Kiss To Forget (Blairwood University #2) - Anna B. Doe Page 0,27

on the floor, but he catches it at the last second.

We laugh at his fumbling, and I grab a beer for myself. “Thanks for the invite, bro. It’s not like this is my house or anything.”

He rolls his eyes at me. “Don’t be a little bitch, Cole.”

“The only little bitch I know…”

“Boys.” Callie comes between us, wrapping her arms around Hayden. “Are we seriously doing this?”

“No idea what you’re talking about, Cals,” I say, making sure to give her my most innocent smile.

She shakes her head. “You know your charm doesn’t work on me, Nix.”

“So you’d like to think.” I wink at her, which earns me an elbow to the gut.

“You were saying?” Hayden asks, tightening his grip on his girlfriend.

I burst into laughter as I watch his grumpy mug leaning over her shoulder and scowling at me. It’s so funny to mess with him. “That your girlfriend likes me better. Which is the truth.”

Callie glares at me, shaking her head. Deciding to ignore me, she turns to Hayden. “Did you order that chicken thing I love?”

Hayden keeps glaring at me a few moments longer as if he’s trying to prove his point before turning his attention to Callie.

“Of course I did, Angel.” He brushes his lips against her temple, just over the scar that runs down the left side of her face.

“Pussy whipped,” I cough, which earns me a punch to the shoulder, this time from Callie. “Hey, what’s this today? Did I suddenly turn into a punching bag?”

“Only when you’re acting like a douche.”

“Just calling it like I see it.”

This time when she tries to punch me, I see it coming, and duck at the last second. I go for the couch, where Emmett is still demanding a rematch from Yasmin. Grabbing a controller from the coffee table, I throw myself on the couch.

“You think you’re so good, huh?” I ask Yasmin, who just lifts a brow, clearly amused. “Good, let’s see what you’ve got.”

I step outside, enjoying the bite of the cool, night air on my heated skin. Zane yells something in the living room, at which Hayden laughs. They bicker for a while like an old married couple, and I can’t stop the smile forming on my lips.

Leaning against the wall, I enjoy the quiet and solitude for a while.

A moment.

That’s all I need.

Just a moment for myself, and then I’ll go back inside.

When I decided to take a break from studying, this wasn’t what I had in mind, but it was exactly what I needed. A relaxing night, and shooting the shit with the guys so I can forget about everything else.

The temptation to go upstairs and check my phone is still there, but I push it at bay. Just tonight. I can have one night, can’t I? It feels selfish, but between studying and keeping up with our off-season training, I’ve been going nuts as it is.

The door squeaks open, startling me.

I turn around and come face to face with the last person I expected to find.

Yasmin’s eyes grow wide when she sees me standing in the dark.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll…” She starts to turn around to go back inside, but something inside of me protests the thought. I don’t want her to go. Not just yet.

“We have to stop meeting like this,” I joke.

Yasmin stops in her tracks, looking at me over her shoulder. She’s dressed casually, jeans, sweatshirt, and socks with a little heart pattern on them. Her hair is pulled on top of her head in one of those messy bun thingies, with a few stubborn curls framing her makeup-free face.

Beautiful. That’s one word that has always come to my mind from the very first moment I met her. Effortlessly beautiful.

Something drew me to her from the moment I laid eyes on her. I’m not sure if it’s the soft lines of her face, those deep eyes that seem to see all the way to the bottom of your soul, the fullness of her lips, or that sass of hers that drives me insane. Whatever it is, it mesmerizes me.

She mesmerizes me.

“I didn’t know you were out here.” Yasmin offers me an apologetic smile. She’s standing in the doorway, her hand gripping the doorknob.

It’s just like that night in the gym. Like she doesn’t know if she wants to stay or go.

She might be unsure, but I’m not.

“No need to apologize. Stay.”

Yasmin seems to mull it for a moment before finally nodding her head and closing the door behind herself. A