The Perfect First (Fulton U, #1)(69)

“Michaels, what are you doing?” Coach stared at me like I’d grown a second head.

My eyebrows scrunched down.

“Press conference.”

I shook my head. “Right, sorry Coach.” I jogged after him. Nix stood at the door of the small conference room already. My leg bounced under the table as the reporters went through their questions.

“It was a good game, a nice team effort. Keyton could have made that touchdown just as easily as I did.”

The heads from everyone on either side of me whipped around. A pin drop would have sounded like a bomb going off in the room. I ducked my head and waited for the next question.

“Will you be attending the scout training in the lead-up to the championship?”

“He’ll be there.” Coach leaned into his mic, the feedback sending a squeal ricocheting in the small space.

We made it through the rest of the press conference with minimal effort from me. The reporters had to ask every question twice. I ran through the checklist in the back of my head. I wanted tonight to be perfect for her. Even more than the night in the pool house, I wanted to do this for her, to show her that it wasn’t just me who cared about her. She’d need that when I was gone, when she was gone. There were less than six months until the end of the school year—until we’d have to say goodbye.

I froze in the middle of the locker room and Keyton knocked into me.

He grabbed hold of my shoulder, steadying me. “Hey, man, you okay?”

I nodded, shoving myself out of the temporary paralysis that had taken hold of me. The rest of the locker room buzzed with the energy that always came after a game, especially a win. What would she do up in Boston? Find some other super genius to date? They’d go over equations and theorems together and laugh at weird math-related inside jokes.

Or maybe she’d hook up with someone who played in an orchestra and they’d create music together. The ticking clock only got louder the more time I spent with her, and I didn’t know how to slow it down. Sometimes I’d wake up at night, run my fingers through her waves, and watch her sleep until it got too hard to breathe. Then I’d have to slam my eyes shut and let her steady breaths calm me.

“Why are you so quiet? The press conference wasn’t that bad.” Nix sat beside me and rubbed a towel against his hair. “Nervous about tonight?” He tugged his shirt over his head.

I nodded. Better that than let everything running through my head explode all over him. “I think she’ll like it.”

“Of course she will. If you haven’t already noticed, she’s really into you. If you planned a sock puppet show, she’d be into it.” He laughed and grabbed his stuff.

All my worries about her getting too attached and I was the one finding it hard to catch my breath when I thought about never seeing her again. Getting out of there, I texted the guys to make sure everything was ready.

Jogging up the steps to her apartment, I tried to calm the nerves ricocheting in my stomach. I knocked on the door and bounced from one foot to the other.

Dan opened the door and let me inside. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but based on the tight-lipped responses from Seph, things hadn’t thawed out between her and her roommate.





27





Seph





Reece pulled up in front of his house. The street was quiet. Finals, studying, and the weather had finally driven everyone indoors to hibernate.

“I hope you left room for dessert.”

He picked up my hand off the center console and laced his fingers through mine, kissing the back of it. The way his lips danced on my skin sent a zing up my spine. He stared into my eyes, the light from the street catching the green and brown swirl of his. Dropping my arms to my sides, I curled my fingers into the sides of my leg to pinch myself.

He ran his hand down my arm and held on to my wrist, bringing it up to his mouth. His lips pressed into the thin skin there, sending my pulse through the roof. He dropped another kiss onto my open palm and I covered his hand with mine. If this was a dream, I didn’t want to wake up.

He was all mischief and sweetness, like a candy holding a yummy surprise.

“What’s up with you tonight?”

“Nothing.” His grin widened, and I had no doubt in my mind he was up to something. “Let me get the door for you.” Inside the silence of his car, I tried to figure out how I’d gotten here. He jogged in front of the vehicle. His button-down shirt fit him perfectly, like it had been tailored. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and his jeans hugged his trim waist and strong thighs.

The December air was crisp and freezing. Every time I stepped outside, it felt like I was attempting a polar plunge.

Closing his car door, he grinned over at me. “What?”

We climbed the steps to the porch. The house was totally dark. “Are we home alone?” My stomach flipped. With him living with three other guys, it wasn’t often we had the house to ourselves, and my apartment wasn’t exactly the most inviting.

He threw a look over his shoulder. “I love the way you think.”

The L word made my heart race. He wasn’t saying it for real, but if I mentally squinted a little, I could imagine he had. Slipping his key into the lock, he opened the door and let me walk in first.

Shapes and shadows moved on the other side of the living room and I backed up, wondering if someone had broken in. My pulse raced.