Campus Heartthrob (The Campus Series)

Instead of running through his own set of drills, Brayden is tossing a ball around with my brother. There’s a wide smile on Lucus’ face. I can’t remember the last time I saw him this ecstatic. It’s like he’s walking on clouds.

Demi’s father also took a moment to speak with him. I could see Coach pointing to the field. Even from where I’m seated, it’s impossible not to notice the way Lucus is vibrating with excitement. Every once in a while, my gaze will catch Brayden’s. He’ll give me a wink or flash me a smile. That’s all it takes for everything inside me to melt into a puddle of goo.

What I now realize is that this Brayden—the one I’ve gotten to know over the past several weeks—is someone I could definitely fall for.

If I haven’t already.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Sydney

“I’ll take a large caramel macchiato, please.”

The girl behind the counter taps a few buttons on the cash register. “That’ll be five dollars even.”

I dig through my purse, attempting to locate the money. I’m notorious for dumping bills and loose change into my bag. This is usually when that bit of laziness will bite me in the ass. Now I have to sift through all the contents to find it.

“Here,” a deep voice says from behind me, “I’ve got it covered.”

My head whips up only to lock gazes with Brayden. Before I can tell him that I’m more than capable of paying for my own drink, he’s handing the barista a couple of bills.

“Keep the change,” he tells her with a smile before his attention returns to me.

“Thanks,” I say.

“No problem.” A sly expression settles on his face. “You can pay me back later.”

I snort before raising my brows. “For some reason, I don’t think you want to be paid back in cash.”

“Nope.” He wraps his arms around me and tugs me close before pressing his lips against mine. “We haven’t even been together that long, and look how well you already know me.”

The girl behind the counter sighs, drawing our attention. Her face goes up in flames before she spins away to prepare my drink.

“I missed you last night,” he whispers. “I really hate sleeping alone.”

A bubble of giddiness rises up inside me.

“Me, too.” Which is strange. In the past, when I’ve been in a relationship, I’ve always needed my space. We’ll spend a few nights together and then I need an evening to myself. Or I want to go out with the girls.

That hasn’t turned out to be the case with Brayden. Maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised. Everything with him is different. Even though we haven’t been together long, I like him more than anyone else I’ve been with. It’s kind of scary how perfectly we fit together. There are times when I’m tempted to pump the brakes and slow things down, but then I look at him and all of those thoughts disappear in the blink of an eye. Whatever this is between us, it’s happening fast, and I don’t think there’s a way to curtail it. Most of the time I don’t think I want to.

When the girl behind the counter calls out my drink, Brayden grabs it. Her face fills with bright color when their fingers brush. I almost shake my head and roll my eyes. This is exactly how the female population at Western reacts to him. One dark look speared in their direction and they lose all sense of rational thought. It should probably drive me crazy. But how can it when Brayden continually goes out of his way to prove that I’m the only one he’s thinking about?

He grabs the door and holds it open. The moment we hit the sidewalk, a burst of cool autumn air wafts over me. The leaves have already fallen from the trees and the temperatures are beginning to dip into cooler digits. The only saving grace is that the sun is bright and shining, cutting through the chilliness of the breeze.

As we take a few steps away from the coffee shop, Brayden grabs hold of my hand, loosely interlocking our fingers. “I love the fall. It’s my favorite time of year.”

I glance at him in surprise. “Me, too.” Even though it’s small, it’s yet another thing we have in common.

“So, I was kind of thinking that after the game on Saturday, I could take you to our family cabin. It’s not far from here. Only about an hour. We could spend Saturday afternoon, all of Sunday, and then head back in time for class Monday morning.” There’s a pause. “What do you think? Any interest in tromping around the woods? Or we can just sit inside and chill out.”

I mentally sift through my school and soccer schedule for the upcoming week and think about what can be shifted around. The idea of getting away for even a few days sounds amazing. “Yeah, that could work.”