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“Yes. Actually, no.” A thought hits me, and I narrow my eyes, poking a finger into his ridiculously hard chest. “For someone who claims he wants no part in my stupid game, you sure do spend an awful lot of time talking about it. Next time you get the urge to add your two cents, put your name on the list.”
His almost-smile turns into an impressive scowl. “Sorry, princess. Not happening.”
“Then I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.” I cross my arms and glare at him. He’s right. I should shut this whole thing down like he said. But I’ll be damned if I let Jordan Keller, or anyone else, intimidate me. I’ll be extra careful from now on. I can do that much. I hope.
“Guess so.” Jordan turns on the heels of his clunky combat boots and marches back toward the dining hall, leaving me standing at the edge of the quad, gaping at him. He doesn’t get far before shooting me a glance over his shoulder. “You coming?”
14
After the longest week of my life, I’m more than ready for the professor to dismiss my last class Friday afternoon.
On Wednesday, after clinging to me for three solid days like a pair of fuzzy socks straight from the dryer, the weird Ken twins—also known as cousins Adrian and Jonah Benson—told Nicole they did everything together. Everything. And if either of them won, they planned on claiming their prize—a.k.a. me—as a team. As in “double team.” As in “oh hell to the no!”
Nicole gave them the boot on the spot.
Thursday, she booted everyone from the basketball team based on an unsubstantiated rumor involving a cheerleader from the nearby Catholic university and several of our players. The unnamed source claims a recent chlamydia outbreak spread through half the team. The rumor was neither confirmed nor denied, but it prompted a new rule requiring all potential participants to show proof of a clean STI screening before round three or risk disqualification.
That rule saw several more potential candidates take themselves out of the running, when they refused to get tested on the grounds that it might incriminate them.
Apparently, Caleb doesn’t scare that easily, since he’s waiting for me when I walk out of coding.
“Hey . . .” He bumps my shoulder and throws a smirk my way. “Does this mark the official end to round one?”
“Yes. Thank God.” Images of infected basketball players and nerdy twins crowd my thoughts as I let Caleb escort me through the quad.
Caleb laughs. His hand brushes my hip more than once as we walk side by side, and I slap it away, not quite ready to forgive him for the pool incident.
“I was wondering if you’d like to do something this weekend. No water involved,” he assures me. “If it makes you more comfortable, we can even invite Nicole and Jeremy to go with us.”
“Oh, um . . .” I pause under the stone arch at the center of the academic quad. “I think Nicole wants to do the formal unveiling of the round two participants before I schedule any dates.”
Caleb frowns. “I made it through, right? You wouldn’t cut me after round one . . . would you?”
His huge ego is almost sexy.
“You took my towel and left me stranded, in a swimsuit, in the aquatic center we basically broke into. I could’ve been arrested.”
The tips of his ears turn pink, and humiliation looks good on him. “That was pretty dickish of me.”
I laugh. “Yes. It was.”
“I did send you flowers to apologize.” He beams. “And candy. And—”
“And I got them all.” I cut him off before he says anything stupid. “So I suppose I can forgive you. But I’m still not making any plans until after I talk to Nicole.”
“Fine.” He groans. “I’ll wait. But promise me you won’t drag it out. I really want you, Kennedy.”
With his emphatic declaration, reality finally hits me. Caleb doesn’t love me—might not even like me that much—but he’s made it clear how much he wants me. And I’m not exactly sure how I feel about that.
“Sure. I’ll keep you posted.” I press out a stiff smile and walk away, leaving him standing in the middle of the quad.
Halfway to Greek row, I turn at the sound of synchronized footsteps and catch the Ken twins creeping up behind me.
“What the hell?” I flinch. “I thought you guys went back to virtual classes.”
“Nah.” Ken 2, the taller of the pair, shrugs. I have it on good authority he’s a full two inches taller than his cousin. “We sort of like the whole on-campus experience. Especially the meeting girls part.”
“Plus,” Ken 1 adds with an off-kilter smile, “we thought if we stuck around, maybe we could change your mind.”
