Contents
Title Page
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
A LOOK AT GARRISON'S CREED
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
COPYRIGHT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
SWEET GIRL
by Cristin Harber
CHAPTER ONE
Nicola stood inside the dorm lobby of Miller Hall and leaned against a bulletin board. With her heart beating faster than it should, she plotted her escape outside and through the pack of squealing girls. If there was one thing she knew about Chesterfield College, it was that high-pitched squeaks could only mean one thing: her brother Roman and his best friend Cash had arrived.
They were her favorite friends. But right about now, she was pretty sure they were standing on the brick ledge near the front door, using their legendary campus status to their advantage and creating an eye-roll worthy scene. They loved the ridiculous attention. She’d give them hell about that later.
Today was the day the dorms opened for fall semester. During her freshmen year, Nicola had thought the Romans and Cashes of campus stood outside Miller Hall to be helpful, welcoming, blah, blah, but now she knew better. They were trolling to meet their soon-to-be latest conquests.
She threw her bag over her shoulder, glancing at her baggy t-shirt and flip-flops, definitely not what the gaggle would be wearing. Not that she cared. Much.
Nicola tamped down the smidge of self-doubt, shook her head, and charged. She rounded the corner and saw she’d been right. Cash and Roman perched on the ledge. Girls jockeyed for front-row positions like groupies. Roman and Cash played to their audience of short-shorts and push-up bras with jokes and flirty smiles. An abandoned sign lay by their feet. TKX Rush Party. Ladies Drink Free. Clearly, the boys didn’t need signage for attention.
Nic would be at the party tonight, just as she had been at all the others. She usually had fun, and she, Roman, and Cash were inseparable most times. Now that she was back on campus, it made sense to show. But seriously, the whole screaming chick thing? Lusting after Roman and Cash like they were campus rock stars? She didn’t want to watch any of it. Ever.
Cash’s straw cowboy hat dipped low, covering his face. Shaggy blond hair stuck out and made his country cool guy look work in so many ways. She hadn’t seen him for the last few weeks. She’d kept missing him back home, and with her trying to nab the internship she wanted, and him being such a damn party boy, it’d been weeks. Somehow, he’d gotten broader and taller, and she made it even more of a point to ignore him.
Sort of.
She peeked. Damn, Cash… Was he even tanner? Was his hair blonder? Her stomach jumped into her throat. If Roman knew what crossed her mind when it came to Cash, he’d lock her up in their parents’ basement.
And if Cash ever knew? She knotted her fingers together because that was a no-go. He could never know. It would ruin everything.
“Hey, Nic.” From the top of the brick wall, Cash’s drawl slid right down her spine. He hadn’t yelled over his crowd of groupies, just used his laidback, easy-going drawl that drove her to distraction. “Wait up.”
An audible grumble rippled through the crowd until Roman shouted, “Who’s coming tonight?”
The crowd cheered. Nicola rolled her eyes and kept moving toward the student activity center, dubbed the SAC, to hit the cafeteria. Focusing on lunch and not on the army of floozies seemed like a better idea.
“Nicola.” Cash was behind her, but she kept going. “Nic.” He stepped in front of her, grabbed her waist, then threw her over his shoulder. “What, you can’t hear me? I haven’t seen you in weeks. What’s a guy got to do to get your attention?”
She almost laughed at the irony, but she was upside down and remembering how insanely amazing he always smelled. “I’m hungry, Cash. Put me down.”
“Me too.” He plodded up the long ramp in front of the SAC with her still over his shoulder.
She could’ve stared at his backside and not complained, except she was scared she’d melt into a puddle of goo. “Put me down.”
“Nah.” He rolled up the ramp like he didn’t have her upside down, and she tried to keep her flip-flops on her feet.
“Come on, Cash.” She kicked. He kept his even pace. She went limp. He didn’t notice. “I can walk, you know.”
“I know. You’re coming tonight, right?” He turned his head. His lips tickled her skin like he was having a conversation with her thigh.
“Not totally into seeing you and Roman get pawed all night. So maybe. Maybe not.”
Cash stopped and dropped her down in front of him. Whoa. Her head spun as the blood rushed back into place. His hands stayed on her waist, steadying her, lingering…
Nope. Cut it out. She shook her head. She’d made it years without getting caught up in the Cash-machine. Slightly caught up, maybe. But not a look at his hair, stare at his shoulders, and notice that his hands were still on her waist kinda caught up.
“Jealous.” He cocked an eyebrow, and his stunning blue eyes sparkled. “You’ll be okay, Sprout.”
At that very moment, she decided she hated Sprout. Was there a stupider nickname? “Not a chance.”
He took a step closer, hands still on her hips. They were locked in a moment, and she didn’t know why. Tension burned hot, but it had nothing to do with the summer sun.
“Whoa. Nicola Hart. Missed you, girl.” A booming baritone called from behind them. “Summer did your body good.”
Her eyes left Cash’s only long enough to see Jacob, Chesterfield’s quarterback, with two girls, Mira and Jaycee, draped on his arms. Nic could see why they fawned over him. He was cute enough, funny enough, interested in her enough, but she couldn’t see him as more than a friend.
