by Laura Pavlov
“You should come,” Wade said, turning his attention to me.
No flutters.
But he was really nice.
“You’re coming. I’m starving and I just survived my first football game.” Leo wrapped an arm around me.
Gray waltzed over and slipped a T-shirt over his head, and I studied his every move. The way his arms flexed as he tugged the cotton fabric down. The way his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat when his gaze locked with mine. My mouth went dry, and I took a drink from my water bottle to cool down.
“Good game. You two dominated,” he said, and his eyes never left mine.
“It was fun. Do you want to come with us to grab a sandwich?” I asked, and my tongue dipped out to wet my lips while making every effort to act completely natural.
His eyes moved from Jett and Addy and Leo to Wade, before returning to me. “Nah. You guys have fun. Thanks for helping out, Jett. See ya.”
He jogged away and my heart sank. Why was he avoiding me again?
“Gigi, go talk to him. You owe me, girl.” Tiffany put her hands together as if she were praying and Addy and Leo both rolled their eyes with annoyance.
“Okay. I’ll be right back, and then I’ll be ready to go.” I was actually happy to have a reason to go talk to Gray.
“Hey,” I called out as I closed the distance between us, and he turned around.
“What’s up?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest, as if he was protecting himself.
From me?
Am I the enemy now?
“Tiffany asked me to come talk to you. She really likes you.”
He studied me. “You’re setting me up with Tiffany now?”
I raised a brow. “No. I mean, I don’t have much of a choice seeing as she keeps reminding me that Addy and I are only in the house because she pulled a favor.”
He nodded. “You going to lunch with Jett’s friend?”
“Do you care if I do?” I raised a brow.
“Nope. Why would I?” he said, his eyes hard.
“No reason, I guess. I mean other than the fact that you kissed me.”
“You dared me to kiss you. I told you it couldn’t happen again,” he said, moving closer and invading my space.
His words stung.
“Good to know.” I took a step back. “I’ll be off to lunch with Wade. He seems like the kind of boy who kisses you and actually wants to do it again. I guess I’ll have to find out. I’ll tell Tiffany to text you.” I jogged off, leaving him standing there, and pushed down the lump in my throat.
Gray made it clear that it was a one-time thing.
This was a silly little crush that would go away.
I actually couldn’t stand him at the moment so it shouldn’t be that hard.
“He wants you to text him,” I said to Tiffany before turning to the rest of the group. “Are you guys ready? I’m starving. Turns out that scoring touchdowns works up an appetite.”
They laughed and Tiffany high-fived me and hugged me before running off. We walked to the sandwich shop on campus. Addy, Jett, and Leo were a few steps in front of us and Wade walked beside me. I pushed thoughts of Gray and Tiffany out of my mind.
“So, you’re from Willow Springs too?” Wade asked me. He was really cute. He had blonde hair and brown eyes and that boy next door look. He was definitely kind and sweet, which was in direct contrast to the boy who’d just hurt my feelings.
“Yeah. We all grew up there.” I had a little pang of sadness as I spoke of home. I missed my parents and my brother and my best friends. Thank goodness I had Addy here with me.
And Gray.
Nope. Still hate him.
Wade and I chatted on our walk and throughout lunch and he was great. My phone vibrated on the table and I picked it up to see a text from the enemy.
Gray ~ Are you mad at me, G?
Me ~ Annoyed is a better description.
Gray ~ Fair. Are you at lunch with that dude?
Me ~ Yep. You don’t care, remember?
Gray ~ I don’t. Just checking on you. Have fun.
Me ~ I hate you.
Gray ~ All wouldn’t be right in the world if you didn’t.
I dropped my phone back on the table and silenced it. I was done playing games with Gray Baldwin.
He was correct.
All was right in the world when I hated him.
And most of the time it came easy for me.
Chapter Ten
Gray
It had been a week since the powder puff football game and Gigi hadn’t responded to one fucking text. She was pissed. Fine. But don’t ghost me when I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on you. I’d gone by her dorm a few times and she didn’t open the door if she was there.
It was for the better. Never should have kissed her. Now she hated me more than ever and I was fucked up over the damn kiss. Couldn’t get her out of my head. My hand would probably blister with how many times I’d fucking rubbed it out in the shower to try to get over it.
Fucking Lila had shown up at my door at the frat house and dropped to her knees.
Ready and willing.
And guess the fuck what? I wasn’t into it. I tried to get there. Made out with her for a minute or two and just said I wasn’t feeling well.
I was suffering from Gigi withdrawal.
Fucked. Up.
“Gray, can you hang back for a minute?” Professor Lambrose called out as I made my way to the door with the rest of the students in my Business Law and Ethics class.
“Sure. What’s up?” I asked, trying to think if I’d forgotten an assignment. Doubtful. I’d never had my shit more together than I did this year, and I was acing my classes so far. Turns out being sober pays off in more ways than one.
