Campus Crush

by Ashelyn Drake

  “Well, that’s a hell of a way to wake up in the morning.” Ben props himself up on one elbow and stares down at me. “Naked and sprawled out on the floor. I like it.”

  I look down, realizing for the first time that I don’t have any clothes on either. Somehow Ben’s made me feel so at ease with him that I didn’t even notice something so obvious and potentially humiliating. “My God! What if I had walked out into the hallway like this? I was about to take a shower.”

  Ben laughs. “You forgot you were naked?”

  “I was a little…distracted.” My eyes lower to the sheet and the part of his body it’s not covering.

  “I see.” Ben smirks and pats the bed next to him. “You could always postpone that shower.”

  So tempting. “I can’t.” I get up and untangle myself from the towel. “I have a class in less than forty minutes.

  “Can’t you skip?” He gives me this look that can only be described as hunger, and not for breakfast.

  “Believe me, I’d love to, but Dean Decker actually keeps track of how many classes we miss, and if we don’t have a doctor’s note, we can lose R.A. privileges.”

  “And what exactly are R.A. privileges? I mean other than getting a big room all to yourself to share with a certain guy who’s having a really hard time seeing you naked and not touching you right now.”

  I wrap my towel around me. “Is that better?” I ask, noticing he’s made no effort to cover himself up.

  He shakes his head. “Not really. The mental image is burned into my brain. It’s like I can see right through that towel. You may as well just take it off again.”

  I laugh. “Oh, you think so, do you?” Before I know it, I’m back on the bed, but I choose to sit instead of lying down next to him because I know exactly where that would lead.

  “Don’t trust me or don’t trust yourself?” Ben asks, running his finger across the back of my hand.

  “Both. I know how we are together.” It’s crazy how we met only two days ago yet I feel like I’ve known him for years. I guess some people really do just click.

  “Amazing, hot, insatiable.” His finger trails up my arm and to my face.

  “Insatiable sounds about right for you, Benjamin.” I kiss the tip of his finger and stand up. “I really do have to shower and get ready for class.”

  “Can I buy you a cup of coffee first?”

  “Give me five minutes. I’ll take a quick shower, and then we can grab some coffee on the way to my class.” I turn and walk out of the room before he can protest, because I’m not sure I have the willpower to resist him again.

  I set the water colder than usual because I need to get my hormones in check. Ben is driving me crazy in a way I’m not used to. I’m in and out of the shower in a matter of minutes. With my towel wrapped around me, I rush out of the bathroom, running right into Noelle.

  “Oh, sorry,” she says, as if it was her fault.

  “No, that was all me. I’m the one who’s sorry. I overslept.”

  Noelle cocks her head to the side. “I see. Was that because you weren’t alone?”

  I’m sure she’s figured out what happened after she saw me with Ben last night. “On a scale of one to ten, how bad does this look?”

  “Are you happy?”

  “Ridiculously.” I sigh and smile at the same time, something I never even knew was possible.

  “Then, on a scale of one to ten, I’d say it’s a negative two. If Ben makes you happy, nothing else matters.”

  “Seriously, sometimes I think maybe you should be the R.A. Maybe Julia, too. You’re both wise beyond your years.”

  “You say that like you’re so much older than us. Stop judging yourself. You’re an R.A., not the dean.” Her eyes lower when she mentions Andy’s father.

  “Hey.” I reach for her arm. “Have you even met him yet? I mean, as Andy’s girlfriend?”

  She shakes her head.

  “Then you have to tell Andy that it’s time. He needs to let his dad see how wonderful you really are for him.”

  Her eyes get watery with the threat of tears. “What if he meets me and still doesn’t think I’m right for Andy?”

  “Are you happy?”

  She lets out a little laugh. “Ridiculously.”

  I smile at how our conversation has taken a full one-eighty. “A really wise girl I know told me if you’re happy, nothing else matters.”