She smiled at him and ignored the girls. “Hey, J.”
“Ladies.” Cash locked an arm around Nic’s neck. “Double-deuce.”
Jacob pulled an arm from around Jaycee and tugged his number twenty-two jersey twice with a chin lift, like a white boy paying homage to some football god somewhere. “What’s up, Cash?”
Nicola was ninety-nine percent sure that both guys, separately, had been with both girls, probably not separately, at one time or another. Good for them. Whatever. She didn’t care.
“I’m hungry, boys.” She ducked out of Cash’s hold. “See ya.”
Pushing through the doors, she ditched Cash with Jacob and the set of Tits McGees. Her stomach turned, and Nic lied to herself, saying it was hunger pangs.
Coming from the other direction, she saw Brandy, her best-friend-slash-roommate, who she loved sometimes, hated other times, but who had never left her in a bind. Brandy’s bitchiness was a comforting constant.
“Nicola!”
“Hi—”
Brandy bounced on the balls of her feet. “Major. Life. Event. Ready?”
A happy, giddy Brandy was out of the ordinary. “What’s going on?”
“We’re moving off campus.”
&n
bsp; “Um, no.” Nicola shook her head. “We just moved back on campus.”
“We’ve got two weeks until school starts. All this Greek, sports, student activity bullshit has everyone here early with nothing to do, so I did us a big favor and found a super cute little house.”
Always the responsible one, Nicola could only offer one answer. “No.”
“And it has a pool!”
“No. Are you kidding me?”
Brandy bounced on her toes again. “So dead serious, I can’t even stand it.”
“Brandy. Seriously. We can’t afford it.”
“And it has a kitchen. A bathroom where you don’t need shower shoes.”
Nicola shook her head. “Not-uh.” But a kitchen and a non-shoed shower experience might be what tipped her from no way to all right.
Brandy paged through a packet in her hand. “It’s a sublet. Some associate professor got a better gig somewhere else. It’s perfect. Plus, Hannah hasn’t moved on campus yet. It’s a three bedroom, and she’s in if we do it.”
Living with another one of her best girl friends would be fun. Brandy held up a picture, and Nic stared. “It seriously has a pool?”
“It has a pool!” Her roomie squealed and showed her a dozen more pictures.
“No.” She thought that bathroom shot might do her in. Habit had made Nicola’s automatic answer no. But this one… Maybe it was worth thinking about.
Brandy read her mind and started the hard sell. “We don’t even have to take care of the pool. That’s a bonus. Someone just shows up and cleans it. I already called and asked. It’s a five-minute drive from school. We can still get out of our dorms because school hasn’t started yet. Full refund. That’s a first and last month’s rent deposit!”
“We can’t.” But they actually could if the advertised rent on the listing was correct. Brandy really had thought this out.
“I’m really hating you right now, Nic.”
“I hate you most times, so we’re even.”
“But when you don’t, you love me.” Her voice was sing-song. “I’m your bitch, bitch. Come on already. Don’t make me beg.”
Six feet of solid muscle strolled up behind Brandy. “Yeah, Nic. Don’t make Brandy beg.”
Brandy rolled her eyes and swung her elbow back, catching him in the stomach and making him laugh. “Cash will agree. Tell her to say yes.”
“Say yes to Brandy.” He passed her roomie and locked his arm back around Nic’s neck as the three of them walked into the cafeteria. “To what, anyway?”
“We’re moving off campus!” Brandy jumped up on her toes. Again. “And we have a pool!”
“Oh, hell no.” Cash stopped so abruptly his arm choked Nicola for a second. “No.”
Brandy scowled. “Damn it, Cash.”
“No?” God, she hated it when he and Roman got all bossy. “Why not?”
Brandy squealed. “Love it when you two fight.”
He ignored her. “No.”
Now it was certain yes. “Gimme a copy of the lease, Brandy. I’ll sign.”
Cash shook his head, and his face turned serious. “No way, no how are you living off campus. You need that little security guard posted on the first floor. And no boys spending the night. And—”
Brandy’s head fell back. “You two are a hot mess.”
Nic’s jaw dropped. “Are you kidding me?”
“Your brother won’t let it happen,” Cash growled.
So the hell what? “Roman isn’t in charge of me.”
“Then your dad won’t.”
“What are you going to do, call him?”
“If that’s what it takes.” He crossed his arms. “You’re a daddy’s girl. You might have him wrapped around your finger, but he’d never agree to this. Never.”
“You aren’t my brother, and you can’t call my dad when I make decisions you don’t like. I’m twenty flipping years old, and if I want to move off campus, you aren’t stopping me.”
Brandy clapped her hands. “So final decision, we’re moving off campus? Please say yes, Nic.”
“Yes. Absolutely.”
Cash’s jaw flexed. “No.”
“Do I have to say it again? You’re not in charge of me. You’re not my brother—”
“Go away, Brandy.” Cash stepped closer. “Nic and I need a minute.”
Brandy scoffed. “We’ll do the deposit later today.”
