so as quickly as possible, then hurry out of the cafeteria. I purposely avoid looking in Troy’s direction even if it’s hard. I’m glad he didn’t come talk to me. We haven’t discussed how we should behave in public. We agreed to date, but is he my boyfriend? Shit. Why didn’t we talk about that beforehand?
I stop under a tree to finally take the painkillers, hoping they’ll start to work right away before I have to suffer through the next class. After that, I have to stop by the newspaper and then ho—
A strong arm wraps around my waist, interrupting my train of thought and scaring the crap out of me. I shout, but a second later, Troy’s aftershave scent reaches my nose.
“Troy, what the hell!”
He laughs but doesn’t let go. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist. You looked pretty distracted.”
“I was.” I turn in his hold so I can properly glare at him. “What are you doing?”
“You left the cafeteria so quickly. You didn’t even give me the chance to say hi.”
“I have class in five minutes.”
His eyes take on a mischievous gleam. “Good. Plenty of time for a proper greeting.”
He pins me against the tree and then kisses me long and deep, melting me on the spot. His entire body presses against mine as his right leg nudges mine apart. We would be melded together if the sling wasn’t in the way. I should put a stop to it. We’re pretty much engaging in foreplay in front of everyone, and my panties are already soaked through. But I’m too weak to stop. I want more. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to win our bet after all.
“Get a room!” a random guy yells.
Troy chuckles against my lips and then steps back, leaving me breathless. At least my headache is gone, and I don’t think it was the painkillers’ doing.
“Why are you laughing?” I ask, caught between arousal and embarrassment.
“Because your face is redder than a tomato.”
“Of course it is. You were dry-humping me against a tree!”
He places a hand over his heart and makes a phony expression of indignation. “I was not. My, my, Charlie. You have one dirty mind. I guess you should declare defeat now because it’s clear to me who is going to lose the challenge.”
I narrow my eyes to slits. “Aha! I see what you’re doing. You might have gotten me hot and bothered, Troy, but I’m not the one who has to return to my friends sporting a major boner.”
The mirth vanishes from his face in an instant. He glances down, then puts his hand on his hip. “Shit. I guess I didn’t really think things through.” He looks up again. “That’s what I get for having such a sexy girlfriend.” He rewards me with a toothy grin. “You’d better hurry up or you’ll be late for your next class.”
Crap. I lost track of time.
I run across the quad, forgetting to give Troy a smartass retort for making me late. It’s okay. I can give him grief later at home. Maybe. Right now, I’m still processing the fact that he called me his girlfriend like it was the most obvious thing. Never mind that I had been agonizing about it not too long ago. How can he make everything so easy?
Because he’s not overthinking everything like you, Charlie.
A necessity because I’m traveling in uncharted territory. I like adventure and quests in fiction. In real life, I’m content to remain in my safe zone. And Troy is the opposite of that. In fact, I should probably program “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins as the ringtone for him.
Troy is my boyfriend.
A smile blossoms on my lips despite the fact that I hate being late.
When I finally arrive to class—breathless and sporting a sheen of sweat on my forehead thanks to running here—I don’t care. Not even when Professor Ross glowers at me and calls me out for my tardiness in front of the entire lecture hall. I quickly take my usual seat and pretend to give a damn about the class, but I’ve already accepted the fact that I’m getting nothing done today.
It was easy to blow off my classes, but newspaper time is a different matter. Blake will never allow me to skate by and not do actual work.
On my way to the office, Fred finds me, which is good because I do need to ask him for a favor.