Chapter 3
CHAPTER
THREE
ELLERY
JUNIOR YEAR OF COLLEGE
Iwas running late. I was always running late.
I felt as though my body didn’t know how to function unless I was running on barely any sleep and fueled on caffeine.
I kept telling myself it was college, but as I steadily walked past my fellow co-eds, none of them appeared to be sweating and on the verge of passing out.
Dr. Mylard had already started his lecture when I reached the classroom.
Way to make a first impression. This was my junior year, so it’s not as if I had the excuse of being lost. I was surprised the lecture wasn’t in an auditorium but in a small classroom of only thirty or so students. Was I even in the right class?
Trying to be discreet, I quietly shut the door, but as I turned, I noticed all the students and Dr. Mylard staring at me.
“Sorry I’m late,” I said, making eye contact with him.
He smiled. “It’s quite all right. Who am I to discipline a Wallace?” He signaled with his hand to take a seat.
My cheeks heated, and I walked to the only vacant seat in the back.
Sitting so far from the front usually wasn’t my style, but I was thankful to be slightly hidden today.
Did he have to call me out in front of everyone?
Today was just one of the many times I’d hated my decision to come to this school, but my father would have it no other way.
I was a Wallace, and every Wallace since this university was erected attended here.
I looked to my right and startled.
Cooper Rice was sitting beside me, and was he smiling… at me?
Everyone on campus knew Cooper Rice. He was the quarterback for our football team. Sure, my name meant something on this campus, but Cooper’s name meant a whole lot more.
So much football talent, and of course, he was incredibly hot. Dark hair with eyes to match that were rimmed with thick lashes and a trim, fit body.
Dr. Mylard cleared his throat, and I turned away from Cooper’s amazing dimple, unzipping my backpack to pull out my stuff. I straightened in my seat to pay attention.
“There’s a syllabus online, and I suggest you follow it precisely. There is no extra credit, no retaking tests, and no makeup work. You turn in all material on time, be here on test days, and you’ll have a great semester.” His gaze landed on me. “If you’re late, you won’t.”
Cooper snickered, and I glanced over before burying my head in my notebook again.
For the rest of the class, I felt Cooper looking at me, but I didn’t understand why. I wasn’t the type of girl football players went for. My roommate, Bryce, was always trying to get me to go out, but I wasn’t the party girl. Maybe because I always felt as if my dad had eyes on me everywhere.
Cooper’s type was probably the sorority girl, the girl who’d write his number on her cheeks and sit front row, pouring attention onto him about what a great player he was. They probably gave him blowjobs and didn’t expect anything in return. Not that I had a lot of experience in that department.
My body was on high alert by the time Dr. Mylard ended class.
I packed up my bag, swung my backpack over my shoulder, and waited to file out of class with everyone else. Thankfully, Dr. Mylard didn’t call me down to his desk, but his attention did remain on me.
Some professors respect that my ancestors helped build this campus, while others resent it and some of the board’s decisions. And since I had five family members on the board, I was often looked at as enemy number one.
“Wallace!” a voice said behind me as I escaped the building and walked down the pathway back to the student center. I had an hour’s break before my next class.
I stopped and looked over my shoulder, and my eyebrows shot up. Cooper Rice was jogging down the path to catch up to me?
I checked in front of me in case he was calling my cousin, who was a graduate student here. When I turned back around, I saw that some guy was fist-bumping Cooper to say hello. He kept moving until he stopped in front of me, and a group of girls all stared as they walked past.
“Hey, Coop,” they said in unison. Then the judgmental eyes started on me, as if I wasn’t good enough for Cooper Rice.
He waved but said nothing to them. That shouldn’t make me feel good, but it did. To have a heartthrob’s attention when you weren’t looking for it and see him disregard other girls was a boost to the self-esteem.
“Hi,” he says, putting his hand out to me. “My name is Cooper.”
I laugh. “I know.”
A sheepish grin filled his face, and his cheeks flushed as if he forgot how well people knew him. My attraction to him ticked up another level. “Yeah, of course.”