  “See, that’s why you’re the R.A.” She smiles and dabs the wetness from her eyes. “I’ll talk to Andy as soon as he’s finished with swim practice this morning.”

  “Good. Now I have to get dressed so I can grab coffee with a really great guy before I head to class.”

  “Ditching me for another guy?” Ben asks, standing outside the bathroom.

  Noelle gives me a wave and heads to the showers.

  Ben shoves his hand in his pockets. “You were taking so long, I thought something might be wrong.”

  “Oh, and you were going to come rescue me from the big, bad shower?”

  He shrugs. “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”

  I smack his shoulder. “Seriously, what time is it?”

  “Seven fifty.”

  “Shit!” I race to my room, fling the door open, and grab the first items of clothing I see—jeans and a beaded yellow top. I pull them on and throw my hair into a loose, messy bun, leaving a few strands to fall at my face. Then I grab my bag and keys and meet Ben in the hallway.

  “Come on, seriously?” he says the second he sees me.

  “What?” I look down, thinking I’ve put on two different shoes or something. Nope, both the same. “Is it my outfit? My hair? I didn’t have time to dry it.” I reach for the bun, but Ben takes my hand and brings it to his lips, kissing the back of it.

  “You look amazing. I just can’t believe you don’t have to do anything to look that good. I mean I should’ve known. I saw you when you first woke up and you were every bit as gorgeous as—”

  I lean forward and press my lips to his. His hand loops around my waist and presses against the small of my back, pulling me closer.

  “What was that for?” he asks once we break apart.

  I search his eyes, still having a hard time believing all this is happening. “For being you. You’re kind of perfect and you don’t even have to try to be. You just are.”

  He shakes his head. “Believe me, I’m not.”

  I take his hand and walk to the elevator. “Well, you’re perfect for me.”

  He turns me toward him as we wait for the elevator doors to open.

  I can’t read his expression. It almost looks concerned, but that doesn’t make sense. “What?”

  “I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

  “Well, really Mike thought you were serenading him, but I figured I’d step in and save you from his weird sexual fantasies.”

  Ben shakes his head at my attempt at a joke. “I mean it. I don’t know what I did to end up here with you. I don’t deserve you.”

  I step into his body. “Yes, you do. You’ve proven that over and over again with all the amazing things you’ve done for me.”

  “They were—”

  I press my finger to his lips. “Incredible, just like you.”

  There’s no time for coffee or even to get to class before the lecture begins, but Ben doesn’t complain. He walks me to my lecture hall and kisses me goodbye.

  “Text me later so we can make dinner plans,” he says.

  I nod and peck him lightly on the lips. It’s so hard to pull away from him, especially since he’s holding my hand and rubbing his thumb across my palm in a way that makes me tingle. I squeeze his hand and then force myself to let go.

  I slip into the classroom and take my seat next to Mike. He gives me a knowing glance and slides a note onto my pull-up desk. I roll my eyes as I open it. Mike has a way with words sometimes, and I can just imagine what he came up with in the fifteen minutes of class I missed.

  Tell lover boy I want
a girl who’s willing to put out as much as you have for him.

  I inhale sharply and smack Mike’s shoulder, which makes a loud slapping sound and causes everyone to turn and look at us. Even Professor Zimmerman stops his lecture and glares at me. “Sorry. He had a bug on him. A spider,” I correct myself, knowing a ton of people have spider phobias. “Mike’s tough, but he’s a big baby when it comes to spiders. And this one was big and hairy.”

  A few people shutter and make remarks about how disgusting spiders are. Mike glares at me but then says, “I guess I deserved that.”

  Once the class is back on track, Mike leans toward me and whispers, “But how many times have you guys done it? You know, ballpark figure.”

  “Ballpark figure?” I struggle to keep my voice down. “You bitch!”

  He smiles when I say “bitch”—the term we always use when we pretend we’re mad at each other. “What? You can’t even manage that? Dirty girl.” He shakes his head. “I hope you showered before you came to class.”