“The paper you submitted received the highest score in the class. You took the opposing side and won me over. I can promise you, that doesn’t happen often.” Professor Lambrose was a short, stout man and famous for being a ball-buster. This was definitely unexpected.
“Thank you, sir. That means a lot.”
“Good. I don’t give out compliments easily. You impress me. I assume you would like to go on to law school?” he asked.
“That’s the goal, yes.”
“When are you taking the LSAT?” He stacked a pile of papers beside his laptop and looked up at me.
“I was going to order the study materials over winter break and spend next semester preparing and hope to take it over the summer. I’d like to go into senior year with it behind me,” I said, shifting on my feet with discomfort. I wasn’t used to getting praise from professors. Sure, I’d always done well in class, scored high, but I’d never been committed enough to be top of the class.
It felt fucking good.
“I have a friend at the courthouse that takes interns based on my recommendation. I think it would be a good fit for you and allow you some real-life experience. Would you be interested?”
My jaw dropped. A recommendation coming from this man was as good as it gets. He only taught the one class for undergrads and spent the rest of his time as a professor at the TU Law School, which happened to be my top choice.
“I would absolutely be interested. Yes. Thank you so much.”
He reached out a hand and shook mine hard. “Consider it done. I’ll set up a meeting. Keep up the good work.”
“Yes, sir.” I walked out of the classroom feeling like I was ten feet tall. And the first person I wanted to tell was the one person currently not speaking to me. I dialed her number and held the phone to my ear. I glanced across campus to see Gigi on the other side of the courtyard. She had her phone in her hand and looked at the screen but didn’t answer. I could see from a hundred feet away that she was smiling though, and I couldn’t help but laugh. I quickly tapped out a message.
She looked down at her screen while I leaned against a tree, taking her in.
Fucking gorgeous.
Blonde waves fell around her shoulders and she wore a little floral miniskirt, a white sweater, and some sort of short boots that all the girls wore here.
She looked up and met my gaze. Her smile was so bright my breath caught in my throat. But then her eyes hardened, and she scowled.
Still pissed.
She stormed my way, and I didn’t move. I was going to enjoy this moment. The way her hips swayed and her legs shimmered in the sunlight.
“Are you stalking me now?” she hissed.
Hell, I didn’t even mind an angry Gigi. I’d missed seeing her and would take her any way I could get her.
“Sure. If that’s what I need to do.”
“What do you want?” she asked, and I could tell she was trying to hide her smile. Gigi was good to the core even on her worst day, though she tried to prove me wrong when she was angry.
“I wanted to tell you something.” I crossed one leg over the other and my tongue dipped out to wet my lips. The smell of peaches overwhelmed me, and I fought the urge to pull her close.
“Why don’t you tell Tiiiiifany,” she said the name slowly and rolled her eyes.
“Why the fuck would I tell her?”
“She told me you guys hung out the other day. I don’t even want to know what that entails,” she said, before turning on her heels and storming off.
“Hey,” I shouted as I chased after her.
Never thought I’d chase after any girl before. But Gigi was different.
I reached for her and wrapped my hand around her wrist before she whipped around, her chest slammed into mine. “What!”
“Nothing happened with Tiffany. We did not hang out. She stopped by the house and brought me cookies. I don’t like her that way. But something good just happened to me now.” I ran my free hand through my hair but kept my fingers wrapped around her because I didn’t want to risk her running away again. “And I wanted to tell you.”
She looked down at my hand on her wrist and raised a brow. “What happened?”
Her tone was exasperated, and I couldn’t help but laugh. I’d been told by my mother that I was exhausting my entire life. But I hadn’t even gotten started on Gigi Jacobs.
I let go of her because I knew she would wait to hear what I said. She was good like that. Thoughtful. I shoved my hands in my pockets because I suddenly felt like a needy little asshole. I didn’t normally do awkward, but I was feeling it at the moment.
“I, uh, well, Professor Lambrose, my Business Law and Ethics instructor, just offered to give me a recommendation for a summer internship at the courthouse.”
Her head cocked to the side as she studied me, and a grin spread across her face. “That’s amazing. What made him offer it to you? Did you have an exam?”
Not many people took an interest in other people’s moments, but Gigi always did. Of course, she wanted to know more.
“I guess I got the highest score on the papers we submitted. Hell, maybe it was a mistake.” I laughed, trying to make light of it.
“Don’t do that.” She reached out and touched my forearm and I was thankful that I was wearing joggers and hoped they hid the tent currently setting up camp in my pants. “It’s amazing. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
My skin heated where her hand touched me, and I was thankful she didn’t pull away. “So, why’d you want to tell me? You didn’t want to call Tiffany or one of your other hoochies?” she hissed at me and I couldn’t help but laugh.
She was so fucking cute when she was jealous. I was treading in dangerous territory and I knew it. But I couldn’t stay away.
“I haven’t known them my whole life,” I said. My hand came over hers because I needed to feel her even more.
She looked up at me, and her sapphire blues locked with mine. “So, call Cade.”
“I will. But I wanted to call you first.”