I slid my palm into his. His callouses were the first thing I noticed, then how his bigger hand swallowed mine. “Ellery.”
“Ellery.”
I never thought I could get off from the way a man said my name, but now I knew that to be wrong. The sound of it instantly put me in bed with his weight over me, Cooper kissing me and whispering my name in my ear.
No wonder he had women falling at his feet.
I slid my hand out of his with a little extra pull when he didn’t release it.
“Sorry.” He still looked a little sheepish, and I found it endearing.
We stood there for a minute, students passing by to get to their next class, and I swear half of them patted him on the shoulder and said hello. He didn’t react to any of them.
“Nice to meet you.” I turned to leave, but his hand lightly cupped my elbow, stopping me.
I didn’t even have to turn around because he stepped up to me. “Where are you headed?”
“Why?” I wanted to search the area for cameras. Was this some joke, Cooper Rice, giving me his attention? “I’m probably not the kind of girl you’d prefer.” I continued to walk away.
“What?” he said—more to himself, I thought—and caught up to me because his legs were so damn long.
We walked up the hill from the psych building, and he wasn’t fazed in the least, while I was trying to act as if I wasn’t gasping for breath. I hated this hill.
“What kind of girl do I prefer?” There was laughter in his tone, and it zoomed in right between my thighs. Why was everything this man did so damn attractive?
Just then, two girls walked by. “Hey, Coop,” they said in unison—again—lifting their hands and waving one finger at a time. They pushed their tits out more and scowled at me before smiling back at him and walking by, probably praying he’d check out their asses.
“Girls like that.” I increased my speed to reach the student center.
“You’re assuming a lot,” he said. “They don’t even know me. They know of me.”
“Okay, well, I’m not sure why you’re following me right now, but you should know, I’m not going to sleep with you.”
“Huh, I don’t remember asking.”
Embarrassment heated my cheeks, but I pushed it away. “I’m just letting you know, and if you think I’m smart and can help you in that class, you’re wrong. I have to take the class for my major, otherwise I wouldn’t step foot in a psych building.”
“You have something against psych majors? And I don’t need your help to pass the class.”
I stopped and stared at him for a moment.
“You’re assuming a lot in this short conversation—that I’m just a dumb jock who wants as many girls as possible in his bed.”
I opened my mouth and shut it. Damn him. “I just…”
He leaned in close, and that dimple in his left cheek indented further. “Assumed,” he whispered, and goose bumps ran up my spine.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be too sorry, I already did imagine you in my bed.” He shrugged. “Sometimes I can’t control the big guy, and he just takes over.”
My mouth dropped open. “Seriously?”
He laughed. “Do you want to know the truth?”
“What’s going on here? Is Cooper Rice hitting on my best friend?” Bryce approached us, her arms crossed as she took in Cooper.
“You gotta be kidding me. The girl who’s been hounding me for an interview is your best friend?” he asked me, disregarding Bryce.
“Yep.”
He turned away from me and set his eyes on Bryce. “You still want that interview?”
Bryce looked at me and back at him. “Yeah.”
“You got it.”
“Really?” Bryce balked because Cooper had never done an interview for the school newspaper other than a quote here or there about a game.
He turned in my direction. “Come to my football game Saturday and go out with me afterward, and I’ll do your friend’s interview.”
I balked. “You’re manipulating the situation. How do you know I wouldn’t have said yes if you’d just asked?”
He shrugged. “I’m trusting my gut. So?”
I looked at Bryce, who had her hands in front of her in a prayer pose. She’d kept me up late at night before going on about how much she wanted an interview with Cooper. And seriously, a night out with Cooper wouldn’t be so bad, I guess.
“Fine, do the interview with Bryce and you have a deal.”
His smile only widened, and I saw then that he had two dimples. He ran his hand through his dark hair. “Got it.”
Bryce raised her hand. “Excuse me?”
I ignored her. She’d pretend to be put out, but she loved football players. She’d probably marry one someday.
Cooper leaned into my personal space. “Saturday it is. Tickets will be at will-call, and meet me afterward where all the players leave from. Bryce will show you.”
My heart beat rapidly. What did I just get myself into?