The giggling freshmen who followed me into the lobby of the dorm upended my attempt to sneak past the front desk unnoticed.
“Jamaica.” One of them trilled my name. “Was that Callahan O’Reilly you were kissing?”
“You’re so lucky,” another one added in a dreamy voice.
“Hey, Jamaica, didn’t you leave here yesterday morning in that exact same outfit?” Chessly called out from behind the desk, mischief dancing in her eyes.
Flipping her a discreet finger, I said, “I thought we were friends,” and kept walking.
She slipped out of the side door, intercepting me as I headed down the hall. Falling into step with me, she grinned. “Spill it, babe. I want all the juicy deets behind your first ever walk of shame.”
Glancing over my shoulder, I clocked the two freshmen walking close behind us and nodded to my friend. Chess linked her arm through mine and subtly increased our pace. In two minutes she’d hustled me to my room. After I let us in, she threw herself into my reading chair and waved her hand at my clothes. “Explain this and why you were kissing Callahan O’Reilly in the front seat of a pickup a few minutes ago.”
I dropped to my bed, toed off my boots, and threw myself back on the mattress. “I don’t have a clue.” Turning my head on my pillow, I caught her eye. “He gave Axel, Drake, and me tickets to yesterday’s game as a dare after I told him I’d never seen one. After the game, Axel, Drake, and I went to Stromboli’s. Our pizza had just arrived to our table when Callahan appeared as if by magic, as though Axel and Drake had conjured him with their fangirling over his play in the game. He slid in beside me, and for the rest of the night, he stayed right by my side.”
“You didn’t spend the night at the bar, so what happened after Stromboli’s?”
“A party at his house—one he’d mentioned after our last study session. At the time I thought the invite was for his friend who showed up to use the study room after us. Turns out, he meant it for me and for me to extend it to Axel and Drake.” I blew a breath at my curls. “Somewhere in the evening I lost those two, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in Callahan’s bed.”
Her eyes took up her entire face. “You slept with Callahan O’Reilly?” She fanned her face with both hands. “Oh, babe, I knew you were lying when you said you didn’t think about him, but then you went and broke all the rules.”
“No, I did not. We slept. That’s it. He was a complete gentleman.” Even though she was one of my closest friends, she didn’t need to know the rest.
“Which absolutely explains the hot kiss in the front seat of his truck.” She smirked. “From where I was sitting, it looked like you climbed right into his lap and made yourself at home.”
A long sigh escaped me. “I don’t know what to do, Chess. We’re paired up for the whole semester in Dair’s class. Both of us want to ace the project, which is good. What’s bad is this bizarre attraction I have for him. One he reciprocates.”
“Come again? One of the absolute hottest guys on campus is interested in you and that’s a bad thing?” She slid down in the chair. “What is wrong with you?”
Turning on my side, I propped my head on my palm and returned her stare. “He’s a football player with an entire entourage of sorority pledges following him everywhere he goes. From the way she acts around him, he had something going with Tory Miller at some point.”
Chessly wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“He’s a player, Chess.” Yet even as I uttered those words, a little voice in the back of my mind contradicted me.
“You spend your time studying, working, or doing some campus community service project. It’s perfectly fine for you to have some fun.” She winked. “Especially when that fun comes in a six-foot-five package of solid muscle and heart-stopping gorgeousness.”
“Are you serious right now?”
“As a heart attack. If someone like Callahan O’Reilly paid me the kind of attention he pays you, I’d soak up every last drop.” She bounced up from the chair. “Now, grab a shower, change your clothes, and meet me in the lobby in an hour.”
“What’s in an hour?”
“Our planning meeting for fall dorm relays.” With a grin, she added, “After your wild evening, it must have slipped your mind.” She opened the door and stood half in and half out of my room. “Good thing I have your back.”
I wrinkled my nose at her, her answering laughter echoing in my room after she closed the door.
Not once during my Hotshot-filled weekend had I thought about work, school, or my programming responsibilities in the dorm. But when Chessly reminded me about our meeting, thoughts of all three crashed down on me. My plan had been to finish writing my paper for my Women and the Law history class before I went to the planning meeting because I had the late afternoon shift at the sweet shop. Now I could look forward to burning the midnight oil because I’d spent the better part of the morning in Callahan’s bed, followed by a weirdly fun breakfast with his roommates.
One plus from upending my meticulously planned schedule was that now I’d have no time to think about the wickedly hot kiss he’d laid on me before he drove away.
After the short night following a long evening of finishing my paper, my alarm blared at way-too-early o’clock. It didn’t help my mood that the first thing I thought of when I dragged myself from beneath the covers was Callahan O’Reilly. After I’d wasted what little sleep I’d had dreaming of him and that kiss, I couldn’t believe I was looking forward to seeing him in class.
Everyone else’s Monday must have started the same way mine did because the line for coffee stretched to the back of the Union. Checking my phone, I calculated the time it would take to race to the coffee hut near the gym, grab a cup of liquid energy, and still make it to class on time. I had a better than even chance of snagging a brew if I hit the gym than if I stayed in the tortoise-slow line at the Union.
My decision made, I took off for the gym at a sprint, which was quite a feat for a non-athlete with twenty pounds of books and other necessities strapped to her back. I was sure I looked ridiculous with my hair bouncing in rhythm with my backpack against my body, but I was on a mission with no time to care.
