Just a Little Crush (Crush #1) Read online

  My mouth hung open. Sweet? Innocent? More like an idiot to think there could ever be more.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” Mason stared at the floor.

  “I’ve got to go.”

  “Brinley, wait.”

  I glanced over my shoulder from the doorway.

  Mason’s dark eyes bore into me. “Any guy would be lucky to have a girl like you—I hope Ryder knows that.”

  I slipped out and quietly shut the door behind me. Part of me was angry that he assumed the worst of Ryder and thought I couldn’t take care of myself. Especially since a part of me really wanted to believe that Ryder saw me as something more than a virginal conquest.

  When I got back to my room, Fallon was sitting in bed working on her laptop.

  “Well, you’re still upright, so I’m guessing you haven’t seen the boy yet.”

  I laughed. After my conversation with Mason, Fallon’s craziness was welcome.

  “No, but I did talk to Mason. I gave him my blessing. Now it’s up to you to persuade him to sleep with you.”

  “Not worried.” She focused back on her computer. “So what do you have planned for this weekend?”

  “Nothing.” Seeing as it was Valentine’s Day it would be nice to have plans, but considering the only interest had been from Noah, I’d rather pass.

  “The Box is throwing a singles party. Want to check it out with me?”

  In the six months we’d been roommates, Fallon had never invited me to hang with her. “Um, sure. You want me to bring Mason?”

  She shrugged. “If you want, but there will be lots of single hot guys there, so don’t do it on account of me.”

  Wow. No ulterior motive. “Oh, okay.”

  “It’s going to be epic. These parties are always huge.” She closed her laptop. “Plus, I just got an email that I scored an interview for a summer internship. I think that warrants a celebration. And by celebration, I mean a night of hot guys and dancing.”

  “Remind me to call you if I ever have something to celebrate.” I smiled. “What kind of internship?”

  “I know it sounds weird, but I think talking about it is bad luck. Let’s just say, if I land this internship, I may even be declaring a major soon.” She grinned.

  Fallon committing to a major was almost like her committing to one guy. I’d never expected either to happen in my lifetime. “That’s a really big deal. Congratulations. And I’m sure you will do amazing at the interview.” Or at least, I hoped she would. She seemed legitimately excited about it.

  “Yeah.” She gnawed on her thumbnail. “It will go great.”

  “If I can help in any way, I’d be happy to.”

  She glanced at me, the faint crease between her brows fading as her expression relaxed. “Thanks.” And something about the way she said it made it the sincerest the thing I’d ever heard coming from her. Like a tiny glimpse beyond the girl who spoke sarcasm as a second language. But then, with a seemingly forced laugh, she said, “And if all else fails, I can sleep my way to the top.” And just like that, the window slammed shut.

  Chapter Six

  Fallon was a good three inches shorter than me, yet somehow I’d let her talk me into wearing her dress. Thankfully it was black, unlike the flaming red one she wore. At least my outfit wouldn’t draw attention. Well, as long as I didn’t bend over…or fall. Oh, please, dear God, don’t let me fall. The wedge shoes I’d worn laced up at my ankles, binding me to the inevitable cruelty that was gravity.

  “Stop tugging. You aren’t going to make it any longer, you know.”

  Forcing my hands to my sides, I glanced around. “It’s packed.”

  “Yeah,” Fallon answered with a smile. “Now, where to start.” She rubbed her hands together.

  Mason hadn’t come with us. He’d claimed plans with the guys, but I think becoming Fallon’s prey freaked him out. I didn’t blame him. Her straightforwardness could be intimidating.

  Fallon flirted heavily with the bartender, who didn’t spare a second glance at her questionable ID. The girl in the picture, who was an older cousin, looked nothing like her.

  “Drink this.” She shoved a shot glass filled with a light-colored liquid into my hand.

  I pushed it back in her direction. “No thanks.”

  “C’mon. It will loosen you up. Have some fun.” She opened my hand, placed the shot inside and wrapped my fingers around the glass. “Let loose for once.”

