It's a Match! (17 page)

Cole was silent as his thoughts raced. Were his dad and Hunter right? Did he use Sutton as a crutch? Were he and Sutton holding each other back from enjoying their college experiences? It would be winter break soon, and they’d be seeing each other back home, so maybe they should just cool it until then.
 

“I’m sorry,” Hunter said. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Oh, I know. I’m just thinking.”

“Want to go get a beer? I could use a study break.”

“I don’t have an ID.”

“Have I not taken you to the Garfield dorm yet? One of the four-person suites functions solely as a bar for students.”

“Don’t they check ID there?”

Hunter laughed. “No, man. It’s not like a college-sanctioned bar. It’s sort of a secret thing. The four guys assigned to the dorm got a house off campus. They make tons of money off of this place. It’s a fun spot—great for meeting people too. The place is packed with hot girls.”
 

Cole was quickly sold on the idea. “Okay, I’m in.”

“Great, just let me finish reading this page and we’ll head out.”

“K.”

Cole considered changing out of his usual jeans and t-shirt, but decided he was far too lazy to do so. He waited for Hunter to finish reading and then followed him out of the room and to the mystery dorm.
 

As they approached, Cole was both excited and nervous. On the walk over, Hunter had told him all about the fantastic assortment of girls that were always hanging out there. Cole could use a distraction, and honestly hadn’t made much of an effort to get to know people there. His life consisted mostly of football games and practices, homework, and the myriad failed dates Sutton had set him up on. He was ready to have a little fun for once.
 

The door was unlocked and they walked in. Cole’s eyes widened as he looked around. The ‘bar’ was decorated with a luau theme, with lush tropical plants surrounding the tiki bar and Hawaiian music playing. It was packed, and Cole smiled as he noticed that Hunter was right—there were tons of attractive girls standing around drinking their umbrella drinks.

This was exactly what he needed.
 

“What are you drinking, bud?” Hunter asked.

Cole hadn’t thought that far ahead. “Beer?”

“They have great Moscow mules.”

“What’s that?”

“Seriously? Some consider it a girly drink, but it’s my favorite. It’s ginger beer, vodka, lime juice, and simple syrup.”

“I’ll give it a shot.”

“Excellent. I’ll be right back. Take a lap around. Socialize,” Hunter said, grinning.

Cole wasn’t exactly ready to socialize yet. The vodka was bound to help with that aspect. He chose, instead, to stand awkwardly by the door and avoid all human interaction until Hunter got back.
 

No such luck.
 

A gorgeous girl with shoulder-length, dark purple hair appeared in front of Cole and he froze. He was mesmerized. She had big doe eyes, which would have looked very innocent paired with her huge dimples, if they weren’t almost black. She had a button-nose with a tiny diamond stud on the right side. Her lips were shiny, sparkly, and full. She was wearing a black tube-top with peach-colored pants, and black sneakers with white laces.

She was the image of perfection.
 

“Hi, I’m Claire.”

“I’m Cole.”
 

“I haven’t seen you around. Do you go to school here?” Claire took a sip of her blue drink and Cole stared at her beautiful mouth.
 

“No … I, uh … I mean, yes. Sorry.”

Claire giggled and pulled her hair behind her ears, which were cute, round, and covered with various piercings. “Do you live on campus?”

“Yeah. Wentworth dorm.”

“Hey—me too! That’s weird I haven’t seen you.”

“I spend a lot of time at football practice.”

“Ohh … one of those,” Claire replied playfully.
 

“Yep.” Cole was relieved as Hunter finally walked up and handed him the drink, which was in a cool steel mug.
 

“Hey, guys. How’s it going?”

“Hunter, this is Claire.”

“Yes, I know. She lives in our dorm, dude. How are you doing, lovely?”

Claire gave Hunter a kiss on the cheek. “I’m fantastic. Just meeting your adorable friend here.”

“He’s my roommate.”

“Ah, I see. How come you never bring this cute roommate of yours over here?”

Hunter turned to Cole. “Claire spends a lot of time here. I always get to see her beautiful face whenever I come by.”

“Nice,” Cole said. “Well, it’s great to meet you, Claire.”

“Great to meet you too.” Claire smiled wide. “I’m going to go find Jen, but I’ll see you guys in a bit?”

“Yes, you will,” replied Cole, sipping the refreshing drink.
 

After Claire walked away, Cole hit Hunter on the shoulder. “How have you never introduced me to her? What’s her deal?”

“You never hang out with me, that’s why. Plus, you never go to any of the dorm events. Claire is a very sweet girl. And a very
single
girl, I might add.”

“How is that even possible?” Cole stared across the room at Claire and turned bright red when she turned around to point at him. She and a girl Cole assumed was Jen started giggling as she turned back around, also with reddening cheeks.

“I don’t know. I heard something about her breaking up with her high school boyfriend before coming out here. He was two years below her, and they decided the whole long distance thing wasn’t going to work or something.”

“Why haven’t you tried to hit that?”

“Are you kidding me? I don’t have time for that. Speaking of which, I can only hang out for another thirty or so. I need to get back to homework land.”

“I would make time for that no matter what,” Cole replied, still mesmerized.
 

“You should go for it. She’s obviously into you.”
 

“What makes you say that?”

“Were you not here during that whole interaction? There were practically sparks flying all around you two.”

