Aaand he asked me a question.
“Are you serious?”
He doesn’t bat an eye, so I grab another plate and hand it to him.
“Thanks.”
I fill my plate with one waffle like a reasonable human and continue to scoot down the line behind him. He’s added four pieces of toast and a handful of grape jelly packets to the third plate, and he’s still eyeing the food ahead of us.
“Are you feeding a family of bears?”
One side of his mouth pulls up. “Just one very hungry dude.”
We reach the end of the line and he slows like he’s waiting for me. He eyes my tray. “Barely four hundred calories on that plate. How are you going to make it to lunch?”
“Somehow I think I’ll manage.”
We start walking, both in the same direction.
“Are you following me?” I ask when we’ve walked shoulder to shoulder for three steps.
“No. I think you’re following me.” We reach the table where Adam and Rhett are seated with a group of guys.
“Yo, Heath!” one of the guys calls to him.
It takes a couple of seconds for my brain to catch up.
“You’re a hockey player?” I frown while I try to place him. I’ve only met a few of Adam’s teammates, but I’ve been to several games, so I’m surprised I don’t recognize him.
His brows pull together studying me, maybe trying to place me as well. “Not a fan of hockey? I think you’re at the wrong table then.”
Adam stands and puts a protective arm around my shoulders. “She’s not a fan of any men at the moment.”
Kill me now.
I stare down at my white tennis shoes as Adam introduces me. “Guys, this is my baby sister, Ginny. It’s her first day.”
The group offers their hellos and grunts of acknowledgment. They’ve all got several plates of food in front of them like Heath and are shoveling it in like they haven’t eaten in days.
I take a seat and so does Heath, across from me.
“Did you come to the games last year?” he asks as he pours syrup over his waffles.
“Yeah, a couple. Why?”
“I don’t recall seeing you.”
This makes me laugh. In a crowd of cheering fans, how could he possibly remember? “I don’t recall seeing you either.”
He leans across the table with a cocky smirk. “I was the one doing all the scoring.”
2
Ginny
I eat my breakfast, staying mostly quiet while the guys talk back and forth. They complain about the workout this morning and talk up the season. I’ve gotten good over the years at tuning out hockey talk.
I catch Heath staring at me an uncomfortable number of times. Uncomfortable because I only know he’s staring at me because I’m staring at him too.
Oh, and he eats every one of the giant waffles, plus the rest of his food.
“Where’s your first class?” Adam asks me as we’re finishing up.
“Umm… the humanities building, I think.”
He nods and sits back in his chair. “You know where it’s at? Want me to walk you?”
I resist rolling my eyes. “Yes. I’ll be fine.”
“Humanities building?” Heath asks. “I’m walking that way.”
Standing, I put on my backpack and then pick up my tray. “I’ve got it, really.” I glance at my brother. “See you later.” And then I give a little wave with my free hand to the rest of the table.
As I’m dropping my empty tray, Heath steps up beside me. “Adam Scott’s sister… I don’t see the resemblance.”
“Thank you… I think?”
He’s still following me when we get to the exit. “There’s really no need. I know where I’m going.”
“Okay.” He shrugs one shoulder. “See you around, Ginny Scott.”
The way he says my name is taunting and playful and has my tummy doing weird, excited things.
“Hopefully not if I want there to be any food left to eat,” I say before he can leave.
I should walk away now, but there’s a bizarre chemistry between us and something about him makes me feel the best I have in days. We stand a foot apart, grinning at one another and forcing people to go around us.
He snaps out of it first. “Better get here early for lunch then. That’s when I get in my big meal for the day.”
“Your big meal?” I can’t help but laugh.
“That was nothing. I burned those calories before you woke up this morning.”
“Presumptuous, much? Maybe I’m a runner or a soccer player.”
His gaze sweeps over me slowly and I hold my breath. “Are you?”
“N-no.”
He laughs and takes a step away. “Noon. That’s what time I eat lunch, in case you want to get here early or join me.”
He gives me his back before I come up with a witty response. I can’t decide if that was flirty banter or him really asking me to have lunch with him, but I figure it’s best not to dissect it too much and not to show up at noon. I might be ready to sing all the single girl anthem songs, but I am not ready to start planning my schedule around cute boys. No matter how very, very cute they are.
The only thing I’ve made any sense of from my breakup with Bryan is that I need to figure out who I am and what I want, make my own friends. Over the two years Bryan and I dated I grew farther and farther apart from my other friends. To the point, I really don’t have any good girlfriends to call up and cry on their shoulder.
This is my fresh start.
I find English Composition easy enough. It’s a big class in a room with long rows of seats, many of which are already taken.
I take a spot in the middle trying not to appear too eager or too much like a slacker. I don’t mind English, but I’m not a fan of being called on in class either.
After English I have algebra and I’m not quite as confident about where the building for it is located. The Valley campus is pretty big, and the number of people walking around makes it hard to get my bearings. I slip my thumbs around the straps of my backpack and fall into the crowd of students, hoping I look like I fit in and don’t have FRESHMAN stamped on my forehead.
