A NA ROMANCE NOVELLA
* * * *
AMAZON EDITION
* * * *
The Secret Crush
Copyright © 2015 by Sarah M. Ross
Cover and formatting by Donna Dull of Sharp Cover Designs
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the ‘trademark owners.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Copyright
* * * *
AMAZON EDITION
* * * *
The Secret Crush
Copyright © 2015 by Sarah M. Ross
Cover and formatting by Donna Dull of Sharp Cover Designs
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sp
CHAPTER ONE
THREE YEARS. THAT’S HOW LONG I’d been hopelessly in love with Hadley Monroe. How long I’d tried to get her attention. Tried to get her to notice me. Me. Not my reputation, not my name or who my friends think I am. But me. The real me. The me only a few people in my life have actually seen. Not the façade I wear. Now here it was, almost half-way through our senior year of college at Westin University, and Hadley still looked right through me.
It was time to change all that.
Hadley Monroe was the girl of my dreams. As a little boy, when I imagined what my future wife would be like, someone I could grow old with, it was someone exactly like her I pictured Back when my mom would tell me to stop picking on girls, because one day I’d like them.
Every time I saw Hadley, I found something new to like about her. Her crooked smile, never without that cherry red lipstick. Her piercing blue eyes, so bright they looked like stars. Eyes that contrasted perfectly with her jet black hair that was so shiny and smooth and smelled like strawberries. She was selfless and kind, ambitious and hard-working, and the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen in real life.
I’d wanted to tell her all of that a thousand times, but fear always held me back.
Really, I only had myself to blame. With a girl like Hadley, you only got one shot to prove yourself, and I wanted mine to be perfect.
She deserved perfect.
But for three years, it just didn’t happen. Something always stood in my way.
The clock in the entryway of the library chimed, letting me know it was about to close. I shoved my textbooks into my backpack and zipped up my jacket. It was fuckin’ freezing already, and it was barely October. Days like these always reminded me that choosing a college in the Midwest instead of somewhere like Florida was a dumbass move.
“Yo!” Ty called, coming over, clasping my hand and pulling me in for a bro hug.
“Hey, dude, what’s up?”
“Man, it’s cold as a witch’s titty out there.” He rubbed his hands together, his blue eyes already watering from the cold. “Gonna need some libations to get rid of this chill tonight. Maybe find some hottie and use our body heat to keep each other warm. I’m headed up to the Sig house. You in?”
“Nah, dude. I’ve got a paper due in the morning, and I’m not even half through it yet.” I didn’t, but I also didn’t want to admit that I was done with random hookups. Guys like Ty wouldn’t understand that I wanted one girl and one girl only.
“Sucks. Next time then.” He frowned, but immediately forgot me as he spied Lisa Murphy leaving the stacks, running after her instead.
I hiked my backpack on my shoulder and slid in my earphones, blasting Fall Out Boy as I trudged across campus, my mind still focused on Hadley and how to finally admit everything.
For the last few years, I had been too chicken shit to put myself out there and tell her how I really felt. How vibrant and unbelievably beautiful I thought she was. How she pushed me to work harder when I saw her studying in the library until it closed on a Friday night. Everything about her screamed at me to fight for my chance to be with her. But it seemed every semester something seemed to get in the way.
I’d met Hadley our freshman year through mutual friends. We ran in the same circles, and while I thought she was beyond gorgeous, I wasn’t looking for a girlfriend. Not with scores of chicks practically falling all over my dick. I had no need to pursue anyone. But the more I got to know Hadley, the more I wanted her, not those other faceless girls who meant nothing to me.
When we came back sophomore year, I was all set to lay out how I felt, and then she met that asshole Brent. I had no idea what she saw in that douche, and it took her all effin’ year to see through his shit. He’d cheated on her, with a girl in her sorority no less, and ripped her heart to shreds.
Which made me want to rip his face to shreds.
It took everything in me not to pummel his face until it resembled ground meat. But Brent was on the football team, and I knew if I did, I’d have all those meatheads up my ass for hurting their star player. So I laid low and looked for another way to teach him a lesson.
Turned out, girls weren’t the only things he cheated on. I sent one anonymous tip to the dean, and they found him selling old term papers online. He was put on academic probation and not eligible to play football for one year (thanks to his daddy who pulled about a thousand strings not to get him expelled). It didn’t put the pieces of Hadley’s heart back together, but taking him down a few pegs did wonders for both of our states of mind.
