Chapter Twelve Saylor
Chapter Twelve
Saylor
“For the record, I didn’t need your help back there,” I said as we waited in line for coffee at the Union.
Cash pulled a face, but before he could contradict me, I added, “But your presence sped up what could have been a lengthy confrontation. So thanks.”
He stuffed his hands in the front pockets of his shorts. “Anytime. What’s the deal with that douche anyway? He’s your director?”
“Film 301 stuck me with him for a group project. It took me until about halfway through the semester to suss out Barry had sucked up to the TA and made a specific request to have me on his team ‘because of my incredible editing skills.’” I rolled my eyes hard enough to pull a muscle.
“My strength is cinematography, and he knows it, but he thought he could control me more in the editing room.” I let go a wicked little chuckle.
“When our full team meets today for the final run-through of the movie, he’s going to get a surprise. ”
“Wish I could be there to watch.” The way Cash’s eyes danced in delight heated a spot deep in my core, and I dug my nails into the palm of my hand to distract myself from his effortless hotness.
“You don’t even know what I did.”
He chuckled. “Don’t have to.” Reaching past me, he snagged my coffee from the barista and handed it to me before grabbing his own.
By silent mutual agreement, we headed toward the tables on the north side of the cafeteria where the sun wasn’t streaming directly through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“Based on the vibe I got from your response to that guy, I have the idea you’ve put your own stamp on the project. Out of curiosity, how did you throw him under the bus in class?”
“You heard that part, huh?” I tossed my bag into the empty chair beside me as I took a seat across the table from Cash.
Today he was wearing a blue-and-gold Wildcats football T-shirt and low-slung workout shorts, a pair of Hey Dudes on his bare feet.
His outfit screamed “gym rat,” but the way he carried himself, so loose and sexy, and the way his shoulders, chest, and biceps stretched that shirt, left me a little breathless.
He set his backpack on the empty chair beside him and sat.
His eyes smiled over the rim of his cup as he tipped back some of the Americano I noticed he’d topped up with cream.
With a sigh, I said, “Barry desperately wants to be one of the cool kids, and this semester in the film school, that means making something edgy with kick-ass special effects. Since it’s his turn to direct a project, he got to choose the script.
The guy is low on imagination, so when he saw on the syllabus that our project had to include those special effects, his mind could only go to sci-fi, which he knows nothing about. ”
My emphasis on the word “nothing” brought another smile to Cash’s eyes.
“Which he proved with his assignment today in Sound Design. When Dr. Gardener asked me for my thoughts on his project, I was honest. If she gives him a C- on it, that’ll be generous.
” I blew at my bangs. “Honestly, I must have pissed someone off in the registrar’s office for me to have the unfortunate circumstance of sharing two classes with one ‘Barnard ‘Call Me Barry’ Brown.”
Cash snorted. “Are you serious? That’s how the guy introduces himself?” He laughed again. “Thanks for skipping the introductions.”
“He’s a legacy Pike.”
Cash’s raised brows accompanied his “So what?”
“So he thinks he’s a big man on campus and I should be falling at his feet to date him.”
With a sage nod, he said, “You have much better taste than that.” Then he ruined it with a sexy smirk.
“Something like that.”
I sipped from my iced caramel macchiato and worked at not crossing my legs beneath the table when his gunmetal-gray eyes smoldered over the rim of his coffee cup. “I’m looking forward to Thursday night.”
“About that. Why do I need to bring my swimsuit if we’re meeting at the theater?”
“Because we’re starting in one place and ending in another.”
I blinked.
“Saylor,” he chided, “It’s our first date. Don’t think for one second you’re coming back to my place at the end of it.” He drank some coffee and set his cup on the table with a grin. “I’m not that easy.”
“You are so full of yourself,” I huffed.
“You are so interested.” He dialed up the sexy in his lopsided grin.
“Which makes two of us.” He waggled his raven-black brows.
“Like I said before, brilliant minds think alike.” He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, drawing my eyes to all those impressive muscles and daring me to contradict him.
“I have to head back to the studio.” I pushed away from the table.
“You wouldn’t be running away from this conversation, would you?”