I’m backtracking to find Moreno Hall when my front pocket vibrates. I pull out my phone and move off the sidewalk onto the grass, so I don’t get trampled.
Adam: Get lost yet?
I glance up at the building that is most definitely not Moreno Hall.
Me: Of course not, but say I was looking for Moreno Hall…
Adam: Hang a left just past the engineering building, it’s on the corner—big fancy-ass looking building, can’t miss it.
A minute later he follows up.
Adam: Find it?
Me: I would have found it on my own eventually.
Adam: I’m sure.
Hurriedly, I pocket my phone and head to Moreno Hall.
By the end of the day, I’m exhausted but even more excited about the semester. All of my classes seemed okay, I met a few girls on our hall, and Ava and I spent the late afternoon walking around campus and soaking in all the first-day excitement.
I don’t even think about Bryan until we get back to the dorm and I’m lying on my bed listening to Ava and Trent share first-day stories. I consider texting him for all of a millisecond. I don’t hate him. Maybe I should. It’d probably be easier to get over him that way, but despite the awful way he ended things, I don’t totally blame him for taking a great opportunity. And I’m working on not blaming him for not even wanting to try to make it work. Of course, I don’t text him. Mostly because I don’t think I can handle hearing how awesome everything is on his end. Not when the most notable part of my day was watching a table of jocks devour food like they hadn’t eaten in months.
Over the next few days, I don’t have any more hockey team run-ins. Which might be in part because Ava and I stock up on noodles and have lunch in our room most days and when I do go to the dining hall, I avoid the back table. My brother’s te
ammates all seemed nice, but I’m not interested in continually being referred to as Adam Scott’s baby sister.
Adam texts me every day to check in and invites me over to his place to hang out. I finally give in and agree to dinner Thursday night.
“Are you going to the dorm social tonight?” Ava asks that afternoon as we’re hanging out in the room. I’m watching a new makeup tutorial, and she’s letting me practice on her. I know a lot of people like to use themselves as a model, but I’ve never been one for wearing much makeup. Putting it on other people, though, makes me insanely happy.
“Can’t. I’m having dinner with my brother. Tomorrow night? I’ve heard several fraternities are having parties.”
“Trent is coming to town this weekend. I meant to ask how you felt about him staying in the dorm? If it makes you uncomfortable, we’ll get a hotel.”
“He’s coming to visit already?”
She grins wide and the raspberry red color I’ve put on her lips looks fantastic. “Yeah, we’ve worked it out so we can visit each other almost every weekend this semester.”
I hadn’t given much thought to what we’d do when he was visiting. I grab a gloss and she parts her lips to let me coat them with a little shine. “He should stay here, of course.”
“Cool. Thank you. Trent was stressing about coming up with the money for a hotel. The only one in town that’s reasonably priced looks like it also rents by the hour.” She pulls her mouth down into a grimace. “But it’ll be fun. You’ll like him.”
“I’m excited to meet him. What are you guys going to do?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe the football game, maybe skipping it to make out.” She blushes.
I nod, suddenly imagining a weekend of trying to ignore the sex sounds coming from the other side of the room.
Adam picks me up after he’s done with classes for the day. I smile when his familiar Jeep comes into view. He stops at the curb outside of my dorm and I hop in.
“How’s the first week?” he asks as he drives toward his apartment.
“Good. I think I’m finally getting a feel for the campus. It’s sort of confusing—all the old buildings look the same. And what’s up with the floor numbering in Emerson?”
He chuckles lightly. “How long did it take you to figure out there are two second floors?”
“Long enough that I was late to class.”
“You’ll have it memorized in no time and then you’ll be laughing at the newbies getting lost.”
“You’re laughing at us?”
“Of course, we are.” He winks.
“I think I might need to find a group or join something.” I didn’t do a lot of extracurricular activities in high school. I hung out with friends, I attended sporting activities and was always happy to cheer on my school, but there wasn’t anything I cared about enough to dedicate my hours before or after school.
“Why’s that?” Adam asks as he pulls into the parking lot of the apartment complex.
“Everyone here seems to be into something except me. The girls on my hall are great and I’ve met a few people in class, but they’ve all got a clique of people interested in the same things. The girls rushing sororities, the jocks, the nerds… I swear it’s worse than high school.”
He nods. “I guess that’s true. I never thought about it before.”
“That’s because you came to college already in one of those cliques and with an instant group of friends.”
“What about your roommate?”
“Ava’s great, but she has a boyfriend at another college. I get the feeling she’ll be spending a lot of her weekends visiting him or him visiting us.” I scrunch up my nose. “He’s staying with us this weekend.”
“Did you find somewhere else to crash?”
“No. Why? It’s my room too.”
“Ginny, trust me, you need to find someone on your floor who’ll let you stay in their room this weekend. Your dorm room is tiny, and they’re going to be naked and going at it—that sounds hella uncomfortable for everyone. Unless you’re into that sort of thing.” Now he scrunches up his face. “Don’t tell me if you are. I’d like to continue to believe my baby sister is asexual.”
