***
Alice was running down the hall of her newly assigned freshmen dorm to find Blue. Her stupid roommate had let him out of his cage and then forgotten to close their door. Alice popped her head inside every room on both sides of the hall, asking, “Hi, have you seen a small bunny, dark gray fur? No? Thanks anyway.” And she moved to the next.
Her anxiety was growing with each passing door—that was until she reached the end of the corridor and stopped on the threshold of the last room. Inside, a guy was sitting on a twin bed holding Blue in his lap. He was wearing a simple white t-shirt, black basketball shorts, and man’s slides. And he was SO hot.
Alice barged into the room. “You found Blue,” she shrieked, startling both human and bunny.
A pair of dark eyes focused on her and the boy’s expression changed from slightly alarmed to interested. Something fluttered inside Alice’s belly. Blue had stumbled upon the best-looking boy of the dorm: dark-brown hair, square jaw, and a general tousled, bad-boy aura.
Alice lowered her gaze, suddenly self-conscious. His scrutiny felt like having a spotlight pointed at her face. She did a quick mental checklist of the state of her hair, makeup, and clothes. Um, probably not good; she’d run out of her room midway through her unpacking, in cozy clothes, no makeup, and her hair was a recently bleached mess.
“Hello stranger,” the boy said, flashing her a mischievous grin.
“Hi.” Alice pushed an unruly lock of hair behind her ear. “You have my bunny.”
The hottie scratched Blue behind the ears, making him purr. I’d purr, too, if it were me, she thought.
“Blue, is it?” he asked.
“Yep.”
The boy cocked his head toward her. “And you are?”
“Alice.”
“I’m Jack.”
“Nice to meet you.” Alice took a tentative step forward. “Can I have him back?”
“Wait, don’t I get a reward for finding him?” Jack teased.
He should get a reward for finding you, Alice thought. Instead, she said, “Your reward would be that I take Blue back before he poops on you.” Did I really just say “poop” in front of a super-hot guy? Alice blushed as she watched Jack’s smile switch back from dashing to mildly worried. She closed the distance between them and took the struggling bunny from his hands. At the light brush of skin on skin, a shiver ran through her.
“You start tomorrow?” Jack asked. “Or are you one of the luckies with no lectures on Monday?”
“Definitely not lucky.” Alice shook her head. “My first class is at a stupid early hour.”
“Same bad luck here. You picked a concentration already?”
Alice frowned. “Concentration?”
“It’s the fancy word they use around here for major,” Jack explained.
“Oh, that.” Why can’t they just call it major? “Chemistry.”
“No way, same as me.” His face lit up. “You’re in Professor Chase’s class?”
“Yes.” Same major—concentration, whatever—same classes. I’ll see you almost every day. Alice did a secret victory dance inside her head.
“Me too.” The “I’m interested” smirk was back on his face. “Want to go together?”
“Sure.” Alice clutched Blue more tightly as the bunny tried to leap out of her grasp and back into Jack’s lap. “I’m just a few doors down, room 254.”
“I’ll stop by tomorrow morning. Deal?”
“Deal.”
“See you later I guess, Ice.”
Alice’s face fell a little. “It’s Alice.”
“Mind if I go with Ice?”
Usually, her name got shortened to Ali or Ally. Lice once, thanks to a mean girl in fourth grade. But never Ice.
“Why Ice?” she asked.
“It has the most beautiful crystalline structure.”
Oh! He was flirting with her using molecular structures if this wasn’t perfect chemistry…
On impulse, as Alice left the room and walked down the hall, she looked back. Jack was leaning against his doorframe, watching her go.
Let's Be Just Friends (A New Adult College Romance) Page 12