I glared at him. Did he honestly not know that Charlotte liked him? Did he not understand how lucky he was?
“...I’ll use that time to review our notecards.” Charlotte was talking and I’d missed it because this anger had the blood roaring past my ears.
She was acting so normal. Well, so normal for Charlotte, which was really not all that normal.
But that was what made her so great. Did Robert not get that?
I watched this painfully awkward tableau before me feeling for all the world like I’d completely lost my marbles. I mean...this wasn’t even my problem. How was I the one freaking out here?
Why were they both acting like nothing was wrong?
Did Robert not realize that Charlotte was a hundred times more genuine and sweet and real than Stella? Sure, my ex was pretty and she was smart, but she was also...well, boring. And stuck up. And patronizing to anyone who wasn’t as smart or beautiful.
She wasn’t kind or generous and she didn’t look at the world with that crazy unique perspective that made me see everything in a new light, too.
“Okay, great,” Robert was saying, his embarrassment fading fast in light of Charlotte’s unflappable facade. Robert, and anyone else who might have witnessed this scene, could understandably be fooled into thinking Charlotte truly didn’t care. That she had no emotions at all.
But she did. That was what someone like Robert couldn’t see.
I could see it, though. For a second back there in my room I’d had this weird thought that I could see what she was feeling better than she could.
Did that make sense? Maybe not. But that was how it had felt. Her emotions were written on her features plainly for me to see but she seemed totally unaware of them.
Robert didn’t seem to see it either.
For the first time in my life, I felt like I knew more than anyone else in the room.
I knew something that these two geniuses couldn’t understand.
Charlotte felt. She felt deeply. And right now, she was hurt, whether she wanted to acknowledge it or not.
I tuned back in to hear them discussing details of their presentation that sounded like Greek to me.
The elevator dinged. They were going to walk away and continue this charade and Charlotte was going to pretend that everything was just fine.
My jaw clenched so tight I thought it might break.
That was it.
Last straw.
The doors opened and after they got in I stuck my hand in to hold the doors open, but I didn’t follow.
“Aren’t you heading down?” she asked.
I shook my head, my gaze never leaving hers. “I have to grab something from my room, but babe...”
Her eyes widened as I gave her my best smile. The sexy smile that made girls all over this campus melt.
It made Charlotte gape.
“I had a great time with you last night.”
She blinked, a little crease of confusion forming between her brows as she stared at me. Robert was staring too, but I couldn’t drag my gaze away from hers to gauge his reaction.
“I should be done with practice in time to watch your presentation. We’ll go out afterward to celebrate, yeah?”
I didn’t wait for a response. I reached out with my free hand, gripped the back of her head and leaned down for a kiss that was quick, it was firm, and it was...
Freakin’ hot.
A searing heat shot through me at the first touch. Her lips had been slightly parted with surprise and mine fit over hers like we were built to fit together. Her lips were full and warm and she tasted unbelievably sweet.
I pulled back and for a second I wasn’t sure who’d gasped—me, her, or Robert.
It was Charlotte who’d made that noise and the dazed look in her eyes was beyond adorable. It was freakin’ hot.
She was freakin’ hot.
How had I not noticed that until right this second?
Robert was still staring and when she gave her head a little shake I just knew she would ruin the effect with a question like ‘what was that for?’ so I backed away quickly, giving her one last wink. “See you later, babe. Knock ’em dead.”
9
Charlotte
Knock ’em dead.
No one said that. Not in real life.
Knock ’em dead.
What did it even mean?
“Charlotte?” Robert’s voice intruded. “We’re up next.” Concern etched his oh-so-familiar features. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. We were in the hallway outside the auditorium where the presentations were being held. Robert and I had decided to wait out here until ours lest we risk psyching ourselves out with the competition. My ego wouldn’t mind if someone else won, but there was quite a bit of scholarship money at stake and winning would make both of our lives easier over the next few years.
This was likely why Robert believed me to be nervous.
It wasn’t.
Knock ’em dead. Where did that phrase even stem from? Boxing, maybe? It sounded like a term one might associate with pugilists. Knockout. Knock ’em dead.
I nodded again, this time to myself. It made sense.
It made way more sense than that kiss, of that I was certain. This was why I’d spent the last few hours parsing his final words rather than thinking about that kiss.
Yeah, right.
Okay, fine, I hadn’t been thinking about it. Not intentionally, at least. I hadn’t allowed myself to analyze it in any true sense—but I’d been fixated on it all the same.
More precisely, my body was fixated on that kiss.
I could have sworn my lips could still feel his. I made a mental note to research phantom limbs. Perhaps phantom lips were a legitimate phenomenon.
If so, did that mean that some part of my brain thought that his lips belonged on mine? Like they were a missing piece of my own body?
I huffed. Impossible.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Robert asked in a rare show of concern.
I glanced over and caught a flicker of guilt.
Ah. So that was it. He thought I was upset that he’d hooked up with Stella the beautiful, smart, amazing woman who’d...dated West.