“Seriously?” Cole asked.
 

“Yes. Seriously. Now, aren’t you glad we stopped by here?”

“Glad doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

SUTTON WAS RUSHING
to get to her creative writing class when she dropped her purse. “Shoot.” She began to lean down, but before she could get it, a tall figure picked it up and handed it to her.
 

“You should be careful. I hear there’s a wild purse bandit in the area.” His words were like a deep, rich silk. Sutton stopped in her tracks, unsure of how to respond. “My name is Jesse,” the tall man added.
 

“Thank you for sparing me from the bandit. I’m Sutton.”

“That’s a beautiful name. I’ve never heard it before.”

“Thanks,” Sutton blushed as she put her purse back over her shoulder.
 

Jesse was about as tall as Cole, but with a smaller build. He had medium-length blond hair, styled in that attractive just-out-of-bed way that Sutton loved. His crystal blue eyes were intense as he held her gaze. He was tan, but a natural kind of tan. She wondered if he might be from California too, but she was far too mute to ask at the moment.
 

Sutton was running particularly late for class, which might have been a first for her, but she wasn’t even thinking about it.
 

“Where are you headed in such a hurry?” Jesse asked.

“Class.”

“Let me guess: English class?”

“Yeah … how did you know?”

“You’re holding a Creative Writing textbook. I put two and two together. I’m a very intelligent guy.”

“Apparently,” Sutton replied playfully.
 

“I don’t want to keep you. But I’m afraid there
is
a toll to pass me.”

“And what might that be?”

“You have to let me give you my number. Choose to use it or not to, but I am required by law to give it to you.”

“I’m not much for law-breaking, so I suppose I have no choice.” Sutton pulled the phone out of her purse and handed it to Jesse.
 

He programmed his number in and handed it back to her. “Now you may pass. I hope you decide to use it.”

“It was really nice meeting you.”

“You too, Sutton. Now, run along. Best not be late to class.”

“Thanks.” Sutton rushed off without turning back around, though every fiber of her being was screaming at her to. She wished she had told him she needed a picture to save as his contact photo. That way she could stare at it for hours later. Oh well. His image was burned into her brain permanently anyway.
 

AFTER AN ESPECIALLY
long English class, for which she luckily was right on time, Sutton returned to her dorm room and was happy to see Ava at her computer—a rare sight. “Oh my god, Ava. I met God!”

“Huh?”

“I met the cutest guy in literally the history of the world.”

“Tell me everything,” Ava responded excitedly, getting up from her desk and sitting on Sutton’s bed.
 

“His name is Jesse. He’s funny and charming and oh my god he’s perfect!” Sutton sat next to Ava on the bed, still beaming.
 

“Tell me you gave him your number.”

“I didn’t. But he gave me his!” Sutton squealed excitedly. “Should I text him?”

“God, no. You just met him.”

“Yeah, I mean … it was a couple hours ago.”

“Sutton, you have so much to learn. No, you can’t text him for at least a few days,” Ava replied, somewhat sternly.
 

“But I want to see him again.”

“Slow down, eager beaver. Guys tend to lose interest quickly, especially guys in college. You need to make him think about you for a while first.”

“But—”

“No buts.”

“Fine. So, what have you been up to?”

“I was just doing a little social media stalking. Jeff and that stupid girlfriend of his posted tons of pictures. Gag.”

“Hold on a second–
girlfriend
?”

“Oh my god, I forgot to tell you! So, that day I was drinking Mimosas, and you were hanging out with suicide-cult guy? I received this text from a mysterious number. Jeff was already thirty minutes late to meet me. The text was, ‘Jeff’s girlfriend is in town this weekend. He’ll call you next week.’”

“No way.”

“Yes way. As far as I knew, I was the closest thing to a girlfriend Jeff had. So, naturally, being incredibly tipsy and irritated, I texted Jeff. I asked him if he was having fun with his girlfriend,” Ava continued.
 

“No.”

“Yes. And guess who texts back?”

“Who?”

“His girlfriend!” Ava said, throwing her hand in the air. “So then we had a little text exchange. She asked who I was and I told her I was Jeff’s study partner for chemistry. She told me Jeff wouldn’t take chemistry to save his life and that my name was saved as ‘Ava,’ so she knew I was lying.”

Sutton leaned forward. She loved Story Time with Ava.

“She asked what I was doing texting her boyfriend,” Ava continued. “At that point, I figured it was best to quit while I was ahead, so I stopped responding. I feel like such an idiot. And now they’re posting pictures all over Facebook and I just want to punch him in the face.”

“I’m sorry. Men can be pretty shitty sometimes.”
   

“Whatever, it was a temporary lapse of sanity. A couple more days and it’ll be like
Jeff, who?
”

“That’s the spirit. Are you going out tonight?”

“I was thinking more of an ice cream and Netflix kind of night.”

“Could you use some company? I’ll need someone to confiscate my phone so I don’t text Jesse.”

“It would be my pleasure to act as your impact control consultant.”

“Luckily I’ve got two pints of ice cream in the freezer already,” Sutton replied, happy that she was going to spend a night in with Ava for once. The constant partying was exhausting at times.
   

“Fantastic. That means I don’t have to put on real people clothes. Have you talked to Cole lately?”

“Not really,” Sutton replied quietly.
 

“Why’s that?”