Thin Love (Thin Love, #1)(12)
Where had that come from? he thought, moving his head back against the couch. He pushed Keira and any thoughts of her body out of his head and especially the idea that she had seen him in the showers that day. Thoughts started to trail to the steamy locker room and Keira in front of him instead of Lydia, and he had to rub his palms into his eyes to dispel the image. He didn’t need the distraction she could easily cause him if he sat there thinking about her.
Above him the high glass ceiling reflected a murky night and the few intermittent fractures of lightening in the sky. The library was quiet and gave Kona a few minutes to think, for a change. His room at the team house was rarely quiet; the silence in the library a welcome break from the activity that seemed to always be at his place. There were no loud, rough housing football players screaming at something on the TV or an endless parade of girls flitting in and out of whoever’s room they’d eventually pass out in.
He closed his eyes when the quick whiff of jasmine hit his nose. It was a familiar scent, something his mom kept in her garden. The sound of the steady clip of heels coming closer accompanied the scent, announcing the girl’s arrival.
“Well, I think we might get snow.” Keira’s voice moved just next to Kona’s head and he smiled at the sound. It was soothing with a hint of melody behind the inflection and he didn’t have to look at her to know she’d calmed down from her earlier mood.
Relaxed against the sofa, head still reclined back and legs spread so that no one would be tempted to sit next to him, Kona smiled at the dig he knew was meant for him. “Is that supposed to be a joke about me being here?”
“It’d only rain since you’re here.” She flopped next to him on the couch and moved his leg to make room for herself. She was bold, a little bolder than she had been that first day in class and he understood that she was likely putting up a good show, trying to convince him that he didn’t intimidate her at all. “It’ll snow because you made it before me.”
“Funny. Real funny.” Kona moved his head to the side and had to quickly close his open mouth when he opened his eyes to look at Keira. The oversized jacket was gone. She looked comfortable, relaxed, wearing a simple light blue cardigan that fell just above her hips. She didn’t look like she put up much of an effort getting ready for their meeting, but she did look good, hair straight and slick, soft against her shoulders, jeans crisp and starched. It was only the third time he’d seen her away from their class and Kona figured the big hoodies were simply an early morning routine. In normal clothes, she looked great. But she didn’t wear a stitch of makeup and her face was scrubbed clean, as though she’d just hopped out of the shower. “You look nice.” Kona exhaled, releasing an unconscious grunt when Keira moved her eyelids to hide the bright blue irises, as though she was trying to figure out his angle. “What? I can’t pay you a compliment?”
“Not without me thinking you’re plotting something.”
Laughing, Kona held up his hands, surrendering defeat before she could accuse him of anything shifty. “I am plotless tonight, I swear.”
“Umhmm. I don’t buy it.” When she stood, hefting a large black backpack onto her shoulder, Kona followed her, walked two steps behind her so he could watch the subtle sway of her hips and catch a glimpse of the slight jiggle in her ass. He blinked twice, pulled his attention away from her when Keira led them into the elevator. “I reserved a study room on the third floor.”
“I thought they only held those for grad students.”
“And honor students,” she explained pounding twice on the button as though it would hurry the trip up the floors.
“Figures,” he said, leaning against the metal wall.
“What was that?” Those squinted eyes came back and Kona shook his head, ignoring how Keira had straightened her shoulder, preparing for an argument.
“Nothing.” He didn’t want to piss her off again. Fighting with some girl in the library would get back to his mother and he could really do without the endless bitching he knew would follow.
When the elevator doors opened, they settled into the tiny room with a small table and two chairs. There was barely space enough for both of them and Kona let Keira sit first, let her pull out her notebook and pen before he sat across from her. He watched her expression when he moved the door closed, but she didn’t argue, didn’t seem nervous about being alone with him in the confined space. Never mind that the walls were glass; that nothing shocking could go on in one of these rooms without everyone on the floor getting an eyeful.
Kona pushed the lingering, bawdy thought from his mind, not wanting to let the image of the girl over him, better still, under him, play on with too much detail in his imagination. This girl was hot, but she wouldn’t be down for what he wanted. He could tell. Keira was just too uptight to have any kind of fun with him.
“Okay, we need to set up a schedule. We’ll have to connect the Legends or at least thematic elements in them with a contemporary work with the same elements. So, write down whatever pops into your head and what you’re willing to do and we can work a schedule accordingly. I’ll type it up this weekend.” Her voice was clear, firm and Kona got that this was Keira getting down to business. She wasn’t awkward now, wasn’t blushing like a virgin on her wedding night as he looked over her features. He kind of liked her taking charge. It didn’t happen often when he interacted with girls.