was me.

  “Thank you for your interest in my love life,” I said, more stiff and awkward than I could have ever imagined. I turned to face the rest of the group and gave a halfhearted smile. “But I do not wish to get Robert’s attention.”

  Lie.

  That was a lie and my brain called me out on it.

  I never had been much good at lying, especially not to myself.

  Did I wish that Robert would notice me? Of course I did. But I wasn’t about to play games to make it happen. If he hadn’t noticed me sitting beside him every day for two years or working together toward a common goal, I had a difficult time believing he would suddenly notice me now. I had an even harder time imagining him getting jealous over me.

  “I should go,” I said. I scrambled to come up with a reason that I had to hurry out of Max’s home and came up blank. “I just...I have to go.”

  I heard them calling out to stop me, but I tucked my head down and ignored them. I knew they had good intentions, but that didn’t help the fact that I was humiliated and irritated and—

  Bam!

  Running into a wall.

  I bounced back from the wall but before I could fall on my butt, hands caught me by my arms.

  Correction. I’d run into a body. A large, solid body that might as well have been a wall.

  I found myself righted and, though my head still spun, my feet were firmly on the ground.

  But the hands remained.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled as I stared at the large chest in front of my eyes.

  “All good.” The guy’s voice was low and rumbly thanks to that big chest and his giant hands were still gripping my arms.

  “I’m okay now,” I said, finally looking up to see eyes. Green, sparkling, and gorgeous.

  Also, a chin with a cleft in it.

  Sure, there were other features too—dark hair, some stubble, a jawline that wouldn’t quit. But it was the eyes and cleft in his chin that had me blinking in dismay.

  Dismay?

  Yes. Dismay.

  It was one thing to run into a stranger. It was quite another to run into a god.

  “For what it’s worth, I think you should make him jealous.” The god was speaking and his words took a second to register.

  Oh my—

  He’d heard that?

  My face burned and the god winked.

  He winked!

  No one had ever winked at me before. It was...weird. What was one supposed to do in return?

  Was I supposed to wink, too?

  Oh crap, I didn’t know how to wink. I’d probably look like a weirdo whose contact came out.

  “I guess you’ve met West.” Max’s dry voice behind me saved me before I could try my hand at winking. “West, this is Charlotte,” she continued.

  His lips curved up in a grin that set my soul on fire.

  Set my soul on fire? What?! What does that even mean?

  Apparently being confronted with a god brought out the poet in me. Souls could not catch fire. I wasn’t even convinced souls were a legitimate thing.

  He tilted his head to the side and dropped his hands.

  I was sorry to see them go.

  “What are you thinking about?” he asked. His lips twitched again like I was amusing him with my silence, but it was the genuine curiosity in his gaze that had me answering.

  “Souls.”

  He nodded. “Cool.”

  He turned his attention to Max and...three other teenagers I’d never seen before and hadn’t noticed were sitting at the kitchen table watching this exchange.

  Max stepped up to stand by my side. “Charlotte, these are my step-siblings.”

  I blinked and it all came back to me—how Max’s mother had remarried recently. How she’d been grumbling about all the enforced bonding time their parents had been pushing on them.

  And now here they were. Witnesses to my most humiliating moment.

  “This is Lou,” she said, pointing to a boy who must’ve been in junior high. He had shaggy light brown hair and those pretty green eyes. He flashed me a quick smile before turning back to a grilled cheese sandwich.

  “And this is Alison and her boyfriend Tristan.”

  A cute brunette lifted her hand and flashed me a smile. She too had the pretty green eyes. Tristan did not, but he wore a goofy grin that made it hard not to return his smile. “For what it’s worth, it sounded like an intervention to me.”

  Alison smacked his arm and rolled her eyes. “I’m sure they meant well.”

  Max wrinkled her nose, her expression rueful and apologetic at once. “Sorry, Charlotte. We didn’t mean to overwhelm you like that. Everyone just wants to see you happy.”

  I nodded. I knew that.

  Max glanced back toward the other room. “The newly happy couples, in particular, seem intent on getting all the rest of us paired up.”

  I nodded in understanding, but I was already shuffling toward the door.

  This day needed to end.

  Now.

  “I’ve got to go,” I said again, this time with a hint of pleading.

  A beefy hand landed on my shoulder. “I’ll walk you out. I’m going too, I’ve got to get back to the dorms tonight.” He turned back to the others. “See you, losers.”

  And somehow...I had an escort.

  A silent companion who didn’t seem to think it was odd that he was steering me to the door like rolling luggage.

  “You need a ride?” he asked.

  “No, but thank you for the offer.”

  He stopped and turned to me with a quizzical smile. I was used to that look. I got it a lot. “Nice to meet you, Charlotte. And good luck with the guy.”

  I nodded. “Thanks.”

  He called back over his shoulder as he got in the car. “Make him jealous.” He flashed me a startlingly brilliant smile. “It works every time.”

  2

  West

  The already cramped dorm room seemed to be closing in on me as I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees. “You can’t kick me out.”

