Chapter Two

This afternoon’s game left me on edge. Between watching Eve and Mo teasing me about it, I can’t get any studying done when I get back to the dorm. So I chuck the books aside and get my tools out, hoping to chill by doing what I do best.

Tech repairs.

The white noise of my desktop and laptop never stops, and the music of happy technology both soothes me and makes it easier for me to hear what’s wrong with the systems I’m trying to fix. Living in a dorm full of college students whose lives rely on technology they don’t understand means I’m nearly always trying to fix something. Which is great for my wallet.

I have two laptops and an iPhone needing a new screen waiting for my attention. Plus the RA wants me to stop by and replace the power supply on her old desktop so she can retrieve some files. At least she knows what she needs. Usually the best I get from people who come knocking on my door is “it doesn’t work.”

Troubleshooting the devices takes longer than fixing them.

I’ve just gotten the front pried off the iPhone when my own phone buzzes at me with an incoming call. I ignore it. That’s why texting and voicemail exist, and anyone who knows me would know I hate talking on the phone. The only people who ever call are Grant and our parents, and they can wait.

I get everything reassembled and the phone booting up before I check mine to see, sure enough, a missed call and text from Grant. I toss the phone back on my desk and start testing the newly fixed phone, but a few minutes later, someone knocks on my door.

I suck in a deep breath and blow it out as I stand up. Even knowing the person on the other side of the door likely isn’t a stranger—I’ve met everyone on my floor, and the only other people who come over are Grant and Mo—doesn’t keep my insides from knotting up.

I hate feeling like this, but the anxiety medication I finally started taking last year hasn’t made a whole lot of difference. I do better day to day, but anything social still ties me up in knots.

Another knock, louder this time.

“I’m coming, keep your shorts on,” I mutter, probably not loud enough for my visitor to hear.

I pause at the door to give myself one more breath before yanking it open.

And I freeze.

Because standing at my door is Eve Frederick. With her gorgeous, perfect, and oh-my-God-she’s-beautiful face.

Oh, hell.

My throat’s closing up. There is no fucking way I’m going to be able to do anything but stand here and stare. Though I gotta say, it’s a really nice view.

Eve’s skin is lightly tanned from so much time in the sun, and her light blue eyes stand out in stark contrast, aided by black liner and a thick coat of mascara on her lashes. Her only other apparent makeup is the deep red coloring her lush lips. Her trademark pink mohawk is gelled to perfection, and standing this close to her, I can even see the small looped earrings along the edges of her earlobes.

My phone buzzes again on my desk, but my feet are rooted in place.

Eve smiles, slow and a little tentative, like she’s afraid I’m going to slam the door in her face. Which I might, if I could get any part of my body to move.

“Annie Clark, right?”

I nod. Oh hey. I guess some part of me can move.

Eve tilts her head, and her smile deepens into something much more confident—more like what I’d expect to see from her. “Your brother sent me. My laptop fritzed out on me, and I’ve got a term paper due tomorrow. He told me you’d take care of me.”

There’s no way she meant that the way it sounded. I can’t even deal with that thought, so instead I zero in on the laptop under her arm.

Technology is a language I understand, and just like that, I can move again.

I take a step back and wave toward my desk. “C’mon in and lemme take a look.” I’m mumbling, but it’s words, so I’ll call it progress.

Eve comes inside, taking up way too much space in my room. I feel like I should be genuflecting, like I’m in the presence of royalty, instead of just another student with a broken computer.

Just another student who’s also the bright and shining star pitcher for the University of Atlanta’s Tornadoes softball team, not to mention my current ultimate crush, that’s all.

Eve’s eyes are bright and mesmerizing, and the smile still gracing her face radiates hope mixed with…interest?

Get real, I tell my brain. There is no way that Eve Frederick is looking at you with any kind of interest other than how quickly you can rescue her from technological hell.

“So.” I hold out a hand, and Eve immediately passes over the laptop. “How did it ‘stop working’? Did it shut down suddenly, make any funny noises?”

“Turned off in the middle of everything,” Eve says as I slide into my desk chair and set the machine in front of me. “I was working on a paper, hit save, and then…poof. Nothing.”

