The Pass (Smart Jocks #5) - Rebecca Jenshak Page 0,4
until tonight. Dresses for the win again.
“Be right back,” Tanner whispers in my ear. His warm breath sends a new host of goose bumps racing over my skin.
I take a seat, half-listening to the conversation around me as I watch Tanner navigate around the party. He’s stopped every couple of steps by someone calling to him—guys and girls. The hot pink trunks he’s wearing make me smile. They’ve got little alligators all over them. Not a lot of guys would dare try to pull off hot pink, but he does and pulling them off he is. I love that he doesn’t take himself too seriously.
His body is lean and muscular. He has a great back and his ass… a real work of art. He leans over, giving me a really good view of said artwork, and I sigh. Emily shoots me a weird look.
I attempt to make my staring a little less obvious as I continue to watch Tanner grab his T-shirt from a chair and pull it on. He glances back at me and a slow smile pulls at his lips.
As he walks through the party, across the large back yard, I can’t take my eyes off him. And his gaze only diverts from me when someone speaks to him. I’ve never had this sort of instant chemistry with someone. Or instant as soon as he noticed me.
I mean, I’ve been into the guy for more than a year, ever since I stepped onto the Valley U campus and first saw him. He’d been at The Hideout, a local restaurant and bar, with a group of basketball players. That was the first time, and since then, it feels like he’s everywhere I turn. My body is highly tuned to Tanner Shaw.
When he reaches our group, he goes around my chair and drops into the small space behind me. His shoulder rests against my back and I lean into him.
“What’d I miss?”
“Oh, uh…” I can’t very well admit I haven’t been listening. “Not much. Nice trunks, by the way.”
He looks down. “You like? My sister picked these out.”
Tanner is better at following the conversation than I am. Yet somehow he still makes me feel special. A brush of his fingertips against mine, a whispered comment where only I can hear, the constant contact of his body against mine. There’s nothing overtly sexual about any of his touches, but I am so keyed up that I barely notice the hours fly by.
Much sooner than I’d like, the girls are fading. Chloe yawns and it sets off a domino effect.
“We should probably go. Sydney and I have an eight o’clock class in the morning,” Chloe says.
“Me too,” Em agrees and stretches.
I groan. I know they’re right, it’s time to go, but I’m afraid that after tonight, things will go back to how they were before where Tanner doesn’t notice me.
We all stand and start walking toward the house.
“Hey, wait,” Tanner says before I’m through the door.
I fall back and let the rest of my teammates go ahead.
“Can I get your number?”
Hesitating, I wonder what the right move is. Am I being too eager if I give him my number? The last guy I jumped into things too quickly with stopped calling after I slept with him on our second date.
But do I really want to blow my chance with Tanner?
“How about you give me your number?” I suggest.
He smirks but takes my phone as I hold it out to him. He punches in his number and hands it back, holding on when I try to pull it away. “You’re going to call, right?”
“Sydney!” Emily shouts ahead of me.
“I have to go.” He lets go of my phone and I take a step. “I’ll see you in class.”
“Are you almost ready?” Emily asks, sticking her head into my room. Her brows furrow. “Did you change?”
“The other shirt was wrinkled.” Not untrue but normally I couldn’t care less about what I look like for classes. Is it a coincidence that the first time Tanner noticed me was when I was in a dress and not my everyday clothes of shorts and a T-shirt? I’m guessing not.
It’s been two days since he gave me his number and so far I’ve just stared at it a lot trying to decide what to do with it. Having the power, as it turns out, is a lot of responsibility.
“Well, let’s go. We have five minutes to get across campus.”