  My resident advisor Derek sighed dramatically as he rubbed a hand over his eyes. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Weston—”

  “It’s West,” I snapped.

  Derek didn’t seem surprised by my sharp tone, but I was. Despite all the stereotypes about jocks and football players, I was a pretty chill guy. But today?

  Not so much.

  This week had started off bad and only got worse as it went on. First I’d been pulled aside after Biology to find out that I’d failed my last test. If I didn’t catch up on the material, I’d flunk the class and my spot on the team would be in danger. I’d thought that was bad...but now this.

  “Can’t you look the other way just once?” I asked. Nay, I pleaded. I had no shame anymore. Dignity begone. I couldn’t lose my room at the dorms. There was no way. The dorm housing was part of the scholarship deal, but if I had to pay for my own place...?

  I’d never be able to do it. Between football practices and attempting to pass my classes, I had no time for a job, not even a part-time one.

  Derek dropped his hand with a weariness that made him look way older than his nineteen years. “Just because you’re on the football team doesn’t mean you get special consideration.”

  I arched a brow. Actually, that was exactly what it meant.

  But what I’d learned so far as a freshman and as the backup to the starting quarterback, there were those who lived to serve the team, and those who would do anything to spite them.

  Derek fell into the latter category.

  I’d bet money that Derek hated athletes. He probably thought it was unfair
that we got perks and advantages. I knew his type. I’d known them in high school, too. Back in Fairmont High we always had these dweebs who got all self-righteous and holier than thou. They looked down on us meatheads who didn’t ace our classes and who cared more about football than classwork.

  Maybe they had a point. Heck, maybe they were even right to look down on us. I didn’t know and I didn’t care. I wasn’t about to change who I was for anyone...least of all this loser.

  The loser in question narrowed his eyes as if he could read my mind.

  He was a super nerd so who knows? Maybe he could. Maybe that big brain of his was capable of ESP.

  “It wasn’t even my weed, man.” Like the idiot that I was, I tried to make the same argument for the third time as if this time it would make a difference.

  Had my roommate and I invited some people over last night? Yes. I’d admit to that. It was an impulsive little get-together after I got back from my dad’s new home—which my siblings and I preferred to refer to as The Brady Bunch house, thanks to our dad’s current obsession with making us all feel like one big family.

  It wasn’t working. I mean, maybe if we were all younger and actually in the market for a mother figure, or if we didn’t already have siblings. But as it was, the three of us had been doing just fine without a stepmom and a stepsister, and trying to force them on us wasn’t exactly welcome.

  But I digress.

  After I’d gotten back to the dorms, my roommate Jay had suggested we let loose a little, have a few friends swing by.

  Had it gotten a little out of control?

  Also yes.

  But it wasn't like it was some kegger at a frat house. It was tame compared to any other party I’d been to since arriving at St. Archer’s a few months ago.

  But try telling that to Derek the Derp over here.

  “The fact remains, Weston—”

  “It’s West,” I growled. I hated when people called me Weston. Only my mom called me that and since she died it felt sacrilegious to hear my full name cross anyone else’s lips.

  He sighed. “The fact remains, West, that you and Jay broke the rules. This is Jay’s first strike, but you...” He sighed again, like I was such a disappointment to him.

  Fine, so I’d broken a couple rules over the last few months. It shouldn’t be enough to—

  “You’re going to have to find new housing,” Derek said.

  My stomach dropped. It shouldn’t be enough to get me kicked out.

  My head started spinning as Derek kept talking, rattling on about responsibility and how just because I’m on the team blah blah blah.

  I couldn’t even hear his words over the roar of blood in my ears.

  I was going to be sick.

  My dad was going to kill me.

  But not if my coach didn’t kill me first.

  I dropped my head into my hands. I’d known it all along—college was a mistake. I didn’t belong here and now everyone else seemed to be catching on. First my biology teacher and now...Derek.

  I lifted my head, my shoulders straightening as I eyed the dweeb who was threatening my college career. I was hardly the first guy to break some rules around here, and if I was anyone else I had no doubt that Derek would do me a solid and look the other way.

  But no. Derek the dork had it out for the athletes on our floor, and we all knew it.

  I narrowed my eyes, not even pretending to listen as he lectured me. Was I really going to let Derek get me down?

  No.

  I sat up straight. I hadn’t gotten a full-ride football scholarship because I was a quitter. There had to be some way out of this. One look at this scrawny little twerp and it was clear he was power tripping. I narrowed my eyes as I took him in. All short blond crew cut and gaunt cheeks and...yup, there it was.

  Smug satisfaction.

  He was loving this.

  Rage had my hands clenching into fists and I barely caught a snarl before it ripped through my throat.

  I drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, evenly. I did it a few more times until I was back in control. Fighting this jerk would only make things worse. See? I might be a moron when it came to schoolwork—and yeah, maybe I made some poor life decisions. Often. But I could control my temper.

  I wasn’t some ’roided-up jock who used his fists to get his way. My mom had made sure of it, and I wouldn’t let her down. I’d never become the egotistical self-absorbed quarterback cliché.