“It’s one date, Cash.” I tossed my hair over my shoulder so I didn’t trap it with the strap of my messenger bag—or something. “I have to load the second-to-final cut of our film project into the computer so we can screen it.” Wrinkling my nose, I added, “So the others can ‘contribute’ to my edits.”
“It’s our first date,” he corrected as he stood to walk with me out of the Union.
“You’re way too sure of yourself, Champ. In case your roommates haven’t told you already, I’m not that kind of girl.”
“We already established no one’s putting out on the first date.”
“Ugh! I meant I’m not the kind of girl who dates one guy exclusively for long. It sounds like you think one date could lead to something. I’m making sure you know not to get your hopes up.”
He fell into step beside me as I headed back to Dahl Hall. “You’re not the only one who can play poker. I have an ace in the hole the other guys you’ve dated didn’t have.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“How you respond when I kiss you.”
I snorted at his comment, but he kept going.
“Judging by the number of times your eyes have strayed to my mouth this morning, you can’t stop thinking about my lips pressed to yours.”
“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I wanted to kick myself at the sniffy way my words came out. At least he couldn’t see the way my hand tightened on the strap of my messenger bag.
His rich laughter sent shivers over my skin. “Once I remind you how intense our chemistry is, you’re going to want to explore it as much as I want to. I doubt one date will be enough.”
Fortunately, or unfortunately—I couldn’t decide—we’d reached the building housing the film school.
I was enjoying Cash’s company way more than I’d ever admit, especially not to him.
The teasing, the way his gaze heated when he looked at me, and his genuine interest when I explained esoteric aspects of film to him were as attractive as his gorgeous face and too-hot-for-my-own-good body.
I’d spent the entire time we were sitting at that table silently talking my lady parts down from the excitement of his words delivered in that gravelly voice.
“I truly do wish I could be a fly on the wall for whatever you have planned in there.” Cash nodded in the direction of the building.
“But I have an organic chem quiz waiting for me.” He reached up and brushed my hair back over the shell of my ear with his calloused forefinger.
A wicked grin stole over his face when I couldn’t hold back a tiny sigh.
“Thursday night is going to be a great time. See you then.”
Still smiling that naughty smile, he dropped his hand and walked back in the direction we’d come, telling me he’d gone out of his way to spend a few extra minutes with me. The thought rattled me almost as much as my reaction to the ethereal brush of his skin over mine.
Shoving my shoulders back, I spun on my heel and headed for the double doors to the studio building.
I had no business—none, zero—letting my thoughts stray to where Cash’s words and his touch had led them.
Yet, if I were honest with myself, my thoughts had been straying to lusty places with a certain Wildcats player since the previous Friday afternoon when Piper had stuck me with him at the SCR house.
A low growl escaped my throat. The real truth was worse.
I’d been thinking of him, the hard-bodied hottie, on and off ever since those ill-advised antics that had ended with me sandwiched between him and a hallway wall, my leg wrapped around his hip and our mouths fused together like we were trying to become one entity.
After our conversation this morning, a weird feeling stole over me that he might be right about having something going for him none of the other guys I’d ever dated had.
From the wide-eyed stare the receptionist shot me as I walked past the front desk, she’d heard my growl and thought it was directed at her. Deliberately smoothing my face into a bland smile, I said, “Final projects day. Everyone’s probably in a mood. Don’t mind us.”
She let out a nervous laugh and nodded. “It’s that time of the semester.”
Something like that.
If I was going to stop Barry from making one more ill-advised change to our final project before we turned it in, I needed to shut down all thoughts of Cash Donovan pronto.
He was a beautiful distraction I absolutely did not need, especially not at the end of the semester when our professors were not only grading our work but also using it to determine who’d be offered summer internships with their Hollywood contacts.
I had a summer job lined up at the campus PBS studio, but what I truly wanted was a shot at working with Olivia Carter at her Heart Dreams Studio.
Working with her on the number of incredible music videos her studio put out on the regular would burnish my resumè almost as well as earning my own VMA.
Pulling in a long breath, I walked down the hallway to our assigned studio and stepped through the door to find Esme, Joel, Tamir, and Skye already in the room.
“Thank God you showed up early too,” Esme said, her expression apprehensive. “We need to strategize before Barry gets here.”