His eyes were shining bright like two ambers, looking lighter than normal with the sun rays. A crooked smile formed on his face, probably because of catching me ogling him. I felt my cheeks heat up, tearing my gaze away from him. Meeting Tris’ questioning look, I shook my head and walked past him without a second glance. I was angry at myself for being so weak whenever I saw him.
Thankfully, the professor came in the moment I got to my place so Tris didn’t have time to question me. I knew she would read me like an open book even if I said his name out loud. I took a deep breath and started analyzing him instead of listening to the lecture, trying to understand the fascination he spiked in me.
He was good-looking, attractive…that was the first thing anyone could notice about him. Also, he was popular in the department –everyone was trying to talk to him, he was never alone, always in a crowd. And beside all of these things, he was rich as hell. I didn’t have to hire a private investigator to find that out. Coming to the college with a brand new Audi R8 wasn’t a common thing in my life.
I think it was easy to have some attraction toward him…
But all I did was try to stay away from him.
For two weeks, I’d managed to do that. Even though I couldn’t help but watch him from afar. That was out of my control, my eyes always searched for him, trying to understand the man behind the good-looks.
And I wished the man underneath wasn’t lovable…but he was.
His questions in the class were hard not to be noticed. He was smart, his questions were on point, giving me food for thought and sometimes teaching me more than the text books in front of me.
I saw how he cared and tried to console his friend when she was down. He was a loyal friend, caring…as much as he was fun.
No matter how hard I tried to keep my distance to him, he made me
smile with his random comments during the lab experiments.
Still…I did everything in my power to steer clear of him, trying not to make eye-contact or small talk but even that was inevitable.
“Who is that?”
I lifted my head from my doodle to look at Elaine, my other best friend but since her schedule was different I couldn’t spend enough time with her, “What?” I asked, remembering her question as she sat on the bench beside me.
“This guy, always looking at you whenever I see him,” she nodded her head toward the opposite table.
I followed her gaze and my eyes locked with Ashton’s.
I didn’t know why, but at that second, I felt something pass between us…something deep. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him, I couldn’t even breathe. There was intensity in his eyes, pulling me deeper into his brown orbs.
I watched, mesmerized, as he stood up, coming toward my table with purpose.
“Hey,” he said with an easy smile.
“Hi.” My voice was breathy.
He stood there, totally at ease, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a textbook as my heart picked up the rhythm.
Taking a slow breath I straightened my back before asking, “Do you need anything?”
I held my breath as he pulled out his hand from his pocket, rubbing his neck with a troubled look on his face.
“I…was there anything we were supposed to bring with us to the lab today?” he asked as I watched his Adam’s apple move sinfully.
Swallowing the nerves I shook my head, “No, I don’t remember anything special. Just a normal lab day.”
“Yeah, sure…see you later, then. Thanks,” he murmured and winked before turning to leave.
He winked at me!
Holy…shit!
I wish I could tell you that after all these little interactions, he made me believe in love and I lived happily ever after…but no. That didn’t happen because this was real life and those things didn’t happen except in books.
In our group of ten people, I talked to him only when I had to. He seemed like he didn’t even notice me, either. Our communication was professional, just the way it should be.