Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Iexited my dorm and sucked in a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
Today was my first day of classes. I headed along the sidewalk, past the stadium, and tried not to skip like an idiot.
A smile slid over my face. Being on my own felt surreal.
I wanted to jump, yell, or do something to celebrate this enormous accomplishment.
Instead, I kept my feet firmly planted on the ground.
I crossed the street and passed one of the main dining facilities.
On my right, a group of guys exited the athletic center.
They were all tall with wet hair. As they joked with each other, I guessed they were baseball players.
They weren’t bulky enough to be football, or tall enough for basketball, and they definitely weren’t arrogant enough to be lacrosse or rugby players.
My high school had been big on sports, but I’d never played anything.
I hadn’t been allowed. When I questioned my mom, she said if I was looking for something to do, I could play in the orchestra.
My friend Jenn had dated a football player, and I enjoyed going to the games with her to cheer him on.
They were fun to watch. And that had to be good enough for me.
Being a spectator. Always watching. Never doing.
I spotted a coffee cart up ahead, so I headed that way since I was insanely early and had time to stop and grab a drink. Once in line, I read through the menu.
Someone sniffed behind me. I tensed. It seemed as if he’d smelled me. Was he seriously sniffing near my shoulder? I’d showered this morning with a new honey lavender body wash. Maybe that was what he smelled. It was pretty strong. Regardless, it was rude behavior. Or strange at the very least.
As discreetly as possible, I peered back and spotted a large guy standing right behind me, too close and clearly in my personal space. His focus was above me, as if reading the menu.
I scooted forward with the line, stepping away from him.
The smell of cologne became nauseating, making my eyes water.
I glanced over my shoulder again. The guy was still right behind me, too close for comfort, and this time he was staring at me, his brows pulled together as if confused.
Maybe he couldn’t read and needed help with the menu.
“Have we met?” he asked, surreptitiously sniffing the air around me.
I shook my head. “I’m new here.” Maybe the cologne was bothering him as well. Only, I was fairly certain he was the one wearing the smelly stuff because it clearly wasn’t me. Hopefully, he’d learn not to put so much on. “You need help with the menu?” I asked.
The guy had light brown curly hair and brown eyes. He was so large he had to be an offensive lineman.
“No.” He squinted and tilted his head. “You sure we haven’t met?”
Laughing, I replied, “If this is your attempt to talk to me, it’s not very original.” In fact, that Adan guy had used the same line last night.
He chuckled. “You’re right.” His attention went back to the menu hanging at the top of the cart.
The wind blew slightly, and I smelled his cologne again. Only this time, there was another smell mixed with it. Something I recognized but couldn’t place. This guy seemed…familiar. Not that I’d ever admit it to him.
“Next!”
I stepped up to the counter and ordered a plain black tea. With diabetes, I couldn’t add sugar. After paying, I went over to the side, waiting for the other person working there to fulfill my order. The guy ordered, then stood next to me.
“I’m Jacob,” he said.
“Nice to meet you.”
“And you are?”
“Waiting for my tea,” I replied.
He laughed. “Well miss won’t tell me her name…there’s something about you…” His voice trailed off.
I rolled my eyes, trying to appear aloof, instead of admitting that I agreed with him.
“That wasn’t a line,” Jacob said. “And when someone talks to you, you should be polite. It takes a lot of confidence for a guy to approach a girl he doesn’t know.” He looked pointedly at me.
“So you’re admitting we don’t know each other and that was a line?” I asked.
His smile widened and he thumbed the straps of his backpack. “You’re feisty.”
No one had ever accused me of being that before.
“Laney?” the person at the counter called out, holding a cup.
I stepped forward and took my tea.
“Laney,” Jacob said, squinting his eyes as if deep in thought. “That’s a unique name. If we’d met before, I definitely would have remembered it.”
Next time, I was giving a fake name.
“Hey, are you friends with Ward?” he asked.
“I have no idea who you’re talking about.”
“Rowan Ward?”
My face warmed just hearing the name of the handsome rugby player from the party Saturday night. “We’re not friends.” I wondered why Jacob would even ask me that.
“I play rugby with him. We have a home game Friday. You should come watch. We could use a feisty person in the stands cheering us on.”