My frown intensified which was likely why Robert didn’t quite believe me when I muttered, “I’m great.”
He fidgeted beside me. “I, uh...” He cleared his throat. “I know what I did last night wasn’t professional. It wasn’t, er...fair to you...” He shot me a quick look and his face fell.
It was only then that I realized I was cringing as he spoke.
This speech, it was just too awkward. And more importantly, more upsettingly...it was totally unwarranted.
“It’s fine, really,” I said.
He nodded, and the moment could have passed, except...I didn’t want it to.
I’d meant it when I said it was fine. And that was what worried me. I was supposed to have a crush on Robert. I’d spent the better part of two years cataloguing all the reasons why we would make a good match. I’d had plans to kiss him this weekend, or at the very least flirt.
And somehow...I’d ended up kissing West instead.
A college guy. Max’s stepbrother.
A quarterback.
That kiss didn’t make any sense. Or rather, my reaction to it seemed entirely disproportionate considering that logic and reason told me he’d only kissed me in some sort of half-baked idea that he could rouse jealousy in Robert.
I understood logically it was not a real kiss but try telling that to my lips. My whole body had come alive with that quick, unexpected kiss. Every nerve ending had felt it, and everything inside me had melted to butter.
Metaphorically, obviously.
I knew why he’d kissed me, but why had I wanted to kiss him back? That was the question that was really bugging me.
“Charlotte?” Robert said. His voice was gentle. Sweet.
My crush was sitting right next to me. So why did it feel West had permanently branded me w
ith that quick, only-for-show kiss?
None of this made any sense.
With no warning, my head felt like it was spinning even though I was sitting still. My equilibrium was thrown off entirely.
It was psychological. Obviously. I was perfectly healthy and had no issues with my inner ear. This was confusion, plain and simple.
Except that there didn’t seem to be anything simple about it.
I couldn’t sort through this chaotic mix of...of...feelings.
Also, I really hated being confused. This was not my natural state. It was not how I operated. I was the kind of person who made pros and cons lists to make decisions. I was the type of girl who chose her crush based on a number of factors, including but not limited to availability and likelihood of reciprocation and common interests.
Robert fit the bill in every category.
And yet, when I’d realized he’d been with another girl, I’d felt hurt, yes. But it was that kick of rejection that I was used to, sadly enough. It was that minor pang I felt when I was chosen last in gym class or when the rest of my friends at the cafeteria lunch table talked about a party I hadn’t gone to.
Robert said something—I didn’t catch what—but I turned to face him, ignoring the crowd that was starting to grow around us in the large hallway as the first presenters left and their supporters along with them.
“Do you like Stella?” I asked.
Robert’s eyes went comically wide. “What?”
I huffed in impatience. “Do you like her? As in, do you have a crush on her?”
I clamped my mouth shut and waited. It was none of my business and we both knew it. And yet, I very much wanted to know and I saw no point in beating about the bush.
A splotchy, unbecoming red spread over his cheeks as he looked down one end of the hallway and then to another. Either he was looking to see if anyone else was listening or he was searching for an escape hatch.
He didn’t find either.
When he turned back to me I could see his panic.
“Look, I’m not mad,” I said. “I promise.”
“Okay, it’s just that...” He licked his lips and his gaze didn’t quite meet mine. “I always kind of thought that maybe you and me, that you and I, that we would....” He trailed off in a blaze of embarrassment.
“Me too.” I said it quickly to save him any more humiliation.
He glanced up in surprise. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
He squirmed like a child. “I guess I blew that to pieces, huh?”
His smile was a little sad and a lot pathetic. I couldn’t bring myself to be angry with him, just like I hadn’t been able to feign being super hurt by him and Stella. I shrugged. “It’s okay.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded. “But do you like her?”
I thought maybe he finally sensed what I was getting at. That I hadn’t asked him to shame him or put him on the spot but because I was genuinely curious.
“Oh. Uh...” He ducked his head. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
“Huh.”
He stared at his feet as he shifted back and forth. “I mean, it’s not serious. We both agreed this can’t be anything real. Not yet, at least. If I end up going here next year that’s a different matter, I guess. Right?”
I wasn’t sure why he was asking me, but I nodded in agreement anyway. It sounded reasonable.
Honestly, I didn’t entirely care about him and Stella or their future. But what was still bothering me...what wouldn’t leave me alone...
What did that kiss mean?
Or did it mean anything at all?
Maybe not.
“Robert, do you believe in chemistry?”
His brows shot up but then he got that look that I’ve always liked on him. It was the thoughtful one that said he was weighing my words and turning them over so he could give me a well thought out response. “I assume you’re referring to physical attraction?”
I gave a little snort of amusement and he matched it with a small smile. As if I was going to deny the merits of science.
“Yes,” he said after a brief pause. “I think physical attraction is a very real reaction that can’t be created or forced.”
I nodded. I had to assume his tryst with Stella was what made him a believer.