Overheated, I think as I lift the lid. “Did you plug it in, reboot, hold down the power button, remove the battery, anything else?”

Eve clears her throat, and I glance up to see her cheeks have gone pink. “I…panicked, I guess. It was plugged in, but when it wouldn’t start back up, I called Grant. We’re in the same anatomy class, and I remembered him saying his sister was some kind of computer whiz.”

I bite back a grin at that. Nice to know the reputation that precedes me isn’t always she’s kind of a quiet type.

“Okay. So we’ll start with step one.” I flip the machine over and pry the battery out of the back. “You know how with a desktop or a modem tech support will tell you to unplug it for a minute?” From the corner of my eye, I see her nod. “This is the laptop equivalent. Unplugging it doesn’t do the trick like it does with some equipment because it still has power from the battery. So any time a laptop starts doing weird things, shut it down, unplug it, but also take the battery out.”

It’s been long enough by then, so I replace the battery and turn the laptop back over to try starting it up.

Thankfully, it reacts, though it wants to go into safe mode because of the bad shutdown. I skip over that and wait, and eventually, the desktop loads. No password? I make a mental note to suggest she fix that.

“Well, it does work,” I say, and Eve lets out a sigh of relief. I pull open the desk drawer and grab one of the dozen or so thumb drives that I always seem to have lying around. “Let’s get your file first,” I suggest as I plug in the drive. “You were in Word?”

“Yeah.” Eve shuffles forward, leaning over to watch me navigate. When Word opens, there’s a recovered file window on the left, and I click there.

“I don’t know how up to date this will be,” I say as I quickly save the file to the thumb drive. “But it should be the most recent version that got saved. And it’s on the thumb drive now, so even if the computer crashes again, you’ll have it.”

“Seriously?” Eve sounds more like I just handed her an Olympic medal than a saved term paper, but I just nod and keep clicking. “Holy… You’re a lifesaver, for real. I need to, like, take you out for steak. Or are you a vegetarian? There’s this really good vegan place a few miles away.”

I give her a look for about a half a second, which is as long as I can meet her gaze without my throat going dry. “No charge for this,” I tell her. “And the computer seems to be running fine now. You might want to take a can of air to the vents on the back, just in case, and if it acts up any more, bring it back and I’ll give it another look. Oh.” I flip the lid down and hold out the now-working laptop. “Set up a password at start-up. You never know what might happen in a college dorm.”

Eve takes the machine from me and holds it to her chest, hugging it like a teddy bear. The action’s pretty incongruous against her pink mohawk and dark eye makeup. “Thanks so much. You have no idea.” She smiles at me again, and there goes my capacity for language. “I’ve got to get this paper done tonight, but I mean it about dinner.”

I force a swallow, but my voice has disappeared again, so I nod. I certainly can’t argue when I’m like this. Eve stands and starts for the door, but a second later she turns back and, before I can move, she leans forward the few inches to kiss me.

On the cheek, just for a second, but all the same, the light touch sends heat washing through my body.

“Thank you!” And she’s gone, leaving me sitting here with my mind and my body in shambles. It’s not until my phone buzzes again that I can move.

I reach for it and see that I have three messages from my brother.

Sending over a classmate for emergency laptop help.

Sorry to spring it on you, but she was frantic.

You there?

A brother I’m going to kill next time I see him for not giving me more of a heads-up about my ultimate crush possibly stopping by my dorm room. I click to reply: I’m going to murder you in your sleep.

Maybe thirty seconds pass before the reply comes back.

So, I take it you met Eve. And because he’s Grant, instead of using an emoji, he simply types it out. Evil laugh emoji.

I roll my eyes. Yes, the “computer whiz” has once again saved the day. She is now retreating back into her nest.

I toss the phone onto my desk and turn my attention back to the phone I was troubleshooting before a different kind of trouble came knocking at my door.

Maybe by the time I’m done with the rest of these projects the memory of Eve’s shining eyes, her off-the-cuff dinner invitation, and her soft lips on my cheek will have finally left my head.

I’m not holding out much hope.