A Mermaid's Kiss (Bay State University #1) - Katie Holland Page 0,4

to get our food cards.

I was looking for Karma when I bumped into someone.

“Excuse me,” I said to them.

“So, she does have manners after all,” a semi-familiar voice said.

I looked up. It was the guy from the beach yesterday. “Major, right?”

“Yep. You remembered,” he said, looking a little too pleased with himself.

I just nodded. I had no idea what to say to him.

“So you’re a student here?” he asked.

“Yes. You too?”

He nodded. Wow, this was a stimulating conversation. I could do better.

“So, I’m guessing you are from around here somewhere?” I asked.

“What makes you say that?”

“Watching you surf. You made it look easy, so I assumed you’ve been doing it for a long time.”

“You know what they say about assuming things,” he said, with a smirk.

I couldn’t win with this guy, so I decided to stop trying to be nice.

“Do you have a problem with me?” I asked him. Even I could hear that it sounded bitchy.

“Nope,” he said, popping the p and walking away.

“Who was that?” Karma asked from behind me.

“That asshole from the beach yesterday, Major.”

“Asshole huh,” she said, with a smile. “What’d he do to piss you off?”

“He exists.”

Karma laughed. “Wow, I’ve never seen anyone get to you so fast.”

“Oh, they have, I just usually don’t say anything.”

“I’ve known you forever Kayleigh, and I say that he’s gotten under your skin.”

“Whatever. So, are we done here?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Yep. Let’s get out of here.”

We had to be back at the swim complex at 2:00 pm for a team meeting, but until then we were free to do what we wanted. I was a bit of a worrier, so I wanted to find where all my classes were before Monday. And because Karma was my friend, she dutifully accompanied me. Since swimming was my main focus, I hadn’t decided on a major yet, it was the same for Karma. So until we did we just had a bunch of general classes.

An hour later we were done searching for classrooms and my stomach was growling. We found one of the campus cafeterias and sat down for lunch. I was expecting the food to be terrible, but I was pleasantly surprised at the healthy choices they had. I ended up with a chicken avocado salad. Being a competitive swimmer, I had to watch my diet. I almost never ate anything greasy.

“So,” Karma said, when we sat down, “What did that Major guy do to piss you off?”

I was hoping she would have let that go, but I should have known better. I relayed the entire conversation to her. All she did was laugh at me.

“What is it about him that bugs you so much?” she asked. “He seemed okay to me.”

“I don’t know, but you know how I feel about guys that are hot and act like all women should fall at their feet.”

“I don’t think he acted like that at all. Actually, I think he and his friends were all very nice.”

I snorted. “Nice, that’s funny. I think you mean hot. You just want to get all of them in bed.”

“True,” she said smiling. “I mean, come on Kayleigh, they all had bodies I could lick for days.”

Despite the visual, I had to laugh at her. “Well, he’s a student here so the chances are good that his buddies are too.”

Karma licked her lips and smiled. “I might have to go hunting.”

I just shook my head at her.

We finished lunch and went to the bookstore to get what we needed. It was a good thing I was on a scholarship, because otherwise, I’d have never been able to afford to be here.

We got what we needed and went back to our dorm. I was trying to unlock our door when my phone started ringing. As I tried to answer my phone, my books fell everywhere. That was typical for me.

“I’ll get the door,” Karma said. “You answer your phone.”

I did what she said. “Hello?”

“Kayleigh dear, it’s Nana.”

“Hi Nana,” I said loud enough so Karma would know who I was talking to.

“How are you settling in?”

“Okay,” I said, putting the phone between my ear and neck and started to pick up my books.

“Met any cute boys yet?”

“Nana!”

She just laughed on the other end. “Alright. We won’t talk about boys. So tell me what’s it like out there?”

I told her about the campus and the beach, leaving out the part about the hot surfer boys. There are just some things a girl doesn’t tell her Nana. But I should