What wasn’t there to like about Jack’s Bronco? Sure, it was covered with dents and scratches, and the paint had chipped in places, but the thing was a classic. And it looked badass.
Jack shrugged. “I think it scares her. Anyway, she doesn’t have a car here, so I thought I would leave it with her. But only if you don’t need it, and you’re cool with that.”
I thought about it for a moment. For the last two years, I’d driven Jack to the bus for every road trip, and then he’d left his truck with me. As much as I loved driving it while he was gone, I knew I didn’t really need it.
“I don’t need it,” I said, and picked up my pen again to highlight more passages.
“Are you sure? I know you usually take me and then you get the truck, but I figured if you didn’t mind—”
“Seriously, it’s cool. She should take you, and I don’t need it. Plus, I’d sorta love to see Cassie driving that thing,” I said with a laugh. I couldn’t picture her in the driver’s seat, and that sight alone might be worth it. “I don’t have any plans this weekend, and I can always borrow Gran’s car if I need to.”
Jack grinned at me. “I promise I’ll buy you a car when I get my signing bonus, you hear me? You and Gran both. New cars.”I waved him off, not wanting to hear any more. I honestly didn’t care about any of that. When Jack got drafted, that would be enough for me to know that he’d accomplished his dream, reached his number-one goal. I didn’t need a stupid car out of the deal.
“Go, already. Take your deathmobile to your girlfriend’s house and—” A thought struck me. “Wait! This is the first time you’re staying over there, isn’t it?”
He cleared his throat. “Uh-huh.”
“You, uh, have everything you need?” I waggled my eyebrows as I reached into my back pocket to pull out my wallet. I peered inside. “Shit, I don’t even have one. I think it got old, and I threw it out.”
“I’m good, but thanks for your concern.”
“So you’re protected then? Of course you are. You’re Jack Carter, king of condoms and getting laid.”
“I’m actually all out, but I don’t plan on sleeping with her tonight.”
I almost choked. “What? Why?”
He shrugged, not meeting my eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe because I’m fucking in love with her. I’m so in love with her, I can’t imagine not being in love with her. And it doesn’t seem like the right time. I can’t have sex with her and then leave the next morning for four days. Something about that seems fucked up.”
“You really are in love with her.” I smiled, wondering when I would get used to hearing him talk this way about someone.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”
“Well, go tell her. She’s probably the one that needs to hear it.” I threw my highlighter at him, hitting him square in the chest.
Jack grabbed his bag and smirked at me. “I’m trying to leave, but my little brother keeps trying to give me old condoms from his wallet.”
“You suck!” I yelled at his retreating back.
“No, you do,” he shouted back. “So blow me!”
Laughing, I bent over to pick up my highlighter from the floor.
• • •
When the baseball team was out of town, it seemed like the entire campus shut down. Not really shut down, per se, but it was a hell of a lot quieter and not nearly as interesting as when the guys were here.
There were fewer females hanging around, and the normally crowded student union wasn’t even halfway filled. The lack of obnoxious fangirls was actually a relief, but I did miss my brother. It felt odd being here when he wasn’t.
The day after the team left, I sat at our usual lunch table, waiting for either Melissa or Cassie to show up. Frowning, I forked at my plate filled with meatballs. The crappy sauce they served here tasted nothing like Gran’s.
Melissa slammed her bag down with a bang before plopping down next to me.
“Shit. I didn’t even see you come in,” I said nonchalantly, trying to act like she hadn’t just scared the shit out of me.
“I noticed. You were too busy having a love affair with your balls to notice me.” She batted her eyelashes and poked out her bottom lip in a pout.
Damn, I want to suck on that lip. Or at least kiss it.
I thought I’d get over my crush on Melissa the more time we spent together, but it only seemed to intensify, which frustrated me. I didn’t know what to do about it.
The best-case scenario would have been for Melissa’s feelings for me to grow as well, but they didn’t seem to. I enjoyed the times when she flirted easily with me, and rolled with it, but the second I even hinted at crossing the friendship line, she pulled back and pretended nothing was going on between us.
I was still too much of a wimp to confront her about it. I told myself it was because I didn’t want to put her on the spot or make her uneasy, but the truth was because I was terrified of her response. What if I scared her off altogether and she stopped wanting to hang out with me? Avoiding the awkward conversation meant that I got to hang around with her, so I ignored it and hoped that one day I’d get her to change her mind. Or maybe she’d attack me with her mouth.
I was about to say something witty to Melissa about my balls, but the sound of laughter caught my attention. Not a funny-ha-ha type of laughing, but the mean kind girls did when the joke was on someone else.