King of Campus (2 page)

“Totally convenient,” Dylan adds with a sly grin aimed in my direction.

This time I actually do roll my eyes.  “So which room is mine?”

In her exuberance, Lexie all but jumps out of Dylan’s arms before leading me down a short hallway.  As I trail after her, I’m immediately reminded that she’s only wearing a thong.

I mean, sure, she has a great ass but still…

“Er, maybe you should put your shorts back on before you give me the grand tour.”  Out of the corner of my eye, I see Dylan open his mouth.  My narrowed gaze slices to his.  “Don’t even say it,” I warn.

Biting her lip, Lexie stifles another laugh before dashing into her bedroom.  In twenty seconds flat she rejoins us sporting tiny white shorts.  Then she leads the way into a sunny little room before doing her best auto show model imitation as she gestures with wide sweeping movements to all the wonderful amenities my room has to offer.

She points towards the two large windows lining the wall.  “Look at all the gorgeous sunlight that pours in!”  Then she throws open the bi-fold closet doors.  “And a
humongous
closet for all the clothes you brought back from Paris.”  Her arms instantly drop to her sides as she quickly swivels towards me.  Her auto show model imitation is totally forgotten in lieu of possible new stylish European clothing.  “You
did
bring me back some clothes, right?”

For just a moment, my eyes travel around the room taking everything in.  It’s not huge by any means but after living in Paris, it sure feels like it is.  I’m used to about a third of the space.  So this feels pretty damn luxurious.  I can’t even imagine what I’m going to do with all this space to myself. Then my eyes fall to the double sized mattress shoved up against the far wall and my heart actually swells with unfettered joy.

Oh my god, it’s so big!  I’ve been sleeping on a twin bed for the last fifteen months.  I literally can’t wait to spread out on that huge mattress.  Maybe roll around a bit.  Make some snow angles… minus the snow.  Already I’m looking forward to hitting the sheets tonight.

I just spent a little more than eight hours on a plane with a two hour layover in Amsterdam.  And France is six hours ahead of us.  So… I’d like nothing more than to fall into bed right now for a nice long nap.

When I don’t immediately respond, a thread of worry weaves its way through her voice.  “Ivy?”  Her concerned tone snaps me right out of my thoughts.

“Of course I did,” I finally say.  “There’s a short, thigh length pleated skirt, two hand woven scarves, one cashmere sweater, a gorgeous black knit top and these creamy trouser pants that your ass will thank me for.”

If watching Lexie sprawled out on top of me, wearing nothing more than a lacy little thong and a tank top is Dylan’s idea of a wet dream, hearing about all the beautiful clothes I brought back from Paris is hers.  We’re talking flushed cheeks and dilated eyes here.

And yes… it’s entirely possible Lexie could have an embarrassing moment in her shorts.  Although I hope not.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see them,” she squeals in delight, practically jumping up and down with unbridled enthusiasm.

Fashion design is Lexie’s life.  She was a budding fashionista way back in middle school before I ever cared about what top went with what bottoms.  Thank goodness for Lexie or I probably would have been much more of a walking fashion disaster than I was.

So of course I scraped together enough money and perused a few vintage boutiques to find unique pieces I knew she wouldn’t be able to get here in the States.  I hope she loves them half as much as I think she will.

“What about some hot French lingerie?”

Since Dylan is standing directly behind Lexie, she doesn’t bother turning around to admonish him.  She simply rams her elbow right into his gut.  He grunts in response. If she hadn’t done it, I probably would have.

“Just stand there and look pretty,” she mutters under her breath.

My lips twitch at her words because he is definitely pretty.

Lexie gives me a little wink as if she can read my mind.  “Don’t let his good looks fool you, he’s smart, too.”

Of course he is.

Because gorgeous and smart are exactly the kind of guys Lexie attracts.  While I, on the other hand, had the sad misfortune to fall for a hot athletic jerk who assured me he was going to remain faithful to his study-abroad-girlfriend when in actuality, he started hooking up with other girls as soon as above-mentioned-girlfriend was out of the country.

I’ve had the last fourteen and a half months to get over Finn McKenzie.  And I have.  I am totally over him.  Unfortunately he’s been calling and texting almost relentlessly for the last week, which means he’s been occupying my thoughts way more than I’d like.

Perhaps I should say he’s been
trying
to call and text.  Because I haven’t bothered to pick up his calls or respond to his rather lengthy and apologetic text messages.  I mean, can you seriously believe that?  The guy has some nerve reaching out to me after what he did.  Is he really so delusional as to think we’re just going to pick up where we left off now that I’m back at Barnett?

Apparently he is.

We’d been together for about six months before I left for Europe.  And yes, I knew having a long distance relationship would be difficult but I was still willing to give it a shot.  I’d really grown to like Finn.  I literally hadn’t been gone more than two weeks when Lexie Skyped me about what Finn had been busy doing… which had been, in case you’re wondering, other girls.

And that, my friends, had been the end of that.

Lexie’s advice was to forget about my cheating asshole of an ex by hooking up with a bunch of hot French guys. 

I hooked up with two semi-hot French dudes and buried myself in dance which was the reason I’d been accepted to study at the Conservatoire de Paris in the first place.  After a few months, my heartache lessened.  I stopped thinking about Finn, my dad, his new wife, their kids and I just concentrated on soaking up everything I possibly could. 

It took some time to adjust but after about two months, I found myself with an amazing new life in a city renowned for its art and culture.  There was no way I was going to allow anything to ruin this once in a lifetime opportunity.  After about ten months, I stopped thinking about Lexie and coming back to Barnett University and started wondering if maybe I could live here for the rest of my life.