“We’ll see.” I took a sip of my hot tea and started walking away. It seemed like a lot of the students here played rugby. That, or I’d just had the unlucky misfortune of bumping into players every time I left my room.
“I’ll see you around, Laney!” Jacob called out after me.
Not looking back, I simply raised my cup and kept walking.
At the physics building, I finished my tea, then headed inside, looking for my classroom. Once I found it, I took a seat toward the middle of the lecture hall.
A girl with shoulder-length brown hair sat on my right. She glanced my way but didn’t say anything.
Knowing that I needed to branch out and actually make friends, I took a deep breath. “I’m Laney,” I said. “I’m new to SU.”
The girl’s brows pulled together. “I’m Emily.” She opened her laptop. “You seem familiar.”
I chuckled. “I keep getting that. Guess I have a generic face.”
She tilted her head to the side, watching me. “Are you friends with the Wards?”
“The Wards? Do you mean Rowan Ward?” Now that I was thinking about it, I had seen this girl before.
“Yes. He’s my boyfriend.”
I remembered the way Rowan held her while the two of them danced.
“Were you at that party Saturday night with him?” I asked, trying not to let jealousy worm its way into my head.
This was insane. I’d just met the girl, and she seemed perfectly nice.
And beautiful. Of course she’d have a boyfriend like Rowan.
“I was.”
“Me too. Maybe that’s why you recognize me.” Even though I’d only just met Emily, she had that strange familiarity that Jacob had. Maybe I’d just found the perfect school and these people were like me in some way. After all, we’d all chosen to come here for a reason.
“That must be it,” Emily said. “Well, it’s nice to meet you. Do you want to exchange numbers in case one of us misses a class or something?”
“I’d like that.”
The professor entered and began lecturing, so I turned my attention to the front of the hall.
I mentally patted myself on my back for branching out of my comfort zone and making another friend. Granted, I would have preferred it not be with Rowan’s girlfriend. The guy was gorgeous and drool-worthy. The last thing I needed to be was lusting after my new friend’s boyfriend.
Entering my genetics lab class Friday afternoon, I found a stool and plopped onto it, exhausted.
One of the problems with being a transfer student was taking only major classes.
And as a bio major, none of them were easy.
The last thing I wanted was an intense lab on a Friday afternoon, but here I was.
It only met once a week, and unfortunately, this lame-ass Friday session was the only one that fit my schedule.
At least I hadn’t had any more strange run-ins with rugby players this week. I’d even managed to avoid that Adan guy in all my classes. Now I just had to get through this one, and I’d have the weekend to catch up on reading.
The TA entered and introduced herself as Teagan.
She was a first-year grad student who majored in genetics and planned on being a genetics counselor.
When she finished going over the syllabus, the door opened and someone entered.
I couldn’t believe a student would show up a good twenty minutes into the class.
Then I felt him. Smelled him. I closed my eyes, my skin tingling as if I’d been electrocuted. It was Rowan. It had to be. I didn’t know how I knew, but I did. It felt as if my body were being pulled toward him, like a magnet or tether connecting us.
When I opened my eyes, Rowan stood at the front of the lab next to Teagan.
“I’d like for you all to meet Rowan,” Teagan said.
“I wanted to introduce you to him because he’ll be running a study session once a week.
You can go to him with questions about the lectures or anything we do here in this lab.
He took the class last year and scored near perfect in both the class and the lab, so he’s familiar with the material. ”
He must be a science major. Probably either bio or genetics. It was bad enough that he was so yummy to look at, but to be smart on top of it? That was my achilles.
Rowan was staring at me.
I sat up straighter, wondering if he sensed the strange pull I felt toward him. If he did, I prayed he didn’t think it was something I was doing because that would be embarrassing. If anyone was causing this, it was him, not me.
His eyes narrowed, as if annoyed. When he folded his arms, his muscles bulged, sending a jolt of warmth through me. He lifted a single brow, as if noticing my ridiculous reaction and questioning it.
I wanted to slink under the table and hide. There was no way he knew how much he affected me. This attraction that I had for him wasn’t normal. I needed to pull myself together. He had a girlfriend. I couldn’t turn into a puddle of mush whenever I saw him.
Rowan’s focus went to something behind me.
I peered over my shoulder, spotting Adan two tables back. Wonderful. This day kept getting better and better.