The Freshman (College Years 1)

Nah, it’s more than that. I’m attracted to this girl. I don’t know much about her, but I like her. Guess she likes me too.

The car finally stops on top of a hill, right in the middle of a residential area, and Hayden jumps out of the car with a cheery thank you for the driver. I exit the car as well, glancing around, a strong breeze hitting me hard and blowing my jacket open. I press my arm against it, shivering against the coolness that accompanies the wind and Hayden laughs as she approaches me.

“Colder than I thought it would be out here,” she says.

My gaze drops to the front of her dress, her nipples poking against the fabric. Yep, just as I suspected.

No bra.

“Where the hell are we?” I ask her.

She stops directly in front of me, ignoring my question. “Come on.”

I let her take my hand and I follow behind her, just enough distance between us that I can watch the sway of her hips as she walks. The way she moves hypnotizes me, and I’m hit with the temptation to slip my hand beneath her skirt and touch the top of her silky smooth thigh. To slide my fingers into the front of her dress and see what I encounter. To kiss those smirking lips.

But it probably wouldn’t be too smart to make a move on her when we’re the only two people outside this time of night. She’d probably scream bloody murder and call 9-1-1.

If she’s smart, she would. She doesn’t know me. I could be anyone.

“Here we go,” she sing-songs as a church looms ahead of us, the parking lot surrounding it completely empty. She tugs on my hand. “It’s around back.”

“What’s around back?” I ask, picking up my pace so I can walk beside her.

“You’ll see,” she says mysteriously.

We make our way around the giant parking lot to the back of the building, coming upon a kiddie park. As in, it’s a fenced-off area filled with all those plastic houses and slides we used to play on when we were little. There’s also a tall, faded yellow and blue plastic jungle gym with slides coming out on either side and a fake rock wall in the front. Hayden stops in front of it, drops my hand and calls, “Follow me!”

Then she proceeds to scramble her way up the slide, her sandaled feet scrambling, her skirt flapping up and showing off a fair amount of her perfect ass.

I just stare and laugh. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Come up here with me!” She’s standing in the fort part in the center of the structure, a domed blue roof over her head.

I cup my hands around my mouth and yell, “I’m too tall.”

She rests her hands on her hips and rolls her eyes. “No, you’re not. Get up here.”

Giving in, I climb up the other slide that isn’t as steep, my brand-new Gucci shoes slipping on the surface. I send myself sprawling, almost faceplanting into the slide as Hayden just laughs.

“You can do it!” she encourages.

I glare at her and, with all my strength, shoot myself up the kiddie slide, duck through the tunnel and find myself in the fort with Hayden. I rise to my feet slowly, worried I’ll hurt myself, but the roof clears my head.

“See? Not so tall.” She grins up at me, reaching out to touch my cheek. Her fingers burn my skin, rendering my mouth dry. “Look that way.” She curls her fingers around my chin, gently turning my head and my breath catches in my throat at the view.

The entire city of San Francisco is spread out before us, a twinkling, glittery cityscape view from behind an unassuming old church in a neighborhood in Oakland. “I would charge money for this view,” I breathe as I take it all in.

“Right? We used to come to this church when I was really small, when we lived nearby,” she explains.

I glance over at her. “You used to live in Oakland?”

“Berkeley. A long, long time ago, when I was little, before my dad made all his money.” Her smile is small. Even a little sad. “He told us he used to go to this church when he was a kid, so he brought us all here a lot. Said it made him feel young again, going to church here. I found out later this was right around the time my mom caught him cheating with his assistant. She told me he went to repent, though it’s not a Catholic church, so whatever. I was so young, I didn’t understand. I had no idea what she was talking about. I only figured it all out when I got older.” A sigh leaves her and she takes a step forward, her hands gripping the waist-high wall in front of her, her gaze for the view only. “My parents’ marriage was really fucked-up.”

I go to stand next to her, my arm brushing hers. Sparks catch at first touch, warming my skin, but I try to play it cool. “My parents’ marriage was fucked-up too. They fought a lot.”

“Same with mine. A couple of years ago, I had a flash of a memory of this church and Palmer and I drove all over this neighborhood, searching for it. We got so lost.” She laughs, and shakes her head. “I found it by accident.”

“Why didn’t you ask Siri?” I’m teasing her, and she smiles.