The Secret Crush

by Sarah M. Ross

  Brent looked around. “Actually. I was hoping I could talk to you for a few minutes. Alone. Is that okay?”

  As I suspected. Ulterior motives. I glanced at the time on my phone. “I really don’t have time right now. We only have a few hours before people start showing up.”

  “Five minutes. I promise. And I’ll call a few of the guys on the team and tell them to get their asses down here to help, too. That was fucked up what those kids did.”

  Having a conversation with Brent was pretty much the last thing I wanted to do, but if he was going to get me more help, I couldn’t pass that up. I needed all I could get. I blew out a breath. “Okay. Sure. Five minutes. But I’m serious, I have a ton of stuff I still need to do and can’t—”

  “Trust me. This’ll only take a few minutes.” He took his hands out of his pockets and swung an arm around my shoulders, leading me behind the house toward the garage.

  MY LAST CLASS FOR THE day finally ended, and tonight was the night. The night I revealed all to Hadley. I was a nervous wreck, but excited too. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and frowned, reading a text message I’d received from Hadley.

  “Have 2 cancel. Sorry. Punks trashed the haunted house and need major clean up b4 we open 2nite.”

  Holy shit! That sucked, especially for Hadley. I knew how hard she’d worked for this fundraiser and to have someone do that must have really upset her. Although, knowing her, it probably just enraged her and motivated her to make it even better than before.

  I flipped through my contacts and dialed Piper, and when she didn’t answer, I called Chloe. Thankfully, she picked up right away.

  “Hey. What’s up?”

  “I just heard about the haunted house being trashed. What the hell happened?”

  She sighed heavily. “Some high school brats, apparently. Place is a mess. I’m here now trying to help clean up, but I have no idea how we’re going to get it all done before tonight.”

  “Do you need any extra hands?”

  “Yes! And grab anyone else who doesn’t look busy. Seriously. It’s a Friday, and it’s Halloween, so not a whole lot of people came to clean up, ya know?”

  “Yeah, I’ll see who’s around.” I pulled out my keys and headed for my truck. “Who all is there?”

  She started rattling off a bunch of names, mostly just the regular crew. “That’s about it. Although, I was really surprised to see some of the people who showed up.”

  A bad feeling washed over me. “Like who?”

  Chloe hummed under her breath, as if she were thinking. “Well, one of the professors from the chemistry department for one.”

  I blew out the breath.

  “And for some odd reason, Hadley’s ex is here too.”

  I halted in my tracks. “Brent? Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  Fuck! He was probably over there telling her that he was the one behind everything. I needed to stop him. Now. I hung up with Chloe and hopped in my truck, peeling out of the parking lot, praying I wasn’t too late.

  BRENT LED ME TO THE edge of the property behind the detached garage. I was more than annoyed but didn’t say anything. I needed the extra bodies he’d promised to get, and I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I had shit to do and he was already wearing on my nerves.

  “Why did you bring me all the way back here, Brent?” I leaned against the siding, crossing my arms.

  He stepped closer, boxing me in with his hands. “I wanted some privacy for what I’m about to tell you.”

  My brows furrowed. “And what is that?”

  “Hadley….I’m…” He paused, taking a deep breath. “I’m your secret admirer.”

  I wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of his statement and tell him I knew he wasn’t, but he kept going before I had the chance.

  “I know after everything that happened in the past you hated me, and you had every right to. But I’ve changed, Hadley. I’ve wanted to show you that, but I knew you’d never hear me out if I came out and told you. So I needed to become your secret admirer.”

  “Crush,” I said flatly.

  “What?”

  “My secret crush. Not admirer. The person never referred to himself as an admirer.”

  His pupils narrowed when he realized he’d made a mistake, but he didn’t give up. “I know. I’m just nervous, finally admitting this all to you. I’ve been nervous since…the beginning. About how you’d react.”

  He grasped my hand. “I hope you know how much I still love you, Hadley. I hope everything I’ve done shows that to you.”

  I couldn’t listen anymore. He’d taken up enough of my time and I had too much to do. “This has been fun, Brent, but I’m calling bullshit.”

  His grip tightened on my wrist, painfully so, before he loosened it a bit. I ripped my hand away, but he blocked me from leaving. “I know this must be hard for you to believe, but this really was the only way. If I’d just come to you as myself, you never would have heard me out, let alone given me a chance. I’ve changed, Hadley. I really have. And now that you know, we can be together again. Start over with a clean slate.”

  “Brent, there’s so much wrong with what you said that I don’t even know where to begin, but I’m going to try. First, I know my secret crush isn’t you. I don’t know how you found out about it in the first place, but I’m more than a hundred percent positive it’s not you. Second, I—”

  “How do you know it’s not me?” Any sweetness in his tone was gone.

  “Well for one, your voice is different. You’re taller than he is, too. His hands are softer, and so are his lips.”

  His jaw ticked. “How the fuck do you know how soft his lips are?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Because I kissed him. And trust me, there’s absolutely no comparison in the way he kisses.”

  Brent punched the wall behind me, making me jump. “Fuck, Hadley. You kissed some dude you don’t even know? Fucking slut.”