My mind flashed back on that kiss. The kiss.
It was the best kiss ever, of that I was certain.
However—and this was where the logical part of my brain was hung up—it was also my only kiss. So without something to compare it to, how could I know?
I couldn’t.
I also couldn’t rule out my compatibility with Robert entirely given the fact that he also had similar aspirations for us becoming a couple.
“Would you kiss me?” The words were out before I could overthink it.
His eyes widened but being the excellent lab partner that he was, I could see it click a split second later. He understood my intentions. With a curt nod he leaned forward and...
There.
It was done.
He pulled back and we shared a long look that I assumed said everything.
Namely, yuck. I mean, not to be too immature about it but that was the exact opposite experience from the kiss I’d received from West.
West’s had sparked a fire. Robert’s lips on mine had made me mildly uncomfortable, like an awkward hug that lasted too long or small talk that peters out to silence.
“Well, I guess it’s official,” Robert said.
I nodded. “We do not have chemistry.”
He arched a brow. “But we kick butt as partners in chemistry.”
I laughed even as I rolled my eyes at the lame joke.
A head poked through the doorway behind us. “Charlotte? Robert? They’re ready for you.”
Robert gestured for me to lead the way, and my head was spinning a lot less as I did.
There was still plenty to feel confused about, but one major question had been cleared up by that little experiment.
Robert and I did not have chemistry.
West and I did.
This meant that Robert and I would happily remain friends and lab partners, nothing more.
As for West and me, this meant...what, exactly?
10
West
My foot tapped incessantly against the auditorium floor as the judges asked questions of Charlotte and her inexplicably irresistible partner.
Robert.
What did she even see in him?
I narrowed my eyes at him, forcing my hands to unclench against the armrests, only to find them gripping the plastic again a second later, so hard my knuckles were white.
I mean, so what? So she’d kissed him. It wasn’t like we were really dating.
And what did I care if he cheated on Stella?
I didn’t. I hadn’t felt so much as a flicker of jealousy at the thought of him and Stella together, but seeing him lean in and kiss Charlotte?
My grip on the armrest grew painful.
I watched Charlotte at the podium, so serious, so brave. I knew without a doubt that this shy girl wanted to tip her head down and hide behind her hair or tuck her chin, but she was too brave and smart and strong to hide. She was so confident in her intelligence. That was freakin’ sexy.
And she’d kissed Robert.
My eyes narrowed on her as I remembered that kiss. It was hardly an epic passionate embrace, now was it?
It looked painfully awkward. Actually it just looked painful, period. I cringed at the memory of it, short and clunky, like two people who’d just run into each other, mouths first.
So maybe it had been a good luck kiss or a goodbye kiss or...some other kind of platonic kiss.
With the guy she’d had a crush on for years.
Yup, that was totally it.
My head fell back against my seat. I was in the back, in the shadows, along with some others. Mainly competitors, some professors, a few family members, by the looks of it.
And then there was me.
The idiot who was giving up his precious afternoon of freedom so he could be bored to tears, and all so he could be a supportive...what?
Fake date? Friend? Study partner?
I slouched down in my seat and rubbed at my temples. My hair was still wet because I’d run here after my post-practice shower. I’d literally run here to see her. To support her.
Man, I truly was an idiot.
And I was absolutely being ridiculous. I knew this. I’d set out to do just this, hadn’t I? Make Robert jealous. Help her win him for herself.
Clearly it had worked.
So, good. Good for her.
Besides, I was getting what I’d wanted out of this. For the first time all semester I actually felt like I understood some of the stuff the biology professor and Stella had been talking about.
I got it because Charlotte had helped me see it. And not once had she looked at me like I was some helpless jock buffoon the way so many others did. She looked at me like I was just as smart as she was. Like I just didn’t know it yet.
I stared at her as she stared at Robert.
Robert who was speaking. Mumbling, really. He had none of Charlotte’s poise or elocution.
Charlotte was nodding slightly as he spoke like she was encouraging him, urging him on. It was cute. And sweet. And...
Holy crap. Did I have a thing for Charlotte?
My mouth went dry as my heart took a dive for my stomach. What the…? No way. I couldn’t be crushing on my science tutor. On Max’s friend. On a freakin’ high school senior. On a girl who already had a crush—on a giant dork named Robert.
I couldn’t be crushing on freakin’ nerdy, socially-awkward Charlotte. It just wasn’t possible.
She glanced out into the audience at that precise moment and her gaze collided with mine. She’d found me instantly and to my surprise her eyes lit with happiness and surprise, and her lips curved up in a sweet little smile that seemed like it was meant just for me.
I tried to swallow as I met her stare.
I was a quarterback. Second string, maybe, but not for long. Once the senior starting quarterback graduated it would be the West Whittaker show. I’d have the dream college life. Even now, as the backup, I was wildly popular. Girls loved me. Guys wanted to be me. I could have my pick of girls.
First Kiss with the Quarterback (How to Catch a Crush Book 4) Page 7