When I reached the coffee kiosk, only three people separated me from my lovely brew. My breath sawed in and out of my lungs as I planted my hands on my hips and bent at the waist.
Behind me, a deep voice I recognized all too well, said, “You’ll catch your breath quicker if you stand tall and put your hands on your head.”
I stood up and spun so fast I almost lost my balance, but not before I caught Callahan’s eyes lingering where my ass had been sticking out from beneath my pack. Shooting him a narrow-eyed glare, I replied, “Is that so?” It would have sounded as tough as I’d intended if not for the breathiness from my sprint across campus.
“Hello, Island Girl.” The smile stretching his lips said he was all kinds of happy to see me. When he deepened his voice that way, coupled with that killer smile, he stole all my indignation at him for staring at my ass.
I couldn’t help the grin that twitched at the corner of my mouth. “Good morning, Hotshot.”
“Is there a reason you sprinted to this coffee hut rather than grab your usual cup at the Union?” The playful expression in his eyes told me he already had his answer.
“Half of the college was in line at the Union this morning.” Responding to his dubious arched brow, I added, “Seriously. When I arrived, I ended up standing by the windows at the back, and after five minutes I’d only shuffled forward one person.” I tossed my hair away from my forehead with the back of my hand. “I can’t face Dr. Dair’s class without a shot of caffeine, and we all know how he feels about students showing up late.”
He stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his low-slung jeans, briefly drawing my eyes to his impressive-looking package before I hastily blinked them back to his face.
“Huh. Here I thought you hustled over here because you couldn’t wait to see me.”
“Miss? What can I get you?” the barista interrupted.
It took me a second to tear my eyes from Hotshot’s. Why had I chosen this coffee spot so close to the gym? The barista’s raised brow teased me from my thoughts. “I need a triple-shot flat white, please,” I said as I shrugged off my backpack and swung it around so I could pull out my wallet.
Callahan covered my hand with his. “I got this.”
His big warm hand on mine sent tiny ripples over my skin, momentarily distracting me.
At his touch, my voice caught. “You don’t have to buy me a coffee.”
“I want to.” Turning his attention to the barista, he said, “Add a mocha grandè to the order, please.” He fished his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans, extracted a card, and paid for our coffee.
“Thank you,” I said as we stepped aside to wait for our drinks.
For a long moment, he gazed at me with a closed-mouth smile. I pushed my hair off my forehead again and huffed out, “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Those gorgeous sea-blue eyes of his twinkled. “Like what? Like I’m happy to see you?”
I furrowed my brow. “Why are you happy to see me?”
He took a step closer, leaned down, and whispered, “Second-hottest kiss of my life. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I dropped you at your dorm yesterday.”
My face heated even as a shiver stole over me.
Callahan chuckled. “Good to know I get to you too, Island Girl.”
Another shiver stole over me, followed by tingles rippling through me at the heat in his gaze. For a second, I wondered—worried—he might try a repeat of that kiss right here on the sidewalk in front of crowds of people making their way to class. My eyes strayed to his full lower lip and sculpted upper one and a tiny sigh escaped.
The barista called out our drinks.
Mercifully, Callahan let the whole kissing topic drop as we headed to class. “We had a good film session yesterday, and after the way we played the Bulldogs on Saturday, Coach is backing down on practice a bit this week.”
I glanced up at him. “Which means…?” I asked and sipped my first taste of fortification for the morning.
“We can slide in an extra study session tomorrow night.”
The second sip of coffee threatened to go down the wrong way. Was he suggesting we spend extra time together this week?
He went on as though I hadn’t choked on his words. “I’ve been thinking more about Anne’s inability to stand up to Lady Russell and how her good manners are a direct contrast to Lady Russell’s poor ones.”
“Wait. Have you already finished reading Persuasion?” My voice might have squeaked on the question. “Or did you get bored and decide to switch books?”
With an indulgent shake of his head, he said, “I thought we already established that I’m an Austen fan. I finished Mansfield Park after class on Friday and read most of Persuasion yesterday after film.” At my incredulous stare, he added, “I needed something to do to keep my mind off a certain hot brunette who lights me on fire every time she lets me kiss her.”
“Hotshot—”
He preempted what I was going to say when he wrapped his free hand around mine, lacing our fingers together. Then he picked up the pace, and I had to double-time to keep up with his long strides.
“Come on, Jamaica. We don’t want to be late.”
I wanted to be annoyed by his regular references to kissing and how he helped himself to my hand as if we were an item or something. But to my growing consternation, I discovered I liked the feel of his warm, calloused fingers entwined with mine. Knowing that he couldn’t stop thinking about kissing me leveled the field between us too, showing me I wasn’t the only one affected by our improbable chemistry.
Axel’s eyes almost bugged out of his head when he saw us walk up the steps together where he was waiting for me outside Creston Hall. “You’ve been holding out on me, sweetheart,” he said for my ears only.
“Did you even try to look for me the other night before you and Drake left the party?” I demanded.
He fell into step with us. “You two looked like you were having a blast dancing together, so we figured ’Han would make sure you made it home.”
“You could have asked.”
At my response, Callahan tightened his hand around mine. When I glanced up at him, he shook his head, clarifying what Axel and Drake had apparently understood: from the minute we split up outside Stromboli’s that night, I was with Callahan. The current hand-holding only solidified that notion with my best friend, and once again I was scrambling to keep up with the unspoken code between men.