A Mermaid's Kiss (Bay State University #1) - Katie Holland Page 0,2
turn. Wow, it seemed like all four of them were the same, but I kept that thought to myself.
“This is Kayleigh,” Karma said to them.
I nodded and stayed sitting. These guys were way more Karma’s type than mine, so I was going to let her have all the attention. Never say I’m not a good best friend.
I had to smile at the interaction between them. Karma was putting on her best flirty self and the guys were eating it up. Yep, she was going to have no trouble finding guys here. I was doing my best not to look at them, but I was curious by nature and I mean-- they were hot. So, when I did chance a look in their direction, the one who called himself Major, always seemed to be looking at me.
I told myself to stop looking. Besides, he’s probably just trying to figure out why someone like Karma was hanging out with someone like me. I tuned out their conversation, and closed my eyes, enjoying the sun on my face.
“See you around,” a voice said in my ear causing me to jump.
I opened my eyes to find Major’s head next to mine.
“Uh, yeah, sure,” I said. Very intelligent Kayleigh. I watched them walk away wondering what that was all about.
Karma sat back down beside me. “Oh my God Kayleigh, I’m in heaven here.”
I had to smile at her enthusiasm.
“You know you don’t have to be the same shy person you’ve always been,” she told me. “We’re in a new place with new people, you can be anything you want here.”
“I know Karma. But I’m not shy, because I’m from Tulsa. I’m shy because that’s just part of my personality. You know that goes away when I get to know someone.”
“Yes, but you never get to know people because your shy. You have to actually talk to people to get to know them.”
This was an old conversation between us. She’d always had a hard time figuring out why I didn’t like talking to people. But, she was also right. I was in college now, maybe it was time for me to come out of my shell, well a little bit anyway.
“Okay, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll really try to talk to more people if you stop giving me a hard time about it.”
“Deal,” she said, with absolutely no hesitation and a cocky grin on her face.
I wondered what I was getting myself into.
Chapter 2
Major
The guys and I walked back to the parking lot, secured our boards, and got in the truck. Sometimes it was great having rich parents. They’d made me work all summer for this truck, but it was worth it because I loved it. It almost made up for the fact that they were making me go to college, almost.
I dropped the guys off and headed home. I punched in the security code at the gate and pulled up in front of the house. It was the same house I’ve lived in for eighteen years, and this was the last night I was spending in it for the next eight months. As part of the deal, I had to live on campus in one of the dorms. My bathroom was bigger than I was sure my whole dorm room was going to be. I was positive it was going to fucking suck.
“Hi honey,” mom said to me, as I walked in the kitchen. “How was surfing?”
“Great as always,” I said, grabbing a water out of the fridge.
“Are you ready for tomorrow?” she asked.
I shrugged. It wasn’t exactly that I was opposed to going to college, I just didn’t understand why they wanted me to go, when we all knew I was going to join the family company. I planned on being CEO when dad was ready to retire. In my opinion, I should be starting to learn the business, not going to college. But apparently, to be a CEO they liked you to have a college degree. That, and I wasn’t allowed to touch my trust fund until I had that little piece of paper that said I was a college graduate.
I downed the bottle of water and reached for another one. I was always thirsty after a good day on the waves.
“Do I really have to do this?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“We’ve talked about this, Major. You know my answer.”
“Just thought I’d ask in case you changed your mind since this morning.”