  I take a few strands of my wet hair and shove it in his face. “Sniff it.”

  “No way. I don’t know where you’ve been.” He raises a brow. “Or do I?”

  “You’re such a douche.”

  “And you love me, so what does that say about you?”

  “Clearly, I’m an idiot who sucks at choosing friends.” I start copying Mike’s notes because I don’t want my new relationship—is it a relationship?—with Ben to make me flunk out of Timberland.

  “Hey, you’re doing better than some.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Professor Zimmerman lowers the lights and starts a movie on the big screen. The movies are all the same, some start-up company explaining how they got off the ground. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen too many. As usual Zimmerman leaves the room while we watch—we have a bet going that he’s either drinking or getting high during his little breaks, though no one’s caught him yet—and we’re free to talk amongst ourselves.

  “I was talking to Jeff this morning—”

  “Wait, who’s Jeff?” I don’t remember Mike knowing anyone named Jeff.

  “Oh, sorry. You probably know him as Ace.”

  “Ace, as in the president of the biggest frat on campus?” Well, none of the frat houses are actually on campus. Thank God. “I’m sure that was a very enlightening conversation full of ‘dude’ and ‘got any weed?’”

  “He’s not that bad.”

  “Sure, he’s not.” I wave it off. “What did Ace have to say?”

  “He said that one of the dudes in his frat—” He pauses as I level him with a stare. “Okay, so he does say ‘dude’ a lot. So does my older brother. It’s really not that big a deal.”

  “Go on.” Before he starts again, I add, “Dude.” I can’t even get the word out without laughing.

  “Anyway.” He drags the word out until I stop laughing. “One of the guys in his frat told him about how they handle Rush Week at his buddy’s school.”

  “Oh joy, we’re going to talk about Rush. My favorite topic.”

  “We could talk about your sexual escapades with a certain freshman if you’d rather.” He raises a brow at me. “You never did answer my question about many times you two have done it.”

  “Rush. Keep going.” I wave my hand in the air until he starts talking again, and then I resume copying his notes.

  “I will get an answer out of you eventually.”

  “You just keep telling yourself that.” I don’t even look at him because I know he probably will get it out of me eventually. We don’t really have secrets between us.

  “Okay, so back to Rush Week. The guys have this bet to see who can snag an upperclassman before the week is over.”

  “Snag as in…” I look up from my notebook.

  Mike meets my stare. “What do you think it means?”

  “That’s disgusting.”

  “It gets worse. Ace said they decided to one up the other school by having their rushees try to get an upperclassman into bed and to say she loves him.”

  “What? First of all, that’s impossible.”

  “Why? You don’t think people can fall in love that fast?”

  “Maybe, but not when it’s a blatant lie.” No girl is that stupid.

  “That’s why it’s such a challenge. They can’t let the girl know what they’re doing. So far, about a quarter of the rushees have slept with their upperclassman. No one’s gotten the L-word out of her yet, though.”

  “Who are these guys? We should out them and the frat before this gets out of hand.”

  Mike shrugs. “That’s the thing. They’re the only frat that’s not letting their guys go public about rushing.”

  “Because what they’re doing is disgusting and completely immoral!” A few people turn toward us, but I don’t care. I hope they hear me. I want to tell everyone about this and put an end to it. “What do the guys get if they win this bet?”

  “They get to skip the entire pledging process.”

  Damn it. What guy wouldn’t try to get out of being hazed for weeks on end? “This is going to get really bad, isn’t it?”

  “You should just be lucky you already have a guy. You have nothing to worry about.”

  Zimmerman walks back into class, so we can’t talk freely anymore. I spend the rest of the lecture thinking about Ben. He’s a freshman and I’m an upperclassman. But he’s shown no interest in frats, and he’s spent all his time with me. No way could he be involved in something so awful. Ben’s not an asshat like Ace and his buddies. At least I hope not.

