by 33 authors
“I mean, she’s hot,” he said casually.
Seth stopped mid-drink and set his beer down. “Whoa.”
“What?”
“I don’t know, dude,” he said, staring at Jack. “First, you hesitated, which means she drew your attention. Most girls really don’t for some reason. Second, you answered me like you didn’t care, which immediately makes me think you do. So, who is this chick?”
Jack shrugged and turned away. “Just a girl who comes into the coffee house. I don’t know her name or anything.”
“Dude, you’ve got it bad.”
“Fuck off. You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jack said gruffly.
“Remember when you first started dating Danielle, and I told you it was a terrible fucking idea?”
Jack slung his arm across the back of the sofa and threw his head into the cushion. He knew where this was going.
“Well, it was a terrible fucking idea. She’s a fucking doormat. I mean, I didn’t blame you for getting laid all the time in high school, but now, you can get way better ass than that, man,” Seth said. He shook his head like he couldn’t believe that Jack was still with Danielle.
“Whatever.”
Great comeback.
“I’m totally going to this concert with you, and I’m bringing the guys,” Seth said with a crooked smile. “I hope you fuck her until your dick falls off.”
* * *
CHAPTER 3
The Theatre
The guy sitting behind the desk was about as townie as it came in this city. He was tall and lanky. No, he was more like skinny or even scrawny. Jack was sure the guy had never heard of a gym before. He had tattoos running up and down his arms and peeking out from beneath his perfectly rumpled ironic T-shirt. Jack liked to keep his hair long enough to fall into his eyes, but this guy’s hair was just too long and stringy. Hygiene was lacking all around.
“ID?” The guy thrust out his hand while looking at Jack in disdain.
At least the feeling was mutual.
Jack handed him his fake ID, which was a duplicate of a friend of his. He didn’t think it looked much like him, but in Athens, it didn’t matter. If it said he was twenty-one, and it wasn’t just a flimsy piece of paper, then no one gave a shit.
“Great,” the guy said. He barely glanced at it before handing it back to Jack. He placed a giant black turtle stamp on Jack’s hand and let him pass.
Jack pulled open the door to the Theatre and walked into the music venue. The room was cool as if to make up for the Georgia heat, and he was glad he had worn his dark jeans and black button-up with the sleeves rolled to three-quarter length. His trusty navy Chuck Taylor’s were on his feet.
His roommates, Seth, Luke, and Michael, had come with him to the show. The conversation to get all his roommates to come out with him had been about as embarrassing as Seth could manage, and he had a talent in such things. His friends, Clark and Hunter, had been over to witness the spectacle, too. None of them liked Danielle, and they were more than happy to help Jack find someone else, so he would grow some balls and dump her. Clark was the only one who had been hesitant, but peer pressure had won him over in the end. Clark and Hunter were going to meet them out for drinks later since they had an intramural soccer game.
“So, which one is she?” Seth asked as he walked in behind Jack.
Jack made a quick sweep of the room. “I don’t see her,” he said.
He had only been here a handful of times to see some pretty popular bands or to catch a couple local bands who had a strong following in Athens. Last October, he and all the guys had come here for a Halloween blowout full of angels, devils, cowgirls, and every other variety of slutty costume imaginable. People were crushed wall-to-wall while a DJ blared club music. This was nothing like that. The venue was actually quite sad on a weekday.
About two-dozen people were standing in the center of the room, bobbing up and down to the college rap music some guy was spitting into the microphone. A handful of townies sat around the perimeter of the room on cheap couches and bar stools, drinking PBR, and ignoring the music.
And then, there she was. She was wearing a short black dress and heels that accentuated her toned legs and butt. Jack had only ever seen her in the outfits she wore to study in at the coffee shop, which usually consisted of a loose T-shirt and jeans. She had gone from hot to off the charts in that dress.
“That one,” Jack said, gesturing to the girl.
“And she’s not even blonde,” Seth said elbowing Jack in the side.
“Ha-ha,” he responded dryly.
“I’d fuck her,” Seth said with a shrug.
“You’d fuck anything.”
“Yeah. Anything that hot.”
“That’s the girl with the big tits.” Jack pointed out the girl who was jamming out to the music at the front of the stage.
“She’s actually into this music?” Seth looked contemptuous about the girl’s lack of taste. “I’m going to pass. If Chasity is working at Chamber, I’ll see if she’ll give me a blow job in the bathroom.”
“Good luck with that.”
“Anyway, go talk to your girl. I’ll take the guys to the bar.” Seth walked away with the rest of their entourage, leaving Jack alone to determine his course of action.
She was here, swinging her hips side to side as if in invitation. Her lips were moving along with the music, and he could see the shine of that damn pink lip gloss teasing him from a distance. He had come to the show with the intention of meeting that girl. He was too committed to back out now.
Taking a deep breath, Jack walked across the empty room and stood next to the girl. She was so enthralled with the music that she didn’t even notice him. Her eyes were glued to the duet on stage, and she was yelling out all the words she knew.