Or, at the very least, the next few years.

When I mentioned this possibility to my dad, he made it perfectly clear that he would not be footing the bill for a life in Paris and said, in no uncertain terms, he wanted me back at Barnett come August.  Undeterred by his directive, or perhaps because of it, I’d searched for enough scholarship and grant money to pay for me to continue studying in Paris.  Needless to say, I hadn’t been able to pull it off which is exactly why I was back at Barnett for my junior year.

“So, do you like it?”

My eyes swing back to Lexie who is standing there with all this hopeful expectation lighting up her eyes.  A tiny smile tugs at the corners of my lips because it really is good to see her after all this time apart.  “It’s absolutely perfect.”

Looking very much like the best friend I left behind fifteen months ago, a huge grin spills across her beautiful face right before she hurtles herself at me for a third time.

Chapter Two

Hang onto your panties ladies, because Roan King is kicking off the first day of the fall semester by stripping off his shirt... and yeah, it's definitely a majestic sight to behold. Is it possible that he’s even more ripped and gorgeous than last year?  Someone hand me a napkin, I'm starting to drool over here... KingOfCampus.com

How could I have forgotten that jet lag is a total bitch?

It should really be called
ass lag
or maybe even
ass drag
would be a more accurate description because my ass is literally dragging on the ground and it's only nine fifty in the morning.  I have a whole freaking day stretched out ahead of me.

Oh god… that thought makes me want to weep.

I just want to lie down right here in the middle of campus and cry.

And no amount of highly caffeinated beverages seems to be helping with that affliction either.  Because I've been steadily pouring them down my throat since I pried open my blurry eyes this morning. My fingers are tightly wrapped around drink number three as we speak.

I hate to say it, but it already feels like I’m off to a crappy start.  Here it is the first day of classes and I'm practically running clear cross campus because I’m late.  Why
exactly
did I think packing up my entire life in France and traveling home the day before fall semester started was such a brilliant idea?

Oh... that’s right... I had wanted to squeeze every single moment I possibly could out of Paris.  Which, come on… you really can’t blame me for.  Because of that, I'd spent all of yesterday unpacking and organizing.  Basically running around like a chicken with my head cut off before collapsing onto my lovely double sized bed at midnight.  And then I’d slept for eight solid hours.

Yeah. Eight blissful, dead-to-the-world hours.

And I'm still dragging like I haven't slept a single wink.

Hauling my ass out of bed this morning had been a monumental accomplishment on my part. I'd wanted to pick up my books at the campus bookstore before they ran out which actually happened to me freshman year.  Unfortunately the line at the bookstore had been way longer than I’d anticipated which has now made me late for my ten o’clock business ethics class.

I can't believe what a bunch of freaking procrastinators go to this school!

I, on the other hand, have a completely legitimate reason for waiting until the last minute to get my books...  Okay... fine... yes, I could have
technically
ordered them online...  But I hadn't wanted to think about Barnett until absolutely forced to.  Because thinking about Barnett meant I had to accept that the life I’d created for myself in Paris would be coming to a screeching halt.

So now here I am, trying to hustle my way across campus.

In dire need of something to pull me out of this mental fog, I hoist the Frappuccino to my lips. Instead of giving me a much needed jolt of energy, it just makes me feel even more jittery than I already am.  My sunglasses are sitting on the bridge of my nose, shielding my eyes from the overly harsh sunshine I would be all but basking in on any other given day.  My super-sized iced coffee drink is in one hand while my phone is in the other because it keeps pinging with incoming messages.  My bag is slung across my nonexistent chest.  As I move along the wide sidewalk towards Adler Hall, it feels as if I'm fighting exhaustion with every step I take.        

I honestly don't know how I'm going to make it through an entire day like this without falling into some kind of narcoleptic state.  My eyelids are just on the verge of drooping when I crash into a hard body.  Instinctively I clutch my phone in one hand as my half-filled coffee drink gets dumped all over the person who has the sad misfortune to end up colliding with me.

I may not have been fully awake before this unexpected collision, but I certainly am now.  My mouth falls open in shock and a fair amount of horror as I watch icy brown droplets course their way down a male t-shirt covered chest.

"Oh my god," I finally squeak. I'm all but dying of mortification as hot licks of embarrassment set fire to my normally pale cheeks. "I’m so sorry."  Now would be a perfect time for the sidewalk to crack open and swallow me whole.

Yep... right now.

Right now, damn it.

What makes matters even worse is that he has yet to utter a single word.  The last thing I want to do is force my gaze up and actually make eye contact.  At this very moment, I’m desperately racking my brain for an exit strategy.  Like sprinting away from the humiliating mess I've just caused in the middle of campus.  I can hear people laughing in the background.  It's like the dull roar of an ocean filling my ears.

Just when I think I might die of total shame, a deep voice finally rumbles, "I generally enjoy when a girl soaks me... but not like this."

I have to shake my head as his words slowly filter their way through my brain.

Wait a minute...

Did he... did he seriously just say that to me?

I have to be imagining the innuendo...
right
?

Embarrassed or not, my head whips up as my widened eyes snap to his.

Inhaling a sharp breath, it gets stuck in my throat before I pretty much swallow my tongue.  If I hadn't already been stunned into silence by the whole god awful predicament now playing out, that face would have totally done me in because the guy standing before me is absolutely gorgeous.

He makes Lexie's boyfriend, Dylan, look like some hideous troll in need of a bridge to hide under.

Tousled inky black hair paired with the most brilliantly vibrant turquoise colored eyes I've ever seen.  Frozen in place, I’m unfortunately powerless to look away. As I continue studying the unique hue of his eyes, I realize they hold a knowing smirk.