  Chapter Seven

  Ben shows up at my dorm with Chinese food. He holds it up, and I can already smell the egg rolls. Looking at him and how happy he is to see me, I feel awful for even thinking for a second that he could be involved in a fraternity prank like Ace’s.

  “Chicken and cashew nuts for the most beautiful girl I know.” He steps into my room, pausing to kiss me lightly on the lips.

  “That’s either a damn good guess or Mike told you that, too.” I shut the door and join Ben on my bed.

  He takes out the containers and opens them up. “No, he didn’t. I figured if you like hazelnuts you probably like other nuts, too.”

  I try not to laugh, but I can’t help it. I hold my stomach as I double over.

  “I did not mean it like that!” He starts laughing, too. “Come here, silly girl.” He reaches for my hand.

  “Sorry. I had kind of a weird day, and I think I just needed a good laugh.”

  “Did something happen?” He shifts on the bed so he’s facing me and I’m standing between his legs.

  “No, nothing like that. Mike just told me something that really upset me.”

  “What?” He reaches up and brushes my hair out of my face. All of his gestures are either so tender I want to kiss him or so intoxicating that I want to tear his clothes off. Either way, I can’t believe I was lucky enough to find him. He’s one of the good guys, and apparently, on this campus, good guys are hard to find.

  “It’s some fraternity bet that’s so far beyond degrading to every female on campus. I can’t even talk about it. I’m just really glad I don’t have to worry about getting caught up in anything like that.”

  “Mindy,” Ben looks at me and pauses.

  “Yeah?”

  His eyes are full of warmth. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  “I know.”

  He nods. “You hungry?”

  “Starved.” I hold my hand to my stomach, but Ben removes it and pulls me to him, kissing my stomach and then wrapping his arms around my waist.

  “I missed you today.” Ben’s voice is almost a whisper, like he’s afraid to say the wrong thing and freak me out again. “Is that crazy? I mean I was with you all night.”

  I sit down on his lap. “It’s not silly at all. I missed you, too. I’m not sure how or why things are going so well between us so quickly, but I’m done questioning it. I’m just going to enjoy it from now on
.”

  “Good.” He hugs me for a moment and then lifts me off his lap.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Making sure we don’t have to reheat our food this time.” He smiles and hands me a plastic fork.

  “I’d say thank you, but I’m not sure I’m happy about this decision.”

  He smirks. “Eat. You’ll thank me later.”

  I smile and lock my eyes on his. “Oh, I plan on it.”

  “Cut that out or I’ll have to go back on my word.”

  “Tempting, isn’t it?” I take a piece of chicken and pop it into my mouth, moaning as if it’s the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted.

  “So are the noises you’re making, but I think you already know that. You play dirty, Mindy Stanton.”

  “I have no idea what you mean.” I smile again before taking a bite of my egg roll.

  Ben’s eyes are locked on my mouth. “I’ve never been jealous of an egg roll before.”

  “Well, you know what they say. First time for everything.”

  “Yeah, seems like I’m having a lot of firsts with you.”

  I put my food down and open the mini fridge, removing two bottles of water and handing one to Ben. “What do you mean?” I twist off the cap and take a sip.

  He looks down at his food. “I’ve never sung to a girl before.”

  “Really?” I nearly choke on my water. “You seemed so natural on stage. I figured you did that sort of thing all the time.”

  “I’ve done karaoke before, but I’ve never sung to a specific person.”

  Which again raises the question, why me?

  “I’ve also never told a girl that I’m falling for her the day after I met her.”

  “Ben, you’ve got to tell me what makes this”—I gesture back and forth between us—“so different for you?”

  “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.” He takes a big swig of water and then digs into his beef and broccoli.

  “I still can’t figure out why you picked me out of a room full of girls. Or why you cared enough to ask my best friend about me and track me down with coffee.”

  His eyes finally meet mine, but there are no answers there. “What if I can’t explain it?”