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“Guys, this is my new roommate and new bestie, Caroline. She transferred here from Washington this year,” Tatum says, nudging me as she introduces me to her friends.
Good thing I am one hundred percent an extrovert and love meeting new people because all eyes are on me in this ridiculous outfit. I smile and wave to the table. There are a few guys wearing faux cowboy hats and a girl in the back corner who’s smiling kindly at me.
I try to keep up with their names, but the music is loud, and everyone slides out of the booth just as the next song comes on, heading for the dance floor. It’s already packed, so I hang back some and watch as everyone partners up and starts swaying to the slow country tune.
“Wanna dance?” someone asks to my left, and I look over to see the tall guy with reddish-brown hair who was tucked into the back of the booth. He extends his hand, and I place mine in his.
“Sure, yeah.”
The song only lasts a few minutes, but in that short time, I somehow step on the poor guy’s feet no less than ten times. Thankfully, he’s a good sport, and once it ends, he leads me off the dance floor to a nearby booth.
“Okay, I had no idea I was that terrible at dancing,” I admit, scrunching my nose.
He laughs deep and low, and for the first time, I notice how handsome he is. I mean… not Romeo handsome, but not that we’re comparing.
“I’m Jay, by the way, and I’ll take you stepping on my feet all day, every day if it means I get to dance with you.”
My cheeks heat slightly, and I laugh. “Okay, Jay. Nice to meet you, and I apologize in advance for your toes.”
He drapes his arm across the back of the plush velvet booth and leans in closer, dragging his fingers along the bare skin of my arm. “So, you’re friends with Tatum?”
I’m not really sure how I feel about him touching me, but it seems innocent enough. “Uh, yeah, we’re roommates at Pi.”
He nods. “I’m pre-med and on the basketball team. That’s how I met Tatum—study group.”
Wow. I don’t bother trying to hide my surprise.
“That’s ambitious,” I say. “From what I understand, sports players generally want an easy course load so it doesn’t interfere.”
I can’t imagine a pre-med schedule on top of sports. I can barely keep up with mine while working at the rink, and pre-med is much more strenuous.
“Yeah, well, sports don’t exactly run in my family, but medicine does, so it just made sense for me to follow that track.”
We spend the next few minutes talking, and I realize several songs have passed in that time. I didn’t even notice because honestly, he’s easy to talk to. I could totally see myself being friends with him.
I realize I haven’t seen Tatum in a while, so I’m looking around the room for her when I hear Jay whisper next to me, “Holy shit.”
When I look up?
Hudson is standing at the table, and the look in his eyes is so intense that I feel it right between my thighs.
9
HUDSON
There’s only one logical explanation as to why I’m currently at acollegebar right now. Only one singular reason that I walked into this building that’s drowning in cowgirl-dressed coeds with “Save a Horse” playing over the speakers.
FuckingChaney.
My dumb ass answered his call earlier tonight, and somehow, this is where we ended up. The very last place in Chicago I’d ever be if I were alone or with anyone else, for that matter. I was tempted to turn the hell around and walk back to the car, but we were gaining more attention than I wanted by arguing in the parking lot.
“Really, Chaney? Ofallfucking places,” I mutter, my eyes flitting around the crowd of cowboy hats and rhinestone-encrusted everything.
“What? My friend said it’s two for one, and look at those Daisy Dukes, dude.” He bites his fist as a girl rushes by in cutoff jean shorts and a tied flannel top that barely holds her tits in. This is exactly the kind of place I should’ve expected the rookie to take me to.
I figured we’d go somewhere chill, have a few beers, and I’d head out. So imagine my surprise when I was greeted by a college-aged version of Dolly Parton the second I walked through the threshold.
“You’re a literal millionaire. You’re worried about two-for-one beer?” I say, my eyebrows rising in question.