  Drinking led to things I’d rather not experience, like drunkenness and hangovers, but Fallon had invited me out. I didn’t want to come across as being uptight, because I wasn’t really. I just had had my fair share of bad experiences with alcohol, courtesy of my mom. One shot probably wouldn’t hurt though.

  I held it up, letting the light filter through. “What is it?”

  “Kamikaze shot.”

  I stared at the pale-colored liquid and frowned. Nothing named Kamikaze could end well.

  “Bottoms up.” Fallon pressed the small glass to my lips and tilted it with her finger.

  My face puckered as I swallowed. The sweet shot had a bite at the end. “Okay, no more. I don’t drink. One shot is enough to knock me on my ass.” I hoped taking that shot would appease her for now.

  “Nah. I think you need one more.”

  Before I could protest she’d spun to the bartender and asked for a “special shot for her friend.”

  He smiled, tapped the bar and said, “I think I’ve got something.” He tossed a bottle in the air, caught it, then filled a metal shaker. He holstered it back into the rack on the shelf and whipped out two new bottles. He tipped them in unison, raising and lowering them, while I did my best not to roll my eyes at his performance.

  Fallon, on the other hand, ate it up. With her elbows against the bar, she leaned forward, her cleavage spilling out of her dress, and oohed and ahhed.

  The bartender capped the shaker, waved it in the air, then filled three shot glasses and winked at me.

  Fallon handed me one, raised her own and clinked it in cheers with the bartender, who had lifted the third. Then they both turned to me. Dammit. This was my last shot. For real.

  I choked it down. “How much do I owe you?” I asked Fallon.

  The bartender answered. “You’re good. Your drinks have been paid for.”

  “By who?” I asked.

  “Yeah, by who?” Fallon peered around, a huge grin plastered to her face.

  “Guy at the end of the bar said he’d pay for anything you ordered.”

  “Huh, looks like you have an admirer, Fallon.”

  The bartender chuckled. “She definitely has an admirer.” He winked at her this time. “But this one is yours.” He nodded in my direction then pointed down the bar.

  I leaned over the edge and scanned the crowd. “Oh my God,” I muttered.

  “What?” Fallon craned her neck in the direction I stared. “No fucking way. It’s that guy again.”

  And sure enough, there stood Ryder, talking with some friends.

  “I told you he wants to fuck you senseless.”

  The bartender laughed as I smacked Fallon on the arm. The bar was too loud for anyone to really hear what she’d said, but I’ll be damned if Ryder didn’t look up right then. He gazed directly at me and I’m pretty sure my heart rate sputtered to a complete halt, jump-started, then raced wildly.

  With his gaze locked on me, the corner of his mouth quirked up.

  I smiled back and spun away, unable to think straight with him staring at me. My body flushed hot, maybe from the shot, more likely from Ryder.

  “We’ll be back.” Fallon smiled at the bartender then dragged me to the dance floor. “You are not just going to stand there drooling over that guy. Time to see how interested he really is. Make him come to you.”

  Would he? Did I want him to? Who was I kidding? Of course I wanted him to.

  Though I couldn’t dance for shit, I did like to and with so many people smashed together on the small floor, who
’d really even see?

  As Fallon and I danced together, two guys approached; unfortunately neither was Ryder.

  The taller of the two had his sights set on Fallon. He walked straight over and she didn’t hesitate accepting his advance. She pressed her chest against him and started doing some kind of crazy grinding thing.

  Fingers slipped around my waist as his friend slithered up behind me. With a step forward, I put some space between us but he just moved closer. I broke free and spun away. Dancing with him wasn’t the issue, it was his hands all over me that I objected to. Trying to avoid his grasp, I smiled and danced around, but he seemed to think this was an invitation to press against my chest and grab my ass.

  I pushed his arm down and stepped away. Dancing had lost its appeal and I turned to Fallon to tell her I was going to find a table. But the guy groped my waist again and I stumbled backward.

  Fallon glared at the guy and reached for my hand as I righted myself. Her scowl faded, replaced by a slow grin.

  “Get lost.” Ryder’s voice came from somewhere behind me, but before I could turn, a warm body pressed against my back.