“You’re not bad. Maybe you should show them how it’s done,” Jack said, leaning over to her.
When she giggled, her curls bounced all around her face. One strand was stuck to her pink lip gloss, and he had to fight back the urge to brush it away. What had gotten into him?
The girl turned toward him, and the look of shock on her face was about as obvious as her friend’s flirtation had been earlier that day. She tried to recover, and damn, was it cute to watch her try.
“You think so?”
“Honestly, no,” Jack teased.
She was good, but he kind of liked to see her all flustered.
“Well, thanks. I’m very offended right now.”
Her hand fell to her heart as if she were wounded, and Jack took the opportunity to let his eyes drop to her chest. Yeah, she had a pretty nice rack.
“So...do I know you or do you always just insult people when you first meet them?” she asked.
He snapped his eyes back to her face. He could drown in those dark eyes.
She was so tiny that he had to bend down to avoid yelling over the music. He cleared his throat softly before he responded. “I think you study at the coffee shop where I work.”
He breathed the smell of her in. How did girls always smell so good? He didn’t even know how to describe it, except that it could have been edible.
“I think you might be right.” She shot him a smile that could kill.
She removed the tiny piece of hair still stuck to her pink lip gloss and then tucked the loose strand behind her ear. They never broke eye contact, and he wondered if she knew what she was doing to him.
“Are you much into college boy rap?” she asked abruptly.
He laughed at the turn in conversation. “No, not really, but this guy’s not bad. Is he a friend of yours?”
“Yeah, he lives in my dorm.”
So, she was a freshman. He wouldn’t have guessed that. Something about her confidence and the sexuality she exuded had made him think that she was his age or older, not that he minded the age difference in the slightest.
“Nice. Those guys over there.” Jack pointed at the bar where his roommates were sitting. “They lived on
my hall last year in the dorms. Which one are you in?”
“Um...Russell.”
“That’s where we were. Fifth floor east. You?”
“Five north,” she told him.
Fuck. If she were a year older, they would have lived on the same floor together.
“Small world.”
“Yeah, it is,” she said, tucking another lock of hair behind her ear. “How exactly did you hear about the band? I mean, if you don’t really listen to the music.”
Jack reached into his back pocket and pulled out the folded piece of paper. “I believe a friend of yours gave this to me.” He pointed the girl out in the crowd.
Her eyes were brimming with happiness as she became all giggly. “Well, yeah, that’s Olivia for you,” she said, shrugging. “Oh, I’m Lexi, by the way.” She extended her hand to him.
“Lexi...hmm...I like that,” he said, taking her outstretched hand firmly in his. “Jack. It’s nice to meet you.”
Jack let the silence stretch between them as all hope of conversation died with the increasing volume of the hip-hop beats. When the duo’s set ended, everyone started to leave the venue. Lexi filed out of the room with the rest of her friends, and he followed. He caught Seth’s eye and nodded his head toward the door.
They made it outside and past the townie who had stamped his hand. As Lexi’s friends all turned and started walking to the backstage door, she stood with Jack off to the side and waited. His friends stood on the sidewalk a short distance away.
Now, he had to figure out what the fuck he was going to do. The show was over. He knew her name. Wasn’t that all he had come for?
Her friend, Olivia, exited last. She was swaying on her feet, humming loudly to herself. “Hey, sweetie.” She kissed Lexi on the cheek, and without another word, she stumbled along after the rest of the group.
“I guess she’s a bit drunk,” Lexi said to him.
“A bit?” he questioned with a smirk. “Hold on one second.” Jack walked over to his friends standing in a clump on the sidewalk. “Hey guys, I’ll meet you at Chamber. I think Chasity said she was working.”
Seth winked at him, and the other guys chuckled like they thought he might bang the girl right then and there. They departed down the street, happily leaving him alone with Lexi.
When he turned back to Lexi, she was glancing around the corner toward her friends. “I’m not sure what my friends are doing. But by the look of things, I’m going to have to carry half of them home.”
She was over a handsbreadth shorter than him. It would have been interesting to see her try.
“I should go catch up with them before they get into any trouble.”
He didn’t know if she was actually interested and playing it off or if she was just ready to be rid of him.
“My friends are probably lost without me, too,” Jack said. It surprised him that he wasn’t ready for her to leave.
“Are you working tomorrow?” she asked.
“Are you studying tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”
“Then, I should be there.”
“Guess I’ll see you there.”
“Sounds good,” he said, knowing she was going to leave and he wouldn’t see her again until the next time he worked.
She turned and started down the alley.
He should let her leave. He should. Honestly, he really, really should.
What good could come from him stopping her? He had a girlfriend back at home. Sure, he could become friends with Lexi. She could hang out with Seth and the guys. Maybe even meet Danielle sometime. That might be feasible…maybe.
He knew that letting her go was the smart thing to do. If he wanted anything from this, then he needed to be smart about it. Leave her alone…watch her walk away…figure things out with Danielle…
That was what he should have done.
But he couldn’t.