I took out my keycard and swiped it, entering my building before taking the stairs two at a time to my floor. Once I made it to my room, I shrugged off my backpack and flopped onto my bed, still
lost in my thoughts. Still unable to shake my memories of Hadley over the last few years.
I’d finally thought I had an opening with her after Brent, but junior year was insane. First, my mom found out that her hours at the hospital were being cut in half, and she wasn’t able to pay my tuition that year, so I had to take an extra job to make ends meet. That left me with almost no time to see her. Then Hadley’s grandfather died—the one who practically raised her. And while I was there for her, it was her sorority sisters who gave her a shoulder to cry on. His death changed her, and she spent weeks just holed up in her sorority house. I barely saw her all autumn, and by spring, she’d decided to do a study abroad.
So here it was, October of our senior year, and the girl of my dreams had no idea how I felt. It was time to rectify that. It was time to make my move. Lay it all out there.
Bare my soul.
I just needed something epic so for once she’d take me seriously.
CHAPTER TWO
I POPPED A PIECE OF kettle corn into my mouth and smiled as I watched Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy woo Elizabeth Bennet. It was my all-time favorite movie, and I never grew tired or watching it. The romance of the 1800s was on point. It frustrated me that I was born in a decade where a guy’s version of pursuing a girl was asking to see her boobs on SnapChat. No flowers. No love letters. Just “Facebook Official”—which was way lame.
Grabbing the last few kernels, I shoved them into my mouth and stopped pining after fictional characters. I went back to avoiding the blank piece of paper mocking me on my lap. The only thing I’d managed to write over the last hour of brainstorming was the title and several flower doodles.
“This project is never going to get done,” I mumbled.
“Still nothing?” My best friend and roommate Piper asked me, digging into our dorm fridge for a bottle of water. As much as we’d wanted a house off-campus this year, we’d lucked out getting a private senior suite. It was way cheaper than anything we would have found in town, so the dorms it was.
“At this rate, I’ll have graduated before I think of something.”
The girls of my sorority, Gamma Delta, had voted me social chair this year. It was the social chair’s responsibility to come up with and organize a fundraiser for charity. Our sorority had a proud tradition of giving back to our small town community, and it now fell on my shoulders to continue that. I didn’t want to do the typical car wash or—in an epic-fail fashion from last year—a “Girls of Gamma Delta” bikini calendar. The only people who had bought it were creepers using it for their spank bank. Gross.
I shook my head, chewing on my pen cap. “Last year we raised over five thousand dollars for charity, but I don’t want to do something stupid like the calendar. I want to do something that’s going to generate a lot of money for the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity without making us all feel disgusting in the process.”
Piper pursed her lips, coming to sit next to me on the couch. “What about a casino night?”
“No, the dean vetoed all gambling options a few years ago. We can’t even have a raffle.”
Piper sank back into the couch, pulling her socked feet up under her as she stared into the empty popcorn bowl. “We’re going to need more sustenance if we’re going to come up with an epic idea. Maybe a change of scenery will help. C’mon, let’s go down to The Beanery. I think JT is working tonight, and you know he’ll hook us up with free drinks. I’m pretty sure he has a major crush on you.”
“He does not!”
She raised her eyebrows. “Trust me, I’ve seen the way he stares at your ass when you turn to leave. He does.”
I glanced out at the frost already forming on the window, ignoring her last comment. It was only the beginning of October, but already temperatures were dropping into the thirties at night. By this rate, we’d have snow by Halloween.
The word “no” was on the tip of my mouth when Piper added, “I know you can’t resist a pumpkin spice latte. And they have those delicious salted caramel cupcakes too…”
That did it. I changed out of my plaid flannel pajama pants into a pair of skinny jeans and shoved my feet into a pair of Uggs. After running a brush quickly through my hair, I grabbed my ΓΔ hoodie and pulled it on as we headed for the door.
The Beanery was one of Westin University’s most popular late-night destinations. It was located right in the heart of campus. They were also open until three in the morning, so whether you were cramming for an exam or just bored and looking to hang out, you went to The Beanery. I wasn’t surprised at all that it was packed tonight, and I spotted several of my friends. I waved and made my way to the end of the line, which was long.
Davis Chapman sidled up next to me, throwing his arm around both Piper and me. “Hey, ladies. Coming to the Kappa Rho party tomorrow?”
