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“Sorry, sunshine, it’s way too late for that.” She wolfs down the rest of her breakfast and turns on her heels.
Stunned, I shake my head. “I can’t believe I’m that popular on campus, let alone social media.”
“As of this morning, the account has over fifty thousand followers.”
“There aren’t that many people in the whole town, let alone Springer!” I shriek, on the verge of curling into a ball on the floor. “What have I done?”
Nicole cocks a brow. “Nothing yet. I thought all of this was so you could do one of Springer U’s most eligible bachelors.”
A hysterical laugh bubbles up my throat as I scan the food court. “I don’t know anymore. Maybe I’ll take that vow of celibacy and die a virgin after all.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Listen, I need to meet Jer before my first class. I’ll catch you later.” She walks backward toward the glass doors. “It’ll be fine. You’ll see. And don’t ruin any more of my posters!”
“You made more?”
“See ya later, gator.” With a dramatic wave, Nicole exits the building.
“Nicole!” I chase her into the quad, but before I can formulate a compelling argument, I spy Jordan stalking in my direction wearing a vintage Kennedy for President T-shirt under his leather jacket, and—like the other night—his dark, wavy hair is squeaky clean. I don’t know why he ditched the faux-hawk again, but I’m not complaining.
I open my mouth to say “hi,” but he blows past me like a total stranger.
“Hey,” I shout as he makes his way toward the other side of campus. “Keller!”
He throws a smirk over his shoulder and keeps walking as if he didn’t kiss the shit out of me in a coat closet Saturday night.
Memories of our epic make-out session send my fingers drifting to my still swollen lips. “Jerk!”
His deep, rumbling laugh echoes through my brain long after he disappears around the corner.
Tuesday at lunch, Nicole and I forgo our usual table in the food court for one that will accommodate our growing entourage. Today, that includes Elijah, Tyler, Trey, Caleb, and for some reason, the creepy Ken twins. Despite being eliminated in the first round, Kens 1 and 2 cling to the irrational hope of earning a wild card spot at the last minute.
Over my decomposed body.
“Hey, Kennedy.” Ken 1 flashes a lecherous smile. “Is it true you eliminated a guy because his pecker’s too big?”
“You wouldn’t have that problem with us,” Ken 2 chimes in.
“Good to know.” My half-eaten taco curdles in my stomach.
“TMI, little man. T. M. I.” Nicole shoves a ketchup-drenched fry into her mouth, then licks her fingers clean. “But while we’re on the subject, I wouldn’t mind stealing a peek at Mark’s you know. Purely for research.”
I snort and make air quotes with my fingers. “Research.”
She picks up another fry. “It’s become an urban legend.”
“Flynn’s full of shit,” Trey barks, choking on his drink. “His dick isn’t that big.”
Caleb chuckles. “Definitely not.”
Dropping the half-eaten fry to her plate, Nicole gapes at them. “How do you know?”
“You missed it.” Trey snickers. “While you were polishing Jeremy’s sword Saturday night, Harmon pulled out a yardstick.”
She throws her head back and cackles. “I can’t believe I missed that.”
“Hey, I don’t wanna brag, but—” Trey doesn’t get the rest of the thought out before Tyler knocks him out of his chair.
“Dude, don’t even go there.” Tyler flushes as he turns back to me. “None of us remembers who won. We woke up to a broken yardstick and a pile of cash.”
