CHAPTER ONE
MONTY
I slid my hand into his before I knew what
I was doing.
His palm was warm and solid and
unexpectedly large.
I dared a glance over my shoulder
searching for that mop of dirty blond hair I didn’t want to see coming through
the crowd.
“Can I help you?” the guy beside me asked,
glancing down at our joined hands, then at me.
I turned to face him, my eyebrows shooting
up my forehead.
He was stupidly hot. Straight nose,
light brown hair, and striking blue eyes surrounded by dark lashes that would
be the envy of any woman. And that jaw. That jaw put sharp-cut diamonds to
shame.
“I...um...”
I was suddenly finding it hard to remember
why I was holding hands with a guy who looked like he’d stepped off the set of Riverdale.
“Oh, I can’t wait to hear this,” one of
Hot Guy’s friends said, his eyes shining with humor. All three of them waited,
clearly expecting an explanation for why I’d attached myself to a random guy on
the quad. In my defense, I didn’t know he was so damn hot. His hand had been
the closest in my time of need, so I’d taken it.
Hot Guy tried to pull away just as the
very face I didn’t want to see appeared through the crowd of students gathered
on the quad.
“Wait!” I gripped his arm to stop him.
“Pretend to be my boyfriend. I’ll pay you.”
He looked at me like I’d just offered to
blow him with a mouthful of herpes. Which to be fair, I could kind of
understand. Not because I had mouth herpes. But who grabbed a total stranger
and begged them to play pretend couple? As far as first impressions went, this
one was insane.
“I don’t need your money,” he said,
frowning down at me.
Holy shit, he was tall. Had he been this
tall ten seconds ago or was it just the irritation starting to cloud his face
that made him more imposing?
“Please? Just do me this favor and I’ll
give you whatever you want.” I gave him what I hoped was my most pleading
and innocent smile.
“Oh, this just keeps getting better and
better,” his friend said, both his buddies trying and failing to hold in their
laughter.
A glance in my periphery showed that mop
of dirty blond hair closing in.
“Are you for real right now?” Hot Guy
asked, eyes darting around the quad. “Do we know each other? Did Davis put you
up to this?”
He ran his free hand—the one not currently
taken hostage by me—through his hair, the muscles of his bicep flexing to show
off a seriously toned arm.
My gaze snagged on his clothes, eyes
running over him and his two friends. They were all dressed the same—Nike
sneakers, navy sweat shorts and a navy Pierson University basketball t-shirt.
Basketball
players, damn it. Didn’t this just kept getting better and
better?
I’d thoroughly humiliated myself in front
of some of the most wanted guys on campus. I’d have to make time to be
embarrassed later. Right now, I was desperate. And I was out of time.
“This isn’t a joke. I swear I’m not crazy,
I just need your help.”
Hot Guy’s eyes roamed my face, taking up
seconds I didn’t have, which meant I was about to do something that would
solidify me as the most bat-shit girl these guys had ever accidentally
encountered.
“I’m so sorry in advance for this.”
A question formed in Hot Guy’s eyes, but
he didn’t get a chance to ask it because I gripped his face, tugging his mouth
to mine. Kissing him was like kissing a stone wall of surprise, and I screwed
my eyes shut, heat flooding my cheeks at my own ridiculousness.
Desperate times and all that... but it
still didn’t change the fact I’d jumped a perfect stranger. An incredibly hot
stranger.
I slid my fingers through his hair and his
mouth relaxed against mine, his surprise morphing into something much
friendlier. His hand closed over my hip, making me squeak, his other hand
sliding over my ass. My lips parted all on their own, his tongue sweeping into
my mouth in lazy, practiced strokes.
God, he was a good kisser.
Scratch that, he was a phenomenal kisser.
And if this kiss went on for the rest of the week, I’d die hot and happy.
“Well, that escalated quickly,” one of his
friends said, but I barely heard him, too wrapped up in Hot Guy’s hands on my
body and his tongue in my mouth.
That was, until I heard the one voice that
was like a bucket of ice water down my back.
“Monty?”
I stiffened, turning my head, lips still
attached to Hot Guy and his fingers still curled around my hips.
Plastering a look of surprise on my face,
I reluctantly pulled my mouth away, and I could have sworn Hot Guy frowned in
annoyance.
“Alec.”
My dirty-blond ex-boyfriend looked me up
and down, blowing out a breath. “I thought it was you. I knew you’d transferred
to Pierson. I was hoping to run into you.”
I turned in Hot Guy’s hold so my back was
to his chest, pulling his muscular arms around my waist, hoping it looked like
he was holding onto me willingly.
“Well, here I am!” I said to Alec a little
too brightly.
No need to overcompensate just because I’d
found myself in the most awkward situation of my entire life. One of my own
ridiculous making.
I hesitated for the briefest moment over
the words I was about to utter. But I’d come this far. Time to shoot my shot
and pray to everything that was holy Hot Guy would play along.
“I transferred here a few weeks ago to be
closer to my boyfriend.” I slapped a hand over Hot Guy’s at my waist and smiled
at him over my shoulder.
Those intense blue eyes stared down at me,
making my heart pound in my chest.
Please don’t out
me. Please don’t out me. Please don’t out me.
His gaze slid to Alec, and he extended his hand. “Nice to meet you, bro. I’m West.”
3 comments:
The book sounds great.
The book sounds good
That cover is so inviting!
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