  I ground me teeth. “I knew everything I needed to know about him, Brent. I knew he wasn’t YOU!”

  I was done listening to him. I didn’t care if no one else showed up to help. It wasn’t worth it, having to put up with this. I pushed against Brent’s chest, but he didn’t budge, so I ducked under his arm and started to walk away. Brent wrapped his arm around my waist, pushing me back against the garage wall.

  “Listen to me, you little slut…oomph!”

  “Don’t you fucking touch her!” someone yelled. It was the voice of my secret crush, and my heart soared.

  Brent fell against me, his chest shoved in my face. I had no idea what had just happened, but suddenly his entire body weight was against me and I couldn’t hold him up. I slumped to the ground, Brent still on top of me.

  “Get off me!” I tried to yell, my voice muffled. I shoved at his chest with all my might, but he wouldn’t move. I pushed my knees up and tried to roll, needing to get out from under him, when a hand found mine and pulled me free.

  Finally free, I took a deep breath and looked back at Brent. He was passed out cold. I swung my head around to find out who pulled me free and what the hell had just happened.

  Standing in front of me was Caleb.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “ARE YOU HURT?” MY EYES scanned over her body, looking for any signs he even put a scratch on her. I’d fucking kill him.

  “I’m okay. Really. What…how did you find me?”

  “My sister said she saw Brent here, and the rest…well, the rest is a long story. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

  Brent stirred a bit, groaning.

  “C’mon, Hadley. Let’s get out of here before he wakes up.”

  I reached out my hand, relieved when she grabbed it, entwining our fingers. I led her to where I’d parked my truck. No one was around; everyone was inside the house working on repairing the damage. I lifted her into the bed and stood across from her, not really sure what to do next. This had not been my plan. My throat was suddenly very dry
.

  “Thank you, Caleb. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up,” Hadley started.

  “Hadley, I think I should tell you . . .” I paused, trying to find the right words.

  “I know you’re my secret crush, Caleb. I knew the second I heard your voice.”

  My eyes widened, but I let her continue.

  “I honestly should have put it together sooner. I don’t know why it took my brain so long to place it. I think I just enjoyed the mystery and the game a bit too much, and my mind wouldn’t let me see the truth.”

  I swallowed hard. “This wasn’t how I was planning on telling you, Hadley.”

  “I’m sure it wasn’t. I’m sure you had something extremely sweet and romantic planned, just like everything else you’ve done.” She smiled, titling her head. “But honestly, I think I’d take you saving me from that creep over any poem or flowers any day of the week.”

  I chuckled, my tension easing a bit. Hadley seemed . . . happy that it was me. “Do you want to go to campus police? Report that he attacked you?”

  She shook her head. “No. He didn’t lay a hand on me, really. Just being a bully, as usual. I don’t want to be alone with him any time soon, that’s for sure.”

  “Had—”

  “Caleb—”

  I smiled. “Please. Ladies first.”

  “I just wanted to say, I’m glad it’s you. I was hoping it would be, if I were honest with myself.”

  A mountain of weight fell off my shoulders. I stepped closer to her, not able to keep the cheesy grin off my face. “I didn’t think you saw me as anything more than a friend.”

  “I didn’t for a long time, but when all this started I took a hard look at everyone and realized that there was only one person I really wanted it to be. You.”

  I didn’t wait to hear any more. I leaned over, cupped her face in my hands, and kissed her the way I’d wanted to for the last three years—hard, possessive, and full of all the pent-up desire I felt. The moment her lips touched mine, everything else ceased to be. I couldn’t get enough.

  Hadley wrapped her arms around my neck, pressing her chest into mine until I could feel how fast her heart was beating, mirroring my own. Her hands tangled in my hair, tugging at the strands in the back. I nibbled her bottom lip, causing her to suck in a breath. No longer willing to let an opportunity pass me by, my tongue slipped into her warm mouth and explored it thoroughly.

  My hands ran up her thighs and settled at her hips, pulling her closer still. She moaned as her center pressed into my hard erection, only making me more painfully engorged. God, she was so fucking perfect. I wanted nothing more than to slip her clothes off her and lay her down right here, spending hours pleasuring her.

  Breaking the kiss, I took a deep breath and moved a tiny step back. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t give to be with her, but this wasn’t the time or place.

  Her eyes found mine, and we stared at each other. There was excitement in her gaze, and a smile tugging at her lips. I reached up and brushed my thumb over her bottom lip, eliciting a tiny whimper from her.

  “I’m not done here, Hadley. This is only the beginning.”

  “Okay,” she whispered.

  “But right now, we need to get this place ready for tonight. And after it’s all done, we’re going to finish what we started.”

  She smiled. “I’d really, really like that.”

  I helped her down onto the ground and took her hand. My chest was on the verge of bursting, and I wanted to scream from the rooftops that Hadley Monroe was finally mine.

  EPILOGUE

  January

  SNOW FELL OUTSIDE MY WINDOW in big fat flakes. It was the perfect kind of snow for making snowmen and having snowball fights, like the epic one planned later between the fraternities and sororities. Every year at Westin University, after the first major snowfall, everyone would skip whatever classes they had, and there would be a huge snowball fight. It was the highlight of the season, with even the Dean joining in some years. This year, the snow had fallen on a Saturday, so no one had to miss any classes.