  I glanced over my shoulder as Ryder’s arm encircled me. He splayed his fingers over my stomach.

  My former dance partner looked pissed and took a step toward us.

  Ryder barely spared him a second glance as he said, “Don’t make me ask twice.”

  “You heard the guy. Move it along.” Two guys appeared next to us. One I’d never met; the other looked vaguely familiar from Ryder’s party. He gave Fallon a good once-over then stared at the guy dancing with her.

  The guy didn’t even hesitate before turning and walking away.

  She flipped her hair over her shoulder with an overdone pout. “You scared off my dance partner.”

  “Nah, replaced him for a better one. Name’s Luke.” He sidled up to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. “And you are?”

  “Fallon,” she answered, staring up at him through her lashes.

  “Hey,” Ryder whispered in my ear.

  “Hey.” I attempted to maintain my cool, but who was I kidding? When it came to him I’d made it abundantly clear, I didn’t have one. What was the protocol after running from a guy…twice? Indifference?

  Though embarrassment seemed more fitting, I went with casual disinterest.

  He spun me around and pulled me to his chest. “I hope you didn’t mind the interruption but you looked like you weren’t having fun.”

  And there went my indifference. His hardened body pressed into mine, reminding me of how very close I’d been to becoming completely undone with him. I forced words out of my mouth. “No. I wasn’t.”

  “I’d planned to keep my distance tonight, but then that jackass wouldn’t leave you alone. It was about here,” he said, sliding his hand down my back and onto my butt, “when I thought it was time to jump in. Did it bother you?”

  My brain, functioning on the primal level of need, stopped creating words. I managed a nod.

  “Does it now?” he asked.

  Hell no. He could leave his hand there all night without a single protest from me. Of course admitting that to him was another story. His green eyes locked onto mine and I couldn’t look away but didn’t want to answer either.

  He moved his hand. “Don’t worry. I’m being good, remember?” His lips curved into a sexy smile that awoke every nerve in my body.

  If this was good, what did bad look like?

  He wrapped his arms around my waist and urged me forward. My chest pressed against him as his gaze dropped to my mouth. “You don’t make it easy though.”

  “I’m not trying to make it hard.”

  I’d finally managed words and that’s what I came up with?

  He chuckled and grazed his teeth over his lip ring.

  My face heated and I looked down. Seriously, why did everything equal sex with him?

  “Shot time,” Fallon cheered as a waitress walked by carrying a tray stacked with small plastic containers.

  Ryder’s other friend hooted and spun the girl he’d been dancing with, while Luke pulled out some cash and got a handful of tiny cups with lids.

  “What’s that?” I asked Fallon.

  “Jell-O shots.” She handed me one then popped the lid off hers. “It’s cherry. You’ll like it. Just don’t chew.” With her finger, she slid her way around the container to loosen the Jell-O, then held it to her lips and squeezed the little cup. It popped out and she swallowed it whole.

  I stared at the shot in my hand. Ryder held one in his hand and appeared to be waiting to see what I’d do. Jell-O seemed harmless enough and the first two shots really had just loosened me up. And in all honesty, I was having fun. One more wouldn’t hurt. I popped off the lid, mimicked what Fallon did and swallowed it.

  Ryder grinned and squeezed his into his mouth by crushing the cup.

  His friend offered us another and Ryder declined for both of us.

  “They sneak up on you,” he whispered as he pulled me back to his chest.

  An hour later, I laughed as Fallon danced around Luke. Everyone, except Ryder and me, had finished off several more shots, and Fallon was drunk. Usually I found drunk people annoying, but tonight she was pretty hilarious. She even made drinking look fun.

  Ryder grinned. “You’re friend isn’t going to be able to stand upright much longer.”

  Fallon spun in our direction. “Hey, she’s the one over a table, not walking right.” She pointed at me.

  I slapped my hand over my mouth and tried not to laugh at her random slew of Ryder comments meshed into one indecipherable sentence.

  “What?” Ryder’s eyebrows scrunched as he stared at her then me.

