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“I mean, he’s never so much as said hi to me before. Then the very next day he asks me out. It’s too . . .”
“Perfect? You’re right. It’s horrible.” She elbows me in the ribs. “I think you should go over there and tell him you’ve changed your mind.”
If I didn’t know her better, I’d swear she was serious.
“God, Kennedy.” She gives my shoulders a good shake. “Can’t you see? This is a good thing. Stop freaking out already. Now that you’re officially on the market, you’re probably giving off serious pheromones or something.”
“You’re right.” I nod, and a delayed adrenaline rush spikes through me. Tyler Anderson asked me out! It’s all I can do to keep from shouting in the middle of the food court.
Catching my eye again, Tyler waves, and a smile splits my face as I wave back. Nicole’s right. I should go with the flow and see where we end up.
What’s the worst thing that could happen?
Calculus is my least favorite subject but is quickly becoming my absolute favorite class of the day. The moment I finish solving the equations Professor Vickers scrawled across the board, I shift my attention to the perfect specimen in front of me.
Hands clasped behind his head, Caleb James leans back in his chair, stretching out his long, denim-clad legs under the desk like a cat basking in a ray of sunshine. His T-shirt rides up, exposing the deep ridges of his perfect abs, and I swallow a groan.
He sits forward, scribbling in his notebook, and a dark-brown curl falls over his forehead. Long fingers brush it aside, and I imagine those fingers on my skin. I should be focusing on class, or my date with Tyler, or literally anything other than Caleb’s body parts touching mine.
His honey-brown eyes snap up from the page, catching me mid-fantasy, but instead of chastising me for gawking at him, he flashes a lazy smile.
“I heard you’re going out with Tyler tomorrow night.”
“How did you . . .” My mouth drops open, and I quickly close it. “He only asked me this morning.”
“Small town. Even smaller campus. News travels fast.” He shrugs and turns back to his notes.
I’m majorly conflicted about my social life being “news.”
He spins around in his seat again and clears his throat. “Would you maybe like to go out with me sometime?”
My heart lodges in my throat, leaving me speechless. A few days ago, I might’ve been convinced that two guys asking me out in the same day was a coincidence, but now . . . ? I don’t know what to believe.
“Um . . .” I worry my lip between my teeth.
Caleb scratches the back of his neck. “I was, uh, thinking maybe Wednesday night. It’s the only night I don’t have swim practice.”
With my gaze fixed on Caleb’s perfect face, my brain goes through a hard reboot. Nicole swore she didn’t tell anyone. We agreed we’d destroy the list and never speak of it again. So why does it seem like someone has the keys to my subconscious?
His tongue darts out, sweeping across his lips. “If you’re busy Wednesday, maybe we can—”
My brain finally resets, and I find my voice. “Wednesday would be great.”
Caleb’s smile blinds me, warming me all the way to my toes. He bobs his head a few times, then turns back to his notes and exhales a huge breath. “Great. Awesome. Okay.”
“You always swim on the weekend?” I absently doodle a row of hearts at the top of my notebook and then quickly scribble over them.
“Oh, um, no.” He looks up and smiles. “We have a meet this weekend, but I didn’t want to wait. Next week seems so far away.”
He doesn’t want to wait to go out. With. Me.
I beat down my suspicions, swallowing another squeal that climbs up my throat. I can almost taste the pheromones. “I’m glad you didn’t want to wait.”
The relief on his face is so obvious, I nearly jump out of my chair to hug him.
“What should I wear?” I whisper, hoping Professor V doesn’t pay too much attention to the back of the room.
“Nothing,” he blurts, and his eyes go wide. “Uh . . . that’s not what I—I thought since Wednesday is our off night, and the pool won’t be in use, maybe I could borrow the key, and we could go for a swim. Just the two of us. If that’s cool with you.”