“Sounds good.” Nicola tried to sidestep Cash. Didn’t work. He bumped her back, stepping closer and closer, until she’d retreated all the way to the glass wall separating the cafeteria from the SAC. It was cold on her shoulders, and Cash was hot to her chest. Her heart raced, and her throat went dry.
“What?” she whispered.
“I’m not your brother.”
The pounding in her lungs somehow made it into her ears. It was all she could hear, and it made breathing feel forced and heavy. “I know.”
He stared down at her, and the world was lost. This was so bad. He was yelling at her for whatever reason, and the only thing she could see was how full his lips were, how gorgeous his eyes were. Cash put one hand above her shoulder, caging her. Breathing was now a lost art. She didn’t remember how.
“I don’t like it.” His voice rumbled.
“You guys haven’t—” She tried to take a breath, and, God, she sounded like one of those screaming girls at Cash’s feet, breathy and pathetic. “Lived on campus since you were freshmen.”
“Exactly.”
She swallowed. “I don’t know what that means.”
“Fine, Sprout. You don’t need—”
“I hate Sprout.”
He pulled back a couple inches. She couldn’t feel the warmth of his breath on her cheek anymore and hadn’t noticed it until it was gone.
He gave her a half-grin. “Oh yeah, since when?”
Since he’d had her over his shoulder.
“Christ, Cash.” Jacob stepped up behind them. “Give the girl some room. Not everyone’s trying to jump in bed with you.”
Cash spun so fast she thought it was a joke. “Shut the fuck up.”
“Easy, dude.” Roman walked over, eyeing their two friends. “Hey, Nic.”
Thank God he hadn’t seen Cash pushed up against her, not that he’d have a problem with Cash because he never would’ve guessed what was rolling through her head. But Roman would’ve called her out for being flustered. He would’ve laughed. Cash would’ve laughed. And she would’ve died.
“Crazy ass.” Jacob shook his head, blowing Cash off with a laugh and headed off with Roman toward food.
Cash turned back to her, and his throat bobbed. Shifting in her flip-flops, Nicola felt too damn hot when he looked at her. She always did, and one day, she’d stop fooling herself. It was one-sided, and there was no point in being in love with a guy who was that overprotective and would always think of her as Sprout.
“Nicola.” Tray in hand, Jacob walked backward toward the food. “Tonight’s TKX party, wanna pre-game at my place? I’ll scoop you up around eight?”
Nicola looked at Cash. His strained jaw and thin, flat smile said ten kinds of confusing things. One half of Tits McGee from earlier walked up behind him, wrapping her arm around his waist.
“Sound good, J.” Nicola smiled at Cash, at Tits, then walked around him, and wanted to cry.
CHAPTER TWO
Cash watched Nicola walk out of the SAC. Her little butt swayed on a mission to get the hell away from him. Anxiety vibrated inside him, and his palms itched to grab her, or at the very least, push off Mira. Rubbing her boobs on his back with her hand on his stomach, the girl was a collegiate pro at flirting.
Half the cafeteria would drop their girl for a tumble with Mira and her never-that-far-away best friend, Jaycee. They were a lot of fun. He knew first hand. More than once. But really, they were all plastic and party, no substance. Probably, they had some smarts in their pretty little heads, but not when it came to holding a conversation with him. It was all, hey wat
ch us.
Jaycee joined them, hooking onto his other side, and the girls chatted about who knew what, probably about the party later that night or some party the night before. That was the extent of their conversations. He figured that they assumed they’d end up with him tonight, but watching a pissed-off Nicola storm down the ramp made his gut churn. This was getting old.
He squinted through the giant windows, watching Nicola move farther away. He wasn’t oblivious to her attitude problem or its root cause, and if the girls on his arms weren’t Jaycee and Mira, they would’ve been someone else. It always worked out, and for the most part, no one ever gave him shit for being himself. But it was all a lie.
“Excuse me, ladies.” He maneuvered from their hold and jogged after Nic.
It only took a few seconds to catch her. Her power-walking had slowed, and even as he enjoyed the view, he needed to hold her more than he needed to take in the scenery. Lately, the urge to hold her had been getting stronger. It’d always been there but… her long blonde hair was damn near making him stupid.
“Sprout.” Shit. “Nicola.”
Her arms started pumping into a power-walk again. Damn if that didn’t make her the cutest thing on campus. He already knew that, though. Everyone did, everyone but Roman, and because of that, Nicola Hart was a no-way, no-how. That, and she’d been his friend his whole life.
He shook his head. Can’t even think like that, man.
Still she wouldn’t get away with running from him just because Mira and Jaycee wanted to put on a show for the lunch crowd.
“Nic.” He grabbed her waist, spun her around. “Hey—”
Her eyes were watery and red. In a flash, they morphed to angry. “Leave me alone, Cash.”
“Are you—” Was Nicola crying? The toughest girl he knew? No way. He’d known her for years and never a tear. Not when the poor kid fell off her bike trying to keep up with him and Roman. Not when they’d convinced her to chew the hottest peppers they could find. And any time he’d ever thought her feelings might be the least bit slighted, Cash had made it his personal mission to handle whatever or whoever made her sweet smile waver.
Nic pushed him away. “Go away.”
Sweet Girl (Titan) Page 1