The Sophomore (College Years #2) - Monica Murphy Page 0,101
me, yes. “I kept waiting and waiting, hoping you’d notice.”
“I noticed,” he says immediately. “I just—I was in denial.”
“Okay, then I was hoping you’d finally realize,” I amend.
His smile is slow. Sexy. “I did. Finally.”
“Yes.” My answering smile is slow as well. “You did.”
The server appears at our table with the vanilla lattes we ordered when we first arrived, and Jackson orders for himself and for me, taking charge. I sit back and watch him, yet again unable to tear my gaze away. I think about what we did earlier, when we took a shower together. We lathered each other up, soapy bubbles everywhere, making our skin slick. Fingers seeking and finding all of our secret places, where we like to be touched the most. Mouths locked, kissing hungrily, as if we couldn’t get enough of each other. We didn’t have actual sex, but we got each other off, and it was…fun.
Lots and lots of fun.
“What are you thinking about?” he says after the server leaves.
“The shower.” I grin, my cheeks growing warm.
“It was all right,” he says nonchalantly with a shrug, barely holding back a smile. Now he’s the one teasing.
“You were the one shouting my name earlier, so I’m guessing it was more than all right for you,” I return.
“Got me there,” he says, stroking his jaw, looking thoughtful. “Heard from any of our friends this morning?”
I shake my head, trying to take a sip of my drink, but it’s still piping hot so I set it back down. “Have you?”
“Caleb texted me. Wanted to know if we’re going to the frat party tonight,” he answers.
“Are we?”
“Do you want to?” he asks.
“Probably. Ava wants to go, and I want to spend as much time with her as possible before she leaves,” I say, pausing for a moment before I continue. “And did Caleb really ask if we were going?”
“Yes, he did.” Jackson thrusts his phone out toward me, the text exchange with Caleb pulled up. I squint as I read it, seeing that, yep, Caleb asked exactly that.
Caleb: You and Ellie coming to the party tonight? Or will you two still be too busy coming in your room?
I roll my eyes and laugh when I read the text. “He’s so crude.”
“I mean, I’d rather do the latter, but if you want to go to the party, we can,” he says. “I know you want to hang out with Ava, though Eli is going to monopolize as much of her as he possibly can. He’s so glad she’s here.”
“I know he is. They’ve missed each other. She complains to me all the time how much she hates being down there when we’re all here,” I say.
“They’ll make it work,” he says firmly, and I love that he believes in them as much as I do. “And the party tonight should be fun. I haven’t been to one since last year.”
“Are you still active with the frat?” He joined his freshman year but hasn’t really mentioned anything about it at all lately.
“Didn’t I tell you? I dropped out,” he says. “I had too much going on. They want you fully committed, and I just couldn’t manage it.”
“You do have a lot on your plate,” I murmur, just before I sit up straight. “Oh! You never told me what happened with the guy from Evergreen last night!”
The look on Jackson’s face tells me what I’d assumed yesterday. He doesn’t have good news. “They liked Cupid’s Bow better.”
My mouth drops open. “What?”
He nods. “They set up a meeting with those guys for next week. The lead singer texted me earlier, thanking me for asking them to open for me. And that’s what sucks the worst—I did this to myself.”
My heart breaks at seeing the miserable expression on his face. He’s never really cared about the record deal offers before, but I’m guessing this is the one he’d finally set his hopes on. “I’m so sorry, Jackson.”
“It’s okay.” He waves a hand, smiling faintly, but it seems forced. “They liked my song, though. Pink.”
“They did?” I smile, thinking of it. How he wrote it for me.
“Yeah. That Rick guy was really laying it on thick last night. Gushing over me. They all were. He had a team with him. But they never asked to set up a meeting, so I figured they weren’t interested,” he says. “Guess they’ll sign Cupid’s Bow instead.”
“They might still be interested in you,” I suggest, not wanting him to give up yet. “You never know.”