Page 94 of Campus Heat

“I’ll see you guys on the bus,” I said as I stepped out.

The second I stepped out of the building, an ice-cold breeze slammed its way into my painful body. It was a lot colder than when we arrived. The stadium lights were the only thing I had to guide my way to the bus. And for the first time ever, I was actually happy to see it.

“Ethan?” she said, sending an instant chill down my spine.

I stopped and turned to see her jogging toward me. She was slightly out of breath, and a part of me just wanted to fix it. Another part, however, wanted to keep walking, but I couldn’t. Not after everything that had happened between us.

“What?” I asked tiredly.

She stopped a few feet away from me, and her frustration was written all over her usually gentle face.

“What the hell is going on with you today?”

I laughed without humor. “Are you seriously asking me that after the discussion we had at the diner?”

She shifted uncomfortably, and for just a moment, I wanted to slam my fist into something.

“Oh, my God! There you go with your crazy theory again. You didn’t even give me a chance to tell you what really happened, yet you’re holding it over my head like I’m some kind of cheater.”

“Well… aren’t you? I mean, I literally heard the discussion you had with him.”

“No, you didn’t, because if you stayed long enough to hear it all, you’d know he was there for Jenna and not me. It was their second date, actually, in case you were wondering. And he just so happens to be the one guy that she can’t get over.”

I was frozen in place, and yet I could feel the color draining from my face. Either she was the absolute best liar I had ever met, or I was the biggest idiot on the planet.

“What?” I asked as I eventually managed to find my voice.

“Yeah… Jenna met him a while back and they had secretly been seeing each other since. The problem is that he’s like major league into biology and it’s her worst subject so they’re still trying to find something they have in common.”

“Then why were you talking to him?”

“Because Jenna couldn’t tell a bee from a fly, and I was trying to keep him from embarrassing her. So I was kinda just being the middleman so both of them were entertained and they both managed to talk about the things they liked.”

She was completely out of breath from trying to explain all that as fast as she could. And yet I was still just standing there trying to figure out how on earth I had gotten things so wrong.

I frowned. “So why are they dating if they don’t have anything in common?”

She let out an exasperated breath. “Because he’s actually perfect for her. He’s sweet and charming and smart, and handsome. Pretty much everything she needs in a guy. So she’s giving it a chance to see if they could actually have a future together or if she’s asking for too much. Oh, and by the way, he was complaining about the same biology test that you had. Apparently, it was designed for failure.”

I ran my hand down my face. “I’m such an idiot.”

“Yes, you most definitely are,” she said, crossing her arms. “Because I was literally just trying to help my friend get laid.”

The realization hit me all at once, and it landed like a ton of bricks. Relief flooded into me so hard it made me dizzy, and then the truth of the matter dawned on me.

“Oh, my God,” I whispered under my breath.

Elizabeth watched me carefully, like she was waiting for me to erupt, but at that exact moment, that was the last thing I could think of.

“You were that upset because you thought I had spent the night with some random guy?”

“It sounded like you guys were hitting it off so well,” I shrugged. “I’m so sorry, Elizabeth. This got way out of hand.”

“The question I have, though, is why did something like that affect you so much?” She quirked a brow. “Are you hiding something from us all, Mr. Rose?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat because I was. I hadn’t known it myself until she clarified things, but now that I did, it changed everything between us. She wasn’t just my pillar of strength or study buddy. She had wormed her way into my heart, if not my soul.

“Our entire game was ruined because I couldn’t stop thinking about it,” I admitted sadly.