My 5 Bosses

“You should take your classes more seriously, Cass,” Vin joke-scolds me, even as he plucks his pen from my fingers and goes back to taking diligent notes.

For my part, it takes me a few breaths to recover before I can hold the pen again without shivering, a telltale sign of just how much he affects me.

Dammit. This is exactly what I’d been hoping to avoid.

And yet, Vin is so much more than I pegged him for when we first met. He’s quietly serious, watching the professor with a steadfast gaze that’s almost as distracting as the warmth radiating off his skin or the faint whiff of his cologne that I keep catching when I turn my head to steal glances at him.

Toward the end of the lecture, our professor takes a break to fiddle with the PowerPoint again, and the class fills with chatter. I steal a sideways glance at Vin, feeling bad for pre-judging him. “Are you interested in this as a major?” I ask, genuinely curious.

“I’m considering it,” he says, leaning toward me easily, so fluid in his movements. “I want to study sports medicine. Too many people get injured playing sports; if I can help people avoid that, keep them on the path to their dreams…” His eyes catch mine, and my breath hitches in my chest. “I think that sounds like a pretty good career choice.”

“It does,” I admit, my cheeks flaring red from his attention. “I was thinking about going into medicine too. Not like, directly, but research in the lab. Working on developing new medications. Discovering cures.”

“You want to heal people too,” he guesses.

I nod, unable to tear my eyes from his.

“That sounds like a pretty good choice too, Cassidy,” he replies, and the sound of my name on his lips is hotter than I can explain.

Just then, the bell rings, and we both startle. A ping of regret sinks in my chest—I wish we had longer to linger here, stealing glances at each other, talking about our future dreams…

Then again, you’ll see him in no time at all, I remind myself, and then I’m blushing all over again at the thought of sharing a room with this sexy as hell guy—a guy with more depth than I imagined—all semester.

As I stuff my books into my backpack, pulling out my schedule and heading out the door, preparing to navigate to my next class, Vin rests a hand on my shoulder. I glance up at him, flushed again for no reason other than that his dark eyes are boring into mine, and he’s got that damn smirk on again. The one I can never resist.

“We should grab a drink sometime,” he says, grinning. “We can talk bio and career plans.” His smirk deepens. “If you need to borrow my notes, I don’t mind sharing.”

Dammit. Did he notice me staring at him for half of class? If I was blushing before, I’m a red-hot beacon now. But somewhere in the back of my mind, my brain is replaying the advice Nita gave me before I left home. Guys like it when you play hard to get. Be a little coyer. “Drinks would be nice…” I say, slowly, dragging it out. Then I let myself smile a little, imitating his grin. “But wouldn’t Anthony be jealous?”

To my surprise, Vin only laughs at that. “Of course not. He’d be coming along.”

I feel my smile drop away as I think about that. Crap. Did I just imagine him asking me out? Maybe he just meant friendly roommate drinks after all. Get ahold of yourself, Cassidy. “Oh…” I say, still trying to figure out what to think. That’s when I cast a sideways glance up the hallway and realize everyone else from our class has already filed past. We’re alone in here, the lights in the classroom flicking off behind us. It’s dark, secluded… And Vin seems to realize it at the same moment I do. He leans in, one hand resting on the wall behind me, towering over me. I try to take a step back, hit the wall, and find myself resting against the cool tile, gazing up at him. His eyes make it impossible to look away. I definitely did not imagine him hitting on me. He looks positively hungry, the way he’s eying me now.

“We told you, Anthony and I have known each other since we were kids,” he murmurs, and the line of confusion between my eyebrows deepens as I wonder what on earth that means. Why he’s leaning over me all sexily, smelling fucking amazing, gazing at me like he wants to devour me, and talking about his childhood best friend. He seems to enjoy my confusion, smiling wider. More dangerously. “We never fight. We always share, everything.” He tilts his head closer to mine, his lips just inches away. So close that I can feel his breath ghosting across my lips when he adds, “That includes women.”

Before I can help it, the image flashes in my mind. All three of us in our dorm room. Anthony and Vin both naked, me caught between them, light and dark, the all-American hunk and the smirking bad boy. What would it feel like to kiss both of them? To let Vin’s lips find mine now, taste me, and then Anthony’s next, softer, lighter, but every bit as hot…

I picture their hands on me, their naked bodies pressed against mine, hard cocks pinning me between them, and I can’t hide the hitch in my breath, the flush in my cheeks.

“I…” Snap out of it, Cassidy. Remember what you came here for. I shake my head and push away from the wall, breathing fast. “I can’t. I’d never—I couldn’t…” It’s hard to get words out with him still watching me the way he is.

Vin laughs softly, a low, dangerous sound. And that smile never leaves his perfectly curved lips. “You have no clue what you would do in the heat of the moment, Cassidy.”

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; Before I can reply, before I can deny it, he’s gone, vanishing up the dark hallway and leaving me alone, heart racing, in the empty space.

As I watch him round the corner, I realize, deep down, in a place that scares me to even admit it: he’s right. I don’t know what I would do, given the chance.

That scares me more than anything else that’s happened today.

Three

By the time the bell rings for the end of my last class of the day, I can’t take this anymore. I’ve been texting Nita on and off, hinting at something going on. But text isn’t enough. I need to talk to her face-to-face, at least as much as that’s possible to do over a computer. I need her to talk me down, to tell me I’m being crazy, and not to lose my head over a boy on day one of college.

Well. Not a boy. Two boys.

Even worse.