The Deal (Off Campus #1)(29)

Oh hell no. My back snaps straighter than a hockey stick. I want to  stalk over there and yank her away from Kohl. Or better yet, yank her  right into my arms and kiss the living daylights out of her.

I do neither-because this time I'm the one being intercepted.

Kendall appears in my path, her long blond hair braided over one  shoulder, the tail end of it dangling in her cleavage. She's dressed to  the nines in a teeny red dress and impossibly high heels, but her  expression is stormy as fuck.

"Hi," she says tightly.

"Hey." I clear my throat. "How's it going?"

Her lips flatten in displeasure. "Seriously? You're on a date and that's what you say to me?"

Shit. Half my attention remains on Hannah, who is now laughing at  something Kohl said. Thankfully Beau is still there to serve as a  buffer, but I'm not happy to see her and Justin looking so chummy.

The rest of my attention is on Kendall, who I'm suddenly afraid might make a scene.

"You said you didn't want a girlfriend," she hisses out.

"I don't," I'm quick to reply.

She's so pissed she's actually trembling. "Then how do you explain her?" One manicured finger lifts in Hannah's direction.

Great. Well, now I'm screwed. I can't insist that it's not a date,  because Kohl is supposed to think it is. But if I say it is a date,  Kendall might very well slap me.

I lower my voice. "She's not my girlfriend. It's a date, yeah, but it's not a serious thing, okay?"

"No, not okay. I'm really into you! And if you're not into me, then fine. But at least have the decency to-"





  

"Why?" I'm unable to stop the question that had bitten at my tongue last week when she and I called it quits.

Kendall blinks in confusion. "Why what?"

"Why are you into me?"

She scowls at me, as if she's genuinely insulted that I would ask that.

"You don't even know me," I say softly. "You haven't tried to get to know me."

"That's not true," she objects, her scowl dissolving into a worried frown.

I let out a troubled breath. "We've never even had a real conversation,  Kendall, and we've seen each other dozens of times since the summer. You  haven't asked me a single question about my childhood, or my family, or  my classes. My teammates, my interests-hell, you don't even know my  favorite color, and that's the kind of thing you find out in Getting to  Know You 101."

"Yes, I do," she insists.

I sigh again. "Yeah? What is it then?"

She hesitates for a beat, then says, "Blue."

"Actually, it's black," another voice pipes up, and then Hannah appears  at my side, and I'm so fucking relieved that I almost give her a bear  hug.

"Sorry to interrupt," she chirps, "but … dude, where's our beer? Did you get lost on your way to the kitchen or something?"

"I got sidetracked."

Hannah glances at Kendall. "Hi. I'm Hannah. Sorry, but I need to steal him away for a second. Thirst calls."

The fact that Kendall doesn't object tells me that my point has hit  home, and Kendall's expression is a mixture of shame and guilt as Hannah  takes my arm and drags me into the hallway.

Once we're out of sight, I lower my voice and say, "Thanks for the save.  She was either about to burst into tears, or kick me in the balls."

"I'm sure the latter would've been well-deserved," Hannah replies with a sigh. "Let me guess-you broke her heart."

"No." Annoyance rises in my throat. "But it turns out our amicable parting wasn't as amicable as I thought it was."

"Ah. I see."

I narrow my eyes. "So my favorite color is black, huh? What makes you think that?"

"Because every frickin' shirt you own is black." She shoots a pointed look at my sweater.

"Maybe that's because black goes with everything-did you ever think about that?" I smirk. "Doesn't mean it's my favorite color."

"Fine, I'll bite. What's your favorite color then?"

I let out a sigh. "It's black."

"Ha! I knew it." Hannah sighs, too. "So, what, do we have to hide in the hall for the rest of the night now to avoid that girl?"

"Yup. Unless you want to take off?" I say hopefully. I've lost all  enthusiasm for this party, especially now that Kohl has arrived. Before  she can answer, I strengthen my case by adding, "Kohl took the bait, by  the way. So if we take off now, you'll leave him wanting more, which was  the plan, right?"

Hesitation digs a line into her forehead. "Yeah, I guess. But … "

"But what?"

