“I don’t think I could do that,” Sim replied. I was correct. “My parents would be lost without me.”
I shrugged. “My grandfather goes away for business a lot and my mother often goes with him. I’m used to being away from them, and I don’t think they ever really miss me.”
“So what? You just randomly chose on a map to head to northern Minnesota? That sounds crazy. How did you find Morton of all places to go?” Sim maneuvered around the corner and didn’t run into anyone.
“I know one of the professors here. He was my private tutor last summer for a class I wanted to get done before my senior year. He always talked about Morton as a good college and a beautiful place to live.” I looked around the sidewalk and noted that underwear model and friends weren’t walking on it anymore.
“We’ll see if you still say that when there are twenty-four inches of snow on the ground,” Sim replied, stopping at the door to go inside. She sat her boxes down and opened the door.
“Do you know them?” Sim asked, pointing at one of the picnic tables nearby. Underwear model, tall guy, and big guy were all sitting there, watching us. Underwear model guy’s stare was seriously unnerving, like I was prey and he was a wild animal.
“Um, no,” I replied as my cheeks turned red, giving away my true answer.
Sim blocked the door, her hands on her hips, waiting for a better reply.
“You cannot tell me guys that hot are staring at you like that and you don’t know them,” Sim answered.
“I bumped into the big guy earlier today,” I admitted part of the truth. I was not going to say anything about underwear model guy falling into my lap. That was just weird. Sim nodded and moved to hold the door for me. I saw her looking around me to check out the guys again before following me into the stairwell.
“But he’s not the one really staring at you. It’s the really cute guy. He looks very familiar.” Sim led us upstairs and stopped talking because she was deep in thought about something.
At least she had stopped asking questions. Maybe she knew the guy. She was from around here and maybe he was as well. Maybe she could tell me if he was really a player and if he was dating anyone. I stopped that train of thought. I didn’t want to know more about him. Well, I wanted to, but I shouldn’t want to. He was just trying to add girls to his growing list of conquests. I wasn’t going to be on any guy’s conquest list. I was here to get an education, get away from home, and grow up a bit—not to fall for some player guy that would add my name as another check mark on his list of women.
We set the boxes down in our room where Sim’s mother was unpacking and putting things away. Sim didn’t even seem to care as her mom went through everything. I was surprised. I really didn’t want my mom going through my things. Sim led the way back down and went outside again. The guys were still there, and I could feel underwear model’s stares on my back as we walked by.
“Are you sure you don’t know him?” Sim asked, turning back to look at him again.
“Really,” I replied, pulling her back around. I was going to stick with the I don’t know him bit and hope he went away. “I’ve never met him before.”
I followed behind Sim to make sure she didn’t turn back around.
“He’s really cute,” Sim added. “I wish I had a hot guy watching me like that. I mean it looked like he’s ready make out with you right here on the dorm lawn.” While my heart beat a little faster at that idea, I tried to keep my mind from wandering there. What would it be like to kiss him?
“He’s not really my type,” I lied. He was completely my type. He was anyone’s type, tall, dark, and handsome.
“You don’t like the ‘I’ve been taken away from heaven and planted here on earth’ drop-dead-gorgeous type? We’re in college. Time to explore new types, girl.” Sim raised her eyebrows as we approached the car. My face was already red. I couldn’t deny what she said, but how else could I say that I knew better than to be interested in him? I couldn’t let myself be interested in him. Guys like him were always trouble.
“Simardeep, what could you be doing to make your new friend blush that much?” Mr. Singh asked. My face reddened a bit more with embarrassment, though I would not have thought that was even possible. I didn’t need to discuss cute guys with my roommate’s father.
“I am being nice, Daddy,” Sim replied. “We were just talking about finishing all these boxes, and I made Mari run back down here with me. She’s just warm.” Sim lied expertly and winked at me when he wasn’t looking. Maybe Sim wasn’t as completely honest with her parents as it seemed before, when her mother was putting all of Sim’s stuff away.
“Well, if you ladies can take the top three boxes, I can get the rest,” Mr. Singh offered.
I grabbed the top two boxes. The less trips past underwear model, the better. Sim grabbed the other box and led us away as her dad piled the rest on the closed trunk before locking up. I looked back to see if we should wait for him.
“He’s fine,” Sim answered my unspoken question. “He walks slowly. My mom and I leave him behind all the time.”
I wouldn’t say that he walked slowly, remembering how he had bounded across the lot to me when I waited before, but I followed Sim anyway. She seemed to be in a bit more of a rush than last time. We flew by the guys, who were still sitting at the table, and up to our room without a glance back. Sim pushed me in first, and I set the boxes down on the bed. She snuck in behind me when her mother’s back was turned and slid the box she was carrying under my bed. She put her finger to her lips begging me to be quiet about it. Sim stood back up quickly and smiled at her mother as she turned around.
“I’ll go back down to get the door for your dad,” I offered as Sim’s mom started to hand her clothes to hang up.
