It was a cryptic statement. One that she wanted him to expound on, but there was a far-off look in his eyes that made her lighten their conversation instead. “So what’s next? A career as a bean counter for a Fortune 500 company then retirement with a nice portfolio when you’re sixty-five?”
“I’m never going to be a bean counter. Accounting is just a back-up plan. I’m going to law school after graduation, joining a big firm and making a million bucks. How about you?”
“Grad school for sure. Maybe public administration or management, something like that.”
“So you can boss people around?”
“How did you guess?” She smiled but instead of smiling back, he just stared at her as if… No. It had to be her imagination again. Still, Jenna felt her cheeks go pink. It was the curse of the redhead.
Ben cleared his throat and looked away. “So, back to differential equations.”
It was almost midnight when she walked into her dorm room. “Where have you been?” Kate asked putting away her phone. “I was about to call campus security!”
“Sorry, I must have my ringer on mute. It’s Monday night. You know I was studying with Ben.”
“But you left at five. Do you mean to tell me you’ve been studying calculus for the past seven hours?”
Had it really been seven hours? “Sort of.” There went her cheeks, going pink aga
in, only this time with guilt. But what on earth should she feel guilty about?
“Oh my God!” Kate threw a pillow at her head. “You and Ben are like—”
“No, we’re not.” Jenna caught the pillow and sat on the edge of the bed to face her new friend. Kate waited patiently for her to continue. “We mostly studied, but we talked, too,” she admitted.
Kate’s green eyes lit up. “Do you think he’ll ask you out?”
“He doesn’t think of me that way.”
“Bullshit. He’s a guy. Trust me, he thinks of you that way. The question is, what do you think of him?” When Jenna didn’t answer, Kate got serious. “Oh, babe, you have it bad, don’t you? Not that I blame you. He’s—”
“Totally out of my league.”
“He is not! He’d be lucky to go out with you.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“For one thing, he’s a lot older than me.”
“Four years isn’t a lot older.”
“It is when…” As much as she and Kate had talked about everything under the sun, they hadn’t talked about this yet. “The thing is. I don’t have a lot of experience.”
“So you’re a virgin. No big deal.” Kate smiled shyly. “Me, too.”
Jenna flopped back on her bed. “Do you think that’s why they matched us as roommates?” She deepened her voice and pretended to look at a computer screen. “Mmm…what do we have here? Two eighteen-year-old virgins. Let’s put these weirdos together!”
Kate laughed. “Seriously, it’s not like you’re going to fall in love with the guy. Just keep an open mind if he asks you out, okay?”
Over the rest of the semester, she and Ben continued their twice-weekly study routine with Sunday and Monday evenings becoming the pinnacle of Jenna’s week. It was ridiculous, how much she looked forward to spending time with him, but other than that night when he’d seemed a little flirtatious, he kept them strictly in the friends zone.
It was mid-November, the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and the weather had finally cooled off enough to be able to sit comfortably on The Bean’s massive outdoor patio.
Ben took a swig of his bottled water. “I assume we’ll be skipping next Sunday night?”
“I’m leaving for Tampa on Wednesday, but I’ll be back by Sunday afternoon.” Finals were just a couple of weeks away and she hated to miss a study session. Plus, the thought of not seeing him… Kate was right. Jenna had it bad. If he knew how much she thought about him when they weren’t together, he’d probably freak out. “I take it you’ll be out all weekend?”