"I was enjoying talking to him."

Damned if that doesn't feel like a knife to the heart. But why? I'm not  interested in Hannah. Or at least I hadn't been before. All I'd wanted  was her tutoring services, but now … now I don't know what I want.

"What did you guys talk about?" I ask, and hope she doesn't hear the edge in my voice.

Hannah shrugs. "Class. Football. The showcase. He asked me if I want to have coffee sometime and study for Ethics together."

Uh, what?

"Are you shitting me?" I burst out. "He's macking on my date right in front of me?"

Amusement dances in her eyes. "We're not actually together, Garrett."

"He doesn't know that." I can't control the anger simmering in my gut.  "You don't hit on another man's date. Period. That's a dick move."

A frown touches her lips.

I eye her. "Would you want to go out with a guy who does something that shady?"

"No," she admits after a long beat. "But … " She appears to be thinking it  over. "There wasn't anything overtly sexual about the invitation. If he  was hitting on me, he would've asked me to dinner. Coffee and studying  can be construed as a friend thing."

She could be right, but I know how guys think. That son of a bitch was  hitting on her in plain sight of the guy she came to the party with.

Dick. Move.





  

"Garrett … " Her voice becomes wary. "You know that kiss didn't mean anything, right?"

The question catches me off guard. "Uh. Yeah. Of course I know that."

"Because we're just friends … right?"

The pointed note in her tone irks, but I know now is not the time to argue about this. Whatever this is.

So I nod and say, "Right."

Relief floats through her eyes. "Good. Okay, well, maybe we should go. I think we've done enough mingling."

"Sure. Whatever you want."

"Let's just say bye to Beau first. You know, I really like that guy. He's not at all what I expected … "

She continues to chatter my ear off as we go back to the living room,  but I don't hear a single word. I'm too busy dealing with the truth bomb  that's just been dropped on my head.

Yes, Hannah and I are friends. In fact, she's the only female friend  I've ever had. And yes, I want to keep being Hannah's friend.

But …

I also want to sleep with her.





18

Hannah


I'VE BEEN NEGLECTING my friends since I started tutoring Garrett, but  now that he's written the midterm, my free time belongs to me again. So  the night after Beau Maxwell's party, I meet up with the usual suspects  at the campus coffeehouse, excited to reconnect with everyone. And it's  obvious they missed me just as hard.

"Han-Han!" Dexter jumps out of his chair and pulls me into a bear hug.  And when I say bear hug, I mean it, because Dex is a giant of a guy. I  always tease him that he looks exactly like the kid from The Blind Side  and should therefore be playing linebacker for the football team, but  Dex doesn't have an athletic bone in his body. He's a music major like  me, and trust me, the dude can sing.

Megan is the next one to greet me, and as usual, a smartass remark pops  out of her smartass mouth. "Were you abducted by aliens?" she demands  even as she hugs me so tightly I can hardly breathe. "I hope the answer  to that is yes and that they anal-probed you for ten hours straight,  because you deserve it for ignoring me for more than a week."

I laugh at the vivid picture she's painted. "I know. I'm a total shit.  But I had a tutoring gig this week and it's kept me busy."

"Oh, we all know who's been keeping you busy," Stella pipes up from her seat next to Dex. "Garrett Graham, Han? Really?"

I stifle a sigh. "Who told you? Allie?"

Stella rolls her eyes in the most theatrical fashion. I think it's a  drama student thing-it's like they can't say a solitary word or make a  single gesture without hamming it up. "Of course she did. Unlike you,  Allie doesn't keep any secrets from us."

"Oh, shut it. I've just been busy with tutoring and rehearsal. And  whatever Allie said about Garrett, it's not true." I unzip my winter  coat and drape it over the empty chair beside Meg's. "I'm helping him  pass Ethics. That's all."

Meg's boyfriend Jeremy wiggles his eyebrows at me over the rim of his  coffee mug. "You know this makes you the enemy now, right?"

"Aw, come on," I protest. "That's just mean."

"Says the traitor," teases Meg. "How dare you fraternize with a meathead? How. Dare. You."