They got along, and they had some kind of connection. He would be an idiot to not do anything about it. Even if absolutely nothing came from it and they just became friends, that would be okay with him. Her leaving without him knowing if he would ever see her again…that wasn’t okay with him. He couldn’t see that ever being okay with him.
“Lexi!” Jack called, jogging down the street to catch up with her.
She turned to face him, those big brown eyes swallowing him whole. He had to see her again.
“I know you have to study tomorrow, but what are you doing Friday?”
She didn’t respond right away as she seemed to be thinking about her schedule. He waited impatiently, wondering what she could be doing.
“I don’t have any plans,” she finally responded.
Jack blew out a breath. Good. “Do you want to hang out?”
Lexi nodded. “I thought you’d never ask.”
* * *
CHAPTER 4
The Date
He should call the whole thing off.
Jack stared down at his phone, wavering back and forth. He knew that if he broke off the date right before the event, he would look like a total dick. Not a good first impression. But if he didn’t call it off and it ended up being a real date…then he’d feel even more like a dick.
In the end, it was this backward way of arguing with himself that led to his decision. If he were going to look like a dick either way, then he would rather spend time with Lexi. He was probably overanalyzing this anyway. This probably wasn’t even a date.
Seth, Luke, and Michael had left to pick up Hunter and Clark. Jack knew that Seth was trying to get out of his hair. Despite the fact that he and Seth had gone to dozens of parties, bought drinks for girls, and then danced and flirted, Jack had never done anything like this before. There was always a point where he was like…well, time to get back to Danielle. Seth would bring a girl or two home, and Jack would go to bed alone. There wasn’t even a moment when he’d thought it would be any other way. He was pretty sure that Seth believed that would change tonight, so he had left Jack alone.
Jack was happy for the reprieve, but he couldn’t let anything happen.
“Fuck it.” He shook his head and shoved his phone in his pocket.
He had already made up his mind. He wasn’t going to go back on it.
Jack walked out to his car and revved the engine. He shot off a text message to Lexi, saying he was on the way. He didn’t live too far from the dorms, so it was a quick commute. Soon enough, he was driving up to the front of Russell Hall. He pulled over, turned on his hazard lights, and called Lexi to let her know he was here.
She answered on the second ring. “Hello?”
“Hey, do you want me to come upstairs?” Jack asked.
“Nah. No point in making you try to get past security. I’ll be right down.”
Jack hung up the phone and waited for her to leave the dorm. A few minutes later, he saw a girl racing down the steep hill to where his car was parked. Her dark hair had been tamed and slicked back into a high ponytail. Her curls bounced up and down as she jogged down the hill. She looked great in dark skinny jeans and a green tank top that hugged her in all the right places.
She reached his car, opened the door, and slid into the black leather seat. He stared at her just long enough to see that she had on that same damn pink lip gloss. For a split second, he wanted to lean over and kiss those plump lips, but then he recovered himself. Letting off the clutch, he flew down the road.
Jack took a breath, already relaxing in her presence. All the anxiety from worrying about whether or not this was the right idea fell away from him.
“So, where are we going?” Lexi asked.
She leaned back into the seat as he took a turn.
“It’s a surprise.”
“Hmm…I like surprises.”
“I thought you might.” Jack glanced at her briefly, taking in her slight smile.
He put his iPod on shuffle, and John Mayer’s acoustic cover of “Free Fallin’” filtered through the speakers. He veered the car toward their d
estination, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel in time with the guitar chords.
“Do you play?” Lexi asked.
“A little.”
“Oh yeah? What instruments?”
He chuckled softly, thinking about the answer to this question. He had been kind of a musical fiend when he was younger. He had picked up every instrument imaginable. He wasn’t wonderful at any of them, but he was good at pretty much all of them. “Just guitar, bass, piano, saxophone, and some drums, but I’m really rusty.”
“Jesus!” Lexi cried. “All I can do is sing.”
“Oh, and I sing.” He smirked as he hit the brake at a red light.
“Well, don’t you seem to be good at everything?” Lexi said, staring up at him through thick dark lashes.
Jack hastily returned his attention to the road, but he still watched her out of the corner of his eye. “You just wait and see.”
“I look forward to it.” She giggled, turning back around to face the front.
Jack’s smirk grew with her laughter. Something about Lexi seemed to just fit. She was so easy to be around. There was no forcing the conversation. There were no awkward silences. There was only Jack and Lexi.
He took the last turn to their destination, and Lexi’s eyes widened considerably. Before them, on an expanse of university property that was typically just an empty field, stood a recently constructed carnival with university students flooding the park. A giant Ferris wheel with dozens of bright twirling carts rested at the center of the field with carnival rides and booths surrounding it.
“I didn’t know a carnival was coming through town!” Lexi cried.
“One night only,” Jack explained. “The university sets up celebrations like this throughout the year. Since you’re new, I thought I’d take you to the first one of the year.”
He was rewarded with a gorgeous smile that knocked him breathless. He was glad that she liked the surprise, but if she kept looking at him like that, she wouldn’t have any pink lip gloss on by the end of the night.