  I eyed Derek, who was crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair, thoroughly satisfied that he’d won.

  That was what he wanted. A win. He was desperate for it, and honestly, who could blame him? This little nerd had probably never had a win outside of a classroom.

  He wanted a win, and if I wanted a way out of this, I had to make sure he got it. What I had to do became clear. I had to swallow my pride.

  “What do you want?” I asked.

  Derek blinked, his smug smirk fading in surprise. “What?”

  The brown-nosing loser hadn’t expected me to use reason. Fancy that. I leaned in closer. “What can I do to make this go away?”

  He blinked and his eyes grew dazed for a second.

  He was thinking. I could practically see his mind race with possibilities. I braced myself for it. As he thought it over, I guessed what it would be.

  He’d want a date with one of the hot girls in my crew. Or no, he’d want to get an invite to one of the team parties. Maybe he’d have the nerve to ask for Stella’s number now that we’d stopped dating.

  My nostrils flared at the thought, but I held myself in check and eyed him in silence.

  Yeah, this kid would totally make a play for Stella. Smart and preppy, she was totally his type. Heck, she was every guy’s type. She had that girl-next-door sweetness and enough brains to make a guy like Derek fall in love in a heartbeat.

  She’d been the only reason I was passing biology up until now. A sophomore, Stella was a science major and had helped me prepare for the tests. It wasn’t cheating. She didn’t feed me the answers or anything. She just...gave me a little insider insight, that was all.

  It wasn’t until she’d ended things with me that I realized how little I’d actually retained from the classes. I’d been skating by with her help and now I was miles behind the rest of the class.

  I held back a sigh as I leaned back and waited for the ask.

  Derek was totally going to ask for Stella’s number.

  Derek’s gaze met mine at the same moment. I arched a brow and waited.

  “You need to chaperone this weekend’s science competition for me.”

  I stared at him for a second. “Um...what?”

  He started talking a mile a minute about how as an RA he was supposed to look after a bunch of high school nerds who were coming to St. Archer’s for some big science project.

  It sounded like a nightmare. Like...literally, I’ve had this bad dream before where I was trapped in a room with a bunch of smart kids and forced to present something I knew nothing about. There was a whole lot of mocking laughter. Also, I think I was naked.

  By the end of his speech, Derek was staring at me expectantly. “So, you’ll do it?”

  Before I could respond that I’d rather stick a fork in my eye than babysit a bunch of weirdo teenagers who got their kicks going to science camp, he’d jumped out of his seat with a clap of his hands that made me start.

  “What am I saying? Of course you’ll do it.” He grinned down at me in triumph. “You don’t have any other option.”

  “Wait, but I’m not even a—”

  “I’ll run it by the dorm advisor,” he said with a brush of his hand that effectively wiped away my concerns about not being in any way qualified for this. “It’ll be fine. You’ll do great.” He glanced at me as he headed toward his door to let me out of this horrific meeting. He seemed to consider the ‘you’ll do great’ comment and he winced. “You’ll do okay. Just...don’t get into trouble.”

  I glared at
him on my way out. Everything in me wanted to protest, to argue. But I couldn’t.

  And we both knew it.

  If this was my Hail Mary to keep my spot in the dorms, then I’d do it. But I didn’t have to be happy about it.

  I also didn’t have to do it alone.

  That was how Jay came to be sitting next to me at the meeting for RAs who’d been suckered into doing extra duty by chaperoning the science geeks while the rest of our friends went out and partied all weekend.

  “I can’t believe you dragged me into this,” Jay muttered beside me.

  Margaret, the dorm advisor, was an older lady with gray hair and a permanently frazzled look on her face. She was droning on in the front of the room about the dorm rules as they applied to visiting high schoolers.

  Basically, all the same rules but times twenty. These poor losers even had curfews.

  “You’re the one who invited the cheerleaders,” I reminded him. “That’s when things got out of hand.”

  “Yeah, but it’s only my first strike—”

  He stopped talking when I shot him a glare. It might have been his first strike, but that’s only because I covered for his butt the last time we got busted. He clamped his mouth shut with a huff and turned his scowl to Margaret at the front.

  “These are good kids,” Margaret was saying. Something in her tone implied that we were not.

  Which was a laugh, considering everyone here except for me and Jay were overachieving goody-two-shoes. Those were the only students who went after the RA positions because the position basically made you the dorm-floor rat, snitching on anyone who dared to have fun.

  “The winners will walk away with a small scholarship, but the majority of the kids are here because...” She shrugged as if at a loss. “They just want to be.”

  Jay and I exchanged a little smirk. They were coming to a weekend-long summer competition for fun, that was what she was trying to say. What kind of freaks got their kicks doing science experiments?

  Just like that, I had this flash. A mental snapshot of a cute little nerd with big owl eyes, wire-rimmed glasses, and long stick-straight brown hair that fell in her face like a curtain.

  That girl. Max’s weird little friend.