Matchplay A New Adult Romance - By Dakota Madison Page 0,16

on her shoe. She grabbed me by the elbow.

“Lucas and I have someone for you to meet.” Then she turned to Aaron and said the next part for his benefit. “He’s in the kitchen.”

I could see Aaron was stifling a smile. He had such an ego, I bet he thought anyone they introduced me to would be no competition for him.

As Olivia dragged me toward the kitchen, I looked back in Aaron’s direction and he was still staring at me. When he gave me his signature wink, I quickly turned away.

In the kitchen, Lucas introduced me to one of the guys in his social club, The Geek Patrol. “This is Josh.”

“Hi, I’m Rainy.”

Josh gave me a look that was typical when I introduced myself for the first time. It was like he wasn’t sure he heard me correctly. “Did you say your name is Rainy?” he asked shyly.

I nodded.

He was tall, probably about six feet, but lanky, like he hadn’t filled out yet. He had dirty blond hair and ocean blue eyes. He was attractive in a boy-next-door kind of way, the type of guy my dad would have liked to see me go to prom with, if I had been invited.

“Let me guess. You’re an engineer.”

Josh smiled. “Good guess. What gave me away?”

“You mean besides the fact that Olivia told me you were in The Geek Patrol?”

He nodded.

“My dad’s an engineer.”

Josh leaned in closer. “Please tell me you get along with your dad.”

I laughed. “No worries. We get along great.”

Josh pantomimed whipping his brow. “Phfew!” Now we were both laughing.

Olivia and Lucas, who had been watching the interchange between us, breathed a small sigh of relief that Josh and I seemed to get along.

Olivia grabbed her brother’s elbow. “Come with me to find Marney.” He nodded and the two of them headed out of the kitchen.

Josh gulped. “Can I get you something to drink?’

“I don’t really drink.”

“It doesn’t have to be beer,” he responded quickly. “I saw sodas and water.”

“A water would be great.”

Josh reached into a cooler on the counter, removed a bottle of water, opened it for me then handed me the bottle and cap.

“Thanks.” I took a sip from the bottle.

When I glanced over at the keg in the other corner of the kitchen, I saw Aaron with a petite blonde on either arm. They were all laughing as he was pouring them beers. I immediately stiffened at the sight.

“Is everything okay,” Josh asked. He had a look of concern on his face.

I turned my full attention back to him and nodded. “Fine,” I lied. I resisted the urge to look back at Aaron and his little harem.

“I know it’s a line but I really do want to know what you’re majoring in.”

“Art History.”

Josh looked a little surprised by my answer. “What are you planning to do with that?”

I realized Art History wasn’t the most practical degree but I really didn’t like having to explain myself.

Josh must have noticed my change in mood, or maybe my expression had given me away, because he quickly started to back-peddle. “I didn’t mean it as an insult. I’m sorry.”

He looked genuinely pained and I immediately felt sorry for him. I could tell he was doing his best to try to impress me.

“It’s okay. I actually have a very serious and particular plan for what I want to do. I have a list of several elite graduate programs to which I will be applying and then after I earn a doctorate, I would like to do a museum internship for my post-doc. Then I plan to teach and research at a university.”

“Wow. I’m impressed. You really have given it a lot of thought.”

I glanced over at the keg and saw that Aaron and his two groupies were still standing there drinking and laughing. The girls were practically throwing themselves at him and he seemed to be enjoying every minute of it. When he caught me looking at him and our eyes met, I saw a flash of something dark behind his rock star façade. Was it pain? Was he not really enjoying all of the attention from the beautiful blondes as it appeared? The look was only there for a moment and then it disappeared when the blonde at his left whispered something in his ear, which made him grin, but Aaron was still staring at me. The scene both disgusted and confused me. When he winked at me and gave me a sly smile, I felt sick to my