Her teeth sunk into her plump bottom lip and she smiled. It was a smile that could light up the fucking world. I wish I could bottle that shit up and keep it with me.
“What are you doing right now?” She pulled her hand away and tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Heading back to the house, why?”
“Come celebrate with me. I’m going to the pottery studio. I reserved it for an hour. I’ll show you my project.”
“Well, I usually celebrate with a couple shots of whiskey, but since I’m not drinking, I guess pottery works.” I didn’t have any desire to go to a goddamn pottery studio, but I wanted to spend more time with her.
What the fuck are you doing, dickhead?
“Let’s go, my little overachiever,” she said over a chuckle and my motherfucking chest tightened at her words. We were playing with fire. This couldn’t go anywhere. Gigi deserved a hell of a lot better guy than me. Hell, no one was good enough for her—myself included. And I was pretty fucking impressed with myself so that was saying a lot. But Cade was like a brother to me, and his sister was very much off-limits. He knew who I was, and he would never be okay with it.
But we could be friends. We could hang out. And that’s all this was, right?
We walked in the pottery studio and she signed in at the desk. I followed her into a back room. We were the only ones there and she flipped on the light. There were shelves filled with different pieces of pottery and she moved toward an oversized bowl and a vase. I took in her backside. Her skirt swayed against her thighs as she walked toward the shelves. I wanted to reach my hand beneath her skirt and touch her where I knew she was dying to be touched.
Get your fucking head out of the gutter, you scumbag.
“These are mine,” she said, reaching up to grab them. I hurried over as the vase nearly tipped, my chest pressing to her back, as I reached up and took it from her hand. She sucked in a long breath before turning to face me. Chest to chest. Breaths coming fast.
“Here you go.” I handed her the vase and grabbed the bowl before taking a step back.
We set them on the table, and she pulled out a basket of paints, squeezing them onto a dish with little circles to separate the colors. “Why don’t you paint the vase for my mom for Christmas. She’ll love it.”
I chuckled as I studied the intricate piece. “I don’t paint, G.”
“Yeah? Well, you’ve also never been sober for months at a time, you’ve never gotten offered amazing internships by your professors, and you don’t kiss your best friend’s little sister. So, maybe you give this a shot?” She quirked a brow and I couldn’t help but laugh.
She’d noticed I hadn’t had a drink since school started. And that was a good thing because if I were a drunk asshole right now, I’d have her sprawled out on this table beneath me, doing all the things I wanted to do to her. This was another reason it was good to stay sober.
“That was a one-time thing, G.”
“I know. You’ve made that perfectly clear and God only knows where that mouth of yours has been since it was on mine.” She rolled her eyes and shivered in dramatic fashion, and I covered my mouth with my hand so she wouldn’t see my smile.
“You know me too well. That’s why we need to make sure that never happens again. You could do much better.” I dipped my brush in the orange paint because I knew that was Katie’s favorite color. I glanced over to see Gigi with her bowl flipped over as she painted the base, so I did the same.
“Agreed. But I have a question,” she asked, and a pink hue covered her cheeks. She didn’t look up at me, so I knew she was nervous, and I never wanted her to feel that way around me.
“Hit me with it.” I covered the bottom half of the pottery in orange paint and studied my work. It was shit.
She
looked over and smiled. “The first coat never looks good. You’ve got this.”
“What’s your question?”
“That kiss. Is that how it always is for you?” Her eyes were focused on her bowl and I smiled. Couldn’t help it. Because that fucking kiss was haunting my dreams. Consuming my thoughts.
“You’ve never been kissed properly before?” My voice was gruff, and I adjusted myself beneath the table as the mere mention of her sweet mouth had my dick on high alert.
“Not like that. I mean, what happened, you know, at the end.” She chuckled and covered her eyes with her hand and shook her head. “That was embarrassing. It’s never happened to me before.”
Good Christ, my dick was straining so hard against my joggers I closed my eyes and tried to think of anything to calm him down.
Vomit.
Horror flicks.
Sick puppies.
Simon, my asshole stepfather.
Works every time.
“Nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s called an orgasm, and it’s a good thing.”
“Oh my god,” she whispered. “I know what it is. Did you have one? Or was it just me?”
My head fell back in laughter, and she frowned. “I’m not laughing at you, G. Just laughing at the situation. Let’s just say I’ve had about four hundred orgasms reliving that kiss. Does that make you feel better?”
And I’m hard again.
“Oh. Good to know.”
“Not really. It’s a dangerous game you’re playing, bringing all this up. Just because it was good doesn’t mean it should have happened.”
“Why? Because of Cade?” She dipped her brush in the water before covering it in pink paint.
“That’s one of many reasons. He’d fucking kill me, are you kidding me? He’s my best friend. My day one. And you know this can’t go anywhere. You just got a little worked up because you’ve clearly never kissed anyone who knew how to make you feel good. Stay away from selfish assholes, G.”
“Yeah, I’m working on that.” She raised a brow and met my gaze, making it clear she thought she was looking at one.