“Maybe.” Piper shrugged, giving him a little wink. She’d been not-so-subtly flirting with Davis for several months. Not that one could blame her. He was crazy-hot with piercing green eyes and blond hair shaved into a buzz cut, resembling a hot Marine out of uniform or something. “You gonna get us VIP?”
Several of the frats now offered a VIP service, with real cups and good alcohol unlike everyone else who just got whatever was cheapest in the keg. It mostly went to the girlfriends or hookups of the brothers, but exceptions were made from time to time.
Davis looked us both up and down. “For you lovely ladies? Of course!”
“Then we’ll be there,” Piper announced, leaning her head on his shoulder. “There a theme?”
Davis raked his eyes over Piper’s backside. She wore thick black leggings that only amplified her curvy figure, paired with a thin long-sleeve T-shirt and a thick faux fur vest that cinched at the waist with a belt. She was completely adorable and looked like she was ready to hit the ski slopes.
“Nah, just show up looking good like always.” He turned to me. “You’re coming, too, right, Hadley?”
I tried to hide my shock that he even asked. I didn’t even think Davis knew my name. He was the captain of the lacrosse team and had girls flocking all over him. Sure, we had a lot of the same friends, but we rarely talked.
“Yeah, I can make it.”
A smile stretched across his face. “Fantastic. I’ll be sure your names are added to the list. See ya then!”
He waltzed out of line, high-fiving a few guys who occupied a corner booth. Carter Jennings, one of the guys on the football team, smiled at me as I turned back to Piper, who looked practically giddy. “Did that just happen?”
I laughed. “Yep.”
“Next!” The barista called, and I scooted up in line. The girl serving was from my pediatric psychology class. We both were Child Development majors, so we’d had a lot of the same classes over the years. I gave her a little wave.
“Hey, Trina! I’ll have a small pumpkin spice latte and one of the salted caramel cupcakes, please.” I handed her my dining hall card, but she held up her hand.
“Already been taken care of.”
My brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
Trina shrugged. “Someone placed an online order a few minutes ago, said you’d be in, and ordered your drink. Pre-paid. It’s down at the counter waiting for you.”
Confusion must have been evident on my face, because she pointed with her finger to where, sure enough, a drink and a cupcake sat.
“Um, thanks then.”
I stepped out of line and grabbed the cup, staring at it while Piper ordered. It had my name written on the cup, along with a winky face. I could see a few more letters peeking out from under the cardboard sleeve, so I slid it down. Underneath was written: “Just like you—sweet and spicy. ~ Your Secret Crush”
Piper gasped when I held it up for her before she started squealing. “Oh, my gawd! That is sooo cute! You’re such a lucky bitch.”
I chuckled at her dramatics, but still couldn’t believe it. I looked up at JT, a guy from my philosophy class who was making the drinks. He shrugged. “I just wrote wha
t he told me to write.”
“Who told you to write it?”
JT smirked. “Couldn’t tell ya. Order came in from our online system. No name.”
I gazed around the crowded café, looking for anyone who seemed to be paying extra attention to me. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Did I really have a secret admirer who bought me drinks?
It was such a sweet thing to do. Something Mr. Darcy would do. But why wouldn’t they just say something to me? And why all the secrecy?
CHAPTER THREE
THE WAY HER EYES LIT up when she saw the message? The small, crooked grin on her face as she glanced around, looking for the source of the note?
Worth every penny.
I couldn’t wait to tell her it was me all along.
CHAPTER FOUR
PIPER JUMPED UP AND DOWN next to me, scooping up my cupcake as I replaced the sleeve on the hot drink before we went to find a seat.
“Who do you think it is?” she asked.
I shrugged, still in shock. “I honestly have no clue.”
“You don’t think it’s Brent trying to get back together, do you?”
I scrunched my nose in disgust. “God, I hope not. Besides, I haven’t even seen him in months. He’s been laying super low since all that went down with the dean.”
“Good. I hate that asshole.” She slid into the table. “This is so exciting!”
“What’s exciting?” Aiden asked as we joined him and everyone else at a table.
“Hadley has a secret crush!”
The table seemed to all stop what they were doing and turn in my direction at once. I could feel the heat rising from my neck and flushing my cheeks.
Two of our sorority sisters, Gabriella and Chloe, along with a few of our guy friends, Aiden and Ethan, and Chloe’s twin brother, Caleb all sat around the table.
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