“Oh, Paige. Our hotel room got broken into while we were at the pool. All of our stuff got stolen. Dex had to call his mom to pay our bill. We came right home.” She swipes the lonely tears streaking down her face.
“Where did you guys go?”
“Niagara Falls. We didn’t want a big wedding. Dex surprised me, said he couldn’t wait any longer for me to be his wife.” She smiles big and I wonder if she’s conjuring up their special day from her memory.
“Who would think a guy nicknamed Hulk would have such a heart of gold?” She laughs and it’s warming to bring that out of her.
“I know, but I would have wished for a better wedding night than stale coffee at a police station and driving six hours back home. Dex is beyond upset that his romantic gesture turned into a nightmare.” She ventures to the counter and pours herself a cup of coffee. At this point, I’m debating chalking up my class and talking Chrissy down.
“Just think, Chrissy. You’re Mrs. Dexter Hanson.” I clap my hands and smile wide to her.
“I know.” Her cheeks begin to flush. “I’m beyond happy about that fact. It’s just, I wish the start of our life together would have been different.” She leans against the counter, slowly bringing the mug to her lips.
“Who gives a flying fuck? Nothing has come easy to us, doesn’t change a thing.” Dex strolls into the room, winks my way before stalking right up to his now wife. Grabbing the coffee cup from her hands, he places it back on the counter and sweeps her into his arms. Chrissy yelps. “Good morning, Paige. Excuse us. My wife left my bed way too early this morning and I must punish her.” With nothing else said, he carries her out of the room and I admire the view of a man so in love.
I grab a to-go cup and begin pouring coffee when two arms wrap around my waist. “I agree with Dex, minus the whole wife thing,” Rob coos in my ear, kissing my skin right under my ear.
Butterflies flutter to life in my stomach and I close my eyes to calm them back down. My weakness for this man is getting way too out of control.
“Sorry, I have class.” I finish pouring my coffee, driving back the enticement of ditching Economics. “Maybe—”
His hands grip my hips and swing me around. “Nope. You’re going. What’s your schedule?” he asks and I pray he’s asking for one reason. “I’ll meet you when you’re done.” My stomach flips with excitement that he’ll be my incentive for attending class when I’d much rather stay in bed with him all day.
“Two o’clock at Beacon Hall.” He checks over his shoulder, before pinning me with his hips against the counter.
“I’ll be counting the hours.” He bends down and his lips meet mine. Never have I been kissed and felt so cherished before. His tongue slowly licks to part mine and I sway into his body as our tongues slide back and forth with one another.
When he breaks away, I grip the counter and hold myself as he chuckles. “Me, too.” He backs away and I miss the heat from him immediately.
“Don’t be late.” He smacks my ass and I jump forward from surprise.
I stop at the door and commit him to memory. Pajama pants are hanging low on his hips. His bare chest and his fresh tattoo are on full display. A rush of excitement zings through my veins. He’s drop-dead gorgeous and I just spent the night with him. Hiding a squeal of unbelievable thrill, I exit through the door.
BY THE TIME I’m leaving my last class, my mind is numb. There’s no way I can process one more theory, formula, or equation. Since Rob texted me around noon, asking me to hit a movie with him after class, my feet are moving a little faster to the doors.
I weave by a few girls gossiping about some hook-up to reach the outside and hopefully my new, well, what is Rob exactly? I ponder the question in my head. We were roommates, then friends, but I have no clue if we’re exclusive. When I shove open the doors to the sun shining down, my mood lifts immediately and all the worries about what Rob and I are, evaporates.
I move to the side of the doors, basking in the sun. As my skin soaks in the Vitamin D, I wait for Rob to meet me. Just as my eyes begin to droop from the warmth, I hear my name.
“Very good feedback today, Miss Kensington,” Professor Bridges, my Economics professor, compliments as he breezes past me.
My head snaps down and I give a polite smile. “Thank you, Professor.” He startles me because Professor Bridges isn’t known to compliment a student. Persuading to think through negativity is his usual course of teaching.
He nods and my eyes search for Rob. Then my polite grin widens when I see him strutting up the stairs. His hair is gelled up and he’s got a black T-shirt on with some faded-out saying that’s supposed to make people laugh. Which they usually do. Paired with his low-slung jeans and converse shoes, he screams rock God, and from the amount of girls fighting for a second glance, I know I’m not his only admirer.
My stomach somersaults waiting for him to reach me, but he’s stopped at the top of the stairs by Professor Bridges. I creep over to them and am surprised by what I hear.
“Mr. Winters, have you returned to Western?”
“No.” Rob shoves his hands in his pockets and his eyes glance back and forth between me and Professor Bridges.
“Oh, I was hoping you had seen the light.”
“I have.” Rob stares up at the sky, smirking back down to him.
“One day, Mr. Winters, you’ll find that humor doesn’t deflect.” He slides by Rob and I’m surprised Rob doesn’t shoot back with a sarcastic comment. It’s not his style to not have the last word.
As though the confrontation didn’t just happen, Rob comes up to me, his arm sliding behind my back, as he kisses my neck. “I missed you.”
“How do you know Professor Bridges?”
His lips leave my skin, but his hand remains on the small of my back. “He’s the reason I dropped out.”
I pivot to face him, and even without hearing Rob’s side, my respect for Professor Bridges decreases. “Why?”
He slides his hand off my back and laces our fingers together. “The movie is going to start, let’s go.” He tugs me forward but I dig my heels in, staying firm. He finally figures out I’m not leaving without an answer and a long exasperated breath falls from his mouth. “You want details?” His shoulders fall.
“Yep.”
He props up on the cement ledge and I slide in to occupy the space between his legs, resting my hands on his thighs.
“It’s simple. He gave me shit in the middle of class. Spouting how I’m wasting my life and crap. I walked out and never returned.”
“What an ass.”
“Not really.”
My eyes shoot up to see his casual expression. “Why?”
He shrugs his shoulders. “I deserved it. He was trying to bully me into studying, doing the class work, and being the student he recruited.”
“Recruited?”
How much do I not know about this man?
He inhales a deep breath and then releases it. “I was on a scholarship.”
My eyes must widen because he shakes his head. “Don’t look so surprised. The dipshit guitarist can read.”
I step back and huff from his assumption that I thought he was stupid. He jumps off the cement ledge. “Let’s just go.” He leaves me in the vacant strip of sidewalk between the buildings.
“Really? You actually think I’d be with you if I thought you were stupid?” I catch up to him before he can descend down the first step. “I’m just surprised you threw it away.”
His icy eyes flick to me and then forward again. “I’m not the same person. You don’t know the Rob from back then.”
I lightly grab his elbow to slow him down and he whips around already in defense mode. “I know the Rob now and you’re not stupid, far from it. So, how about you stop running and actually talk to me.”
He roams over to a bench and I follow, sitting down next to him. His arm rests along the top and his hand cups my shoulder, pulling for me to slide closer. Loving the warmth he gives me, I go. “I’m sorry,” he mumbles and kisses my temple. “Professor Bridges just has a way of making me see red.”