  “Nothing. She’s drunk.” I pressed my lips together to avoid laughing.

  He smirked. “Are you?”

  I shook my head. “Nope.”

  Fallon jumped back in. “No way. Brinley’s drunk!” Her eyes widened. “Hell just froze over.” She shifted her gaze to Ryder. “Don’t be taking advantage of my roomie. I know you want to occupy Vagistan and all that but she’d be sooo pissed at—”

  “Oh my God. We’re done.” I pressed my hand to her mouth as my face seared with embarrassment.

  Luke bent over in hysterics. “I think I love your friend.”

  “Awesome. She’s yours. Just don’t let her talk anymore.”

  “Keep her mouth busy? On it.” He pulled her forward and planted his lips against hers. Not exactly what I’d meant, but happy to have her silenced.

  “Huh,” Ryder said. “Now, that’s a new one, even for me.”

  “Please forget everything she just said.”

  He chuckled. “Let’s get your friend home.” He looped his fingers in mine. “C’mon,” he called to his friends. “Did you drive here?” he asked me.

  “No, we took a cab.”

  “Us too.”

  Outside, he hailed a cab, but when all five us couldn’t fit, Fallon, Luke and the other guy climbed into the first cab. Ryder and I took the second one. When we got back to campus, Ryder walked me to my dorm room.

  “Did you have fun?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I did. More than expected.” I smiled.

  “Good.” He shot me a sidelong glance. “You feel okay?”

  “Yeah, great.”

  With a laugh, he said, “Hope you still feel that way in the morning.”

  We reached Laney Hall and took the elevator up to my floor. My stomach bubbled with nerves and excitement. I desperately wanted a goodnight kiss, and then some, but when we reached my door, my shoulders sank.

  “Is that a sock?” Ryder asked.

  Hanging from the knob was a rainbow-striped sock. “Um, yeah. Which means Luke and Fallon really hit it off. How did they get here so fast?” We’d caught a few lights on the way home, but did our cab driver purposely take a long way to campus to make more money?

  “Interesting. This happen often?” He gestured to the door.

  “Sadly�
��yes.” I slumped against the wall. My buzz waned quickly and now I just wanted sleep. “But trust me, I’d rather find a sock there than blindly walk in. Been there, done that.” I shook my head, recalling the awkward run-ins before the sock rule was instated.

  “You’re kidding?” His expression was somewhere between incredulous and amused, but if he’d known my roommate, he wouldn’t have been surprised. Though he’d probably still be amused. Mason sure had been as I’d recounted the whole incident in horrifying, graphic detail.

  “Um, no. But the whole knocking to enter my own room got old after a while. This was our compromise.”

  He nodded toward the door. “So what do you do when it happens?”

  “Depends what time of day it is. Usually I just go to Mason’s room.”

  “Oh.” He crammed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Walk with me?”

  He could probably hear my frantic heart rate. “Um, sure.” Cocky Ryder was intimidating. Sweet Ryder damn near killed me. When his ego ruled his attitude, I could pretend to still hate him, but the way he’d behaved tonight kind of made me want to let him do everything Fallon theorized.

  We stepped outside and walked down the sidewalk. The campus was dark and quiet. Occasional laughter or voices would ring out, but for the most part it was just us.

  “Can we sit for a minute?” My feet throbbed from the wedges and I desperately wanted them off.

  “Yeah.” He glanced around.

  There really was no good place to sit and, considering I was in a tiny dress, I couldn’t just sit on the ground. Along the sidewalk the ground sloped a little and was padded with grass. It’d have to do.

  “Here’s fine.” I sat on the embankment and unlaced my shoes. They slipped off and I buried my feet in the cold grass.

  Ryder leaned back, placing his palms on the ground behind him. “I’ve never really spent time on campus this late at night. Kind of nice.”

  “It is.” The sky was dark but a few stars were visible. A gentle breeze rustled the trees overhead. I stretched my legs out and crossed them at the ankle.

  “Tell me something about yourself,” Ryder said.

  “Like what? There’s nothing that interesting.”

  “Everything about you interests me. Start with your major.”