I went back downstairs. It wouldn’t be a problem because I didn’t have to walk outside by the guys again. I could just stand inside the door and open it once Mr. Singh made his way there. He wasn’t far down the walkway when I got to the doorway. I leaned against the door and ignored the students walking by.
“Was she the one in the red shirt or white?” a familiar, nasally voice asked.
“White, with the short shorts,” underwear model replied as they passed by.
I looked at my shirt. It was white and my shorts were a tad bit short.
“Oh, you mean the hot one that ran into me today when we were looking for you,” a third voice added. None of the guys noticed me flattened against the doorway.
I might have convinced myself before that I wasn’t the one underwear model was looking at for his next girl, but it was going to be harder to convince myself of now. What did I do to be targeted? It was only my first day at Morton.
“Melissa is going to be pissed,” tall guy said as they walked down the hallway out of hearing range. They hadn’t seen me, but I had heard them. College was getting harder by the minute and I hadn’t even been to my first class yet.
I looked up and Mr. Singh was trying to get the door open. I reached over and pushed it open for him. He smiled, surprised to see me.
“Oh, Mari, thanks,” Mr. Singh replied as I took a couple boxes and led the way back to my room.
Sim was almost done unpacking with the help of her mom. It wouldn’t take more beyond the boxes we just arrived with. Sim took the top box from her father and opened it as I sat down on my bed to watch. They were like a well-oiled machine. Each person had a task, and they all moved around getting it done. For as much as they bickered, they were quite the family unit.
“Here,” Sim said, tossing me a booklet. “Look at the football team.”
I paged through it until I found the football team. Sixty-some faces stared back at me, all lined up together for a group shot. In a way they all looked the same to me. I didn’t know what I was looking for at first. Sim motioned for me to turn the page. I turned the page and stopped. Underwear model was staring back at me. Seth Sangre. He had a name. And he was their all-star quarterback. I smiled meekly up at Sim. Seth S
angre, the player and star quarterback, planned to make me another name on his list. Ugh. College was not off to a good start at all.
[Amazon Kindle] Carnelian
Acknowledgements
As with any work of fiction, there are many people to thank along the way.
To you, the reader. Thank you for taking the time to read this story and go on the journey with me. If you liked it, please leave a review on your favorite online bookseller (or all of them!) and connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, etc. The greatest help you can do to keep a writer going is to support them by spreading the word about their books and leaving them encouraging words. If you are really inspired, join my mailing list to get updates first on my current and future writings.
Also I would like to thank my editors and cover designers. A good editor is essential to getting the story correct (and in my case- more than one). Thank you so much, Kathie at Kat’s Eye Editing and Melissa at There for You Editing. They made the book just that much stronger and such a better story that you all got to read. It would not be the same book without them. Also a thanks to my proofer Ashton Brammer for going over the novel with a fine toothed comb to catch little errors that bug people. A thank-you to my cover artist Jessica for such a pretty cover. I’m not very specific with cover requirements- so finding an artist that can do such a great job and get what I am thinking is great! They may say never judge a book by its cover, but everyone does! I greatly appreciate all those that can do what I cannot, like editors and cover designers. I’m grateful I was able to find great professionals to work with on this book.
I’d also like to thank my hubby for continuing to push me further down the writing road. He gives me time when I need it to work on my stories. He encourages me to keep going each and every day on this adventure. And he does all the behind-the-scenes effort to make this work (have you seen my trailers- he is awesome!). This would be so much harder without his help. So thank you, B. for pushing me off the deep end (or the cliff as I see it sometimes). And a great big thanks to my little munchkins who keep me going from before the sun comes up ‘til long after it sets. Love you AK, KB, and EM.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my novel!!
About the Author
B. Kristin McMichael is the author of YA and clean NA paranormal fiction. Her vampiric "Night Human World" includes the YA coming of age series "The Blue Eyes Trilogy" and the spin-off adventure series "The Day Human Trilogy". She's also the author of the NA time travel romance series "The Chalcedony Chronicles".
For more information on all of her books, visit http://www.bkristinmcmichael.com
Subscribe to her mailing list for new release notifications and deals: http://www.bkristinmcmichael.com/list
B. Kristin graduated with her PhD in biology at Ohio State where she worked as a scientist before taking her passion of writing full-time. Besides writing, she enjoys chasing her kids, playing outside, and baking cookies.
B. Kristin McMichael lives in Ohio with her husband and three children.
Other Books By this Author
The Night Human World
The Blue Eyes Trilogy (Series One)
o The Legend of the Blue Eyes
o Becoming a Legend
o Winning the Legend
The Day Human Trilogy (Series Two)
o The Day Human Prince
o The Day Human King
o The Day Human Way
The Skinwalkers Witchling Trilogy (Series Three)
o The Witchling Apprentice
o The Wendigo Witchling
o The Witchling Seer
The Chalcedony Chronicles
o Carnelian
o Chrysoprase
o Aventurine
o Chrysocolla
Standalone Books
o To Stand Beside Her
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