I snort laugh, but then everything he’s saying hits me. “You’re right. I can’t stay there.”
He nods. “There’s always someone leaving on the weekends. Ask around and see who’s heading out of town and will let you crash in their room.”
“This is a thing. Seriously?”
“I lived in a suite, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. I’d just crash on the couch in the living room.”
“Ugh. I should have been a jock. Then I would have a ready-made clique and I wouldn’t be getting kicked out of my own room.”
“You’re welcome to stay at my place.”
“I’ll figure it out.” I appreciate him, but there has to be another option.
Adam’s apartment isn’t far from campus and if the number of vehicles with Valley University bumper stickers and license plate holders is indicative of how many students live here, then I’d say it’s a lot.
He leads me up the stairs to the second-floor unit.
“Where is everyone?” I ask as we walk into the quiet living room.
“Campus or the gym.” He drops his backpack on the couch. “We have preseason workouts twice a day this week. I’m gonna change real quick.” He heads into one of the bedrooms off the living room.
“Where do you want to eat?” he calls through the open door.
“I don’t care. Wherever you want.”
I walk around the apartment scoping out my brother’s living arrangements. There are three bedrooms, Adam’s and then two on the opposite side of the unit. In the middle is an open concept area that has a kitchen, dining, and living room.
The place isn’t that big but it’s a pretty nice setup and feels huge by comparison to my tiny dorm room.
In the living room there’s a matching couch and chair in a light brown leather. A coffee table, its top made of old hockey sticks, sits in front of the couch. The only artwork on the walls are a few jerseys and a hockey poster of the Bruins—Adam’s favorite team.
The entire apartment is cleaner than I would have expected. A few empty Gatorade bottles on the kitchen counter, a football and a hockey stick—which I can’t help but note is a random combination of sporting goods—lying in the middle of the floor in the living room, and a couple of stray articles of clothing on the backs of the chairs at the dining room table.
Adam reappears as I’m looking inside their empty refrigerator.
“Where’s all your food?”
“We haven’t gone shopping yet.”
“What do you eat?”
He fills a glass with tap water and chugs it before responding. “We mostly eat on campus or we go out. We have a small kitchen in the locker room too that is re-stocked every few days.”
“Can I use your bathroom before we go?” I head toward the one that is near his bedroom.
“Use the other one.” He points to the bathroom on the opposite side of the apartment. “The light is out in mine. I need to get new bulbs.”
“How do you see to shower or pee?” I ask.
“I leave the door open.”
Boys are weird.
Instead of going to a restaurant, Adam and I go through a drive through and eat in his Jeep while he takes me all around Valley showing me Frat Row and some of the popular college bars and restaurants.
“Have you heard from Mom and Dad?” he asks. “Are they back from their trip?”
“They get back tomorrow, I think.” Our parents went on some fancy, romantic vacation to Mexico. Initially I’d been bummed that they weren’t going to be able to drop me off at college, but I’m glad they missed seeing me all sad and teary. The day Adam and I arrived on campus, I dropped my things in my room and then fell onto my new bed and sobbed. Poor Ava must have thought I was nuts.
“I’m really glad you’re here,” I admit.
“You have to stop calling me that. I’m not a baby.”
His mouth pulls into a wider smile. “Come over this weekend and crash at my place. You’ll avoid listening to your roomie’s sex sounds, and I’ll introduce you to everyone. People are always coming and going from our apartment. It’ll be good to meet more people here. Hell, maybe I’ll throw a party.”
“You never let me come to your parties in high school and now you’re practically begging me. I find this quite redeeming even though now I don’t actually want to go. Back then I would have killed to hang with you and your friends.”
“High school was different. No one here cares if you’re a freshman or senior or if you go to college at all. Plus, I want to see that you’re settled. I know the shit with Bryan was rough.”
I groan and Adam laughs.
“Only one condition. Promise me that you won’t get wasted and make an ass of yourself in front of my teammates. I’m captain this year, and I need them to respect me.”
“I promise,” I say as I roll my eyes and toss a fry in his direction.
3
Heath
“Carry me. My legs are dunzo.” Maverick leans his sweaty, heavy frame against me.
“Get the fuck off. I’m barely standing on my own.” I wobble and take a seat in my stall.
The first week of hell training is done and we survived… mostly. Coach Meyers likes to start out the year with a shit ton of conditioning and weight training. We won’t even be allowed to step on the ice for another two weeks.
My buddy falls into the seat next to me and pulls a T-shirt over his head. “Wanna grab a drink at Prickly Pear?”
“I can’t. Scott’s called a house meeting,” I say, annoyed and loud enough so Adam can hear me.
“Four-thirty. Don’t be late,” Adam says sternly. The rest of the guys are scared of him, being our team captain and all, but I know better. He’s all talk. I push his buttons on a regular basis and I’m still standing despite him having a good three inches and fifteen pounds on me.
Secret Puck (Campus Nights Book 1) Page 2