  We thought for sure we’d get an early snowfall this season, but so far we hadn’t gotten anything but flurries. If the accumulation at the window were any indication, we had a good five or six inches already.

  I fell back into bed and snuggled deeper under the covers next to Caleb.

  “Did it snow, babe?” he whispered, still half asleep.

  “Yes. It looks so beautiful out now.”

  He pulled me close and kissed me. “You look beautiful now. What time is it? The sun isn’t even up.”

  “Almost seven. I was too excited to sleep.”

  His face nuzzled the crook of my neck. “Well since we’re both up . . .”

  I giggled as the stubble from his chin tickled me. “You’re insatiable.”

  “Damn right I am.” He nibbled my earlobe, making me moan. “And you love it.”

  He always knew exactly where to touch me to make me forget everything else but him. Not that it was very difficult. Ever since Halloween, we’d barely been apart, and we certainly couldn’t keep our hands off one another.

  For the next few hours, I forgot about everything else, becoming lost in a tangle of sheets and body parts until I was sweaty, panting, and starving. We’d burned a lot of calories and needed to recharge.

  Caleb kissed my shoulder before sliding out of the bed. I lay there, wondering how I got so lucky when I heard the shower turn on. My body was blissfully spent, but I still found the energy to wrap myself in a big fluffy robe, get up, and start the small coffee pot in his apartment, pouring two steaming cups.

  He found me staring out the window again, and I handed him a cup of coffee. “My sister texted. Everyone’s meeting at The Sugar Mill for pancakes. You in?”

  My mouth watered at the thought. “Yes, that sounds great. I’ll hop in the shower.”

  “Did you hear from your mom?” I yelled as I lathered shampoo in my hair. “I know she was really upset yesterday, getting the final divorce papers.”

  “Yeah. She was going out for one of those painting nights where you drink wine with some of her friends. But she wants us to come over for dinner this weekend. Is that okay?”

  “Of course.”

  I turned off the water, wringing water out of my hair. After drying off, I found a purple sweater with a cow neck that was super soft, put a black cami under it, and paired it with a pair of black furry boots and skinny jeans. I was putting the finishing touches on my French braid when Caleb came back in, handing me my coffee in a to-go cup for the car and kissing my head, inhaling deeply.

  “Do you have any clue just how sexy you are, Hadley? I swear, I can never eat a strawberry again without thinking of you. It has definitely become my new favorite smell.”

  I kissed him hard. There wasn’t anything about Caleb I didn’t love. He treated me with adoration and respect. He never became possessive or controlling, instead trusting if I stayed out late with Piper and Chloe. Plus, he was a fantastic kisser. Just the briefest of contact of our lips sent me swooning. The best part was that we were already such great friends. We fell into an easy rhythm in our relationship, and the more time we spent together the more natural it seemed. I kicked myself, thinking about all the time we could have had if we had gotten together sooner, but honestly, I thought we came out stronger in the end because we did have that strong foundation of friendship.

  Our kissing went on and on, each becoming lost in the other. We were only about twenty minutes late meeting everyone—which at this point, they’d come to expect. I wore Caleb’s hoodie still, having never given it back, and snuggled next to him in the booth. He placed his arm around me, his thumb lightly brushing up and down my shoulder as he chatted with Ethan and Aiden about the upcoming SuperBowl.

  As I sat back and observed all the happenings around me, I sighed contentedly. So far in my senior year at Westin I’d put together a fundraiser that had raised over ten thousa
nd dollars for Habitat for Humanity, I’d found the love of my life, and just yesterday I’d found out I’d been accepted into the same grad school as Caleb. I was truly the luckiest girl alive.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE:

  The idea for The Secret Crush came to me one morning a few months ago and I was excited to write a story where both the audience and Hadley were left guessing who was behind it all. After all, guessing is half the fun! I wanted everyone to enjoy the mystery and the “ah-ha! I knew it” or “What?! I never saw that coming!” moment at the big reveal.

  With that said, please remember if you leave a review to not spoil the surprise for future readers.

  Thank you for reading The Secret Crush and I hope you enjoyed reading Hadley and Caleb’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it!

  ~Sarah~

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  While the process of writing a book is solitary, publishing a book is quite an undertaking, and one I could never do alone. I have an amazing team and I am extremely grateful to each of them for the role they played in helping me reach this point!

  First and foremost, I must thank my husband, Steve, for all the extra responsibilities he took on while I slaved away in the writing cave. Without his support, not a single word would get written. I love you, babe!

  I’d also like to thank the members of my amazing team:

  My editors: Beth Shelby and Tawdra Kandle, whose input and red pens made this book so much better!

  My cover designer and formatter, Donna Dull of Sharp Cover Designs, whose talent leaves me in awe.

  My beta readers: Lisa Omek, Laurie Smith, and Sarah Geiger—Thank you all for your input each in each and every chapter!

  Finally, I’d like to thank all my readers for always believing in me and my stories. Thank you for reading, sharing them with your friends, and for leaving reviews! It means the world! <3