University Park Series Box Set: Books 1-3 (22 page)

My heart ached for her. Raven had never
mentioned anything about his stepdad dying. “I’m so sorry for your loss. How
long ago did he pass?”

“Two years ago. He had an accident at
work.” She sighed. “I’m still fighting with those bastards. They claimed he
didn’t have an insurance policy and worker’s comp barely covered the medical
bills and his funeral.”

“Oh my God. I’m so sorry.” Delaney’s
voice shook and I could tell she was on the verge of tears again.

I swallowed hard, trying to fight back
my own tears. “If there is anything we can do for you, please let us know.”

Trish grabbed a napkin from the table
and blew her nose. “Thank you, girls. I appreciate that.” Turning toward me,
she said, “Just keep an eye on this one. He’s trying hard to get his shit
together.” She gave him a disapproving look and Raven’s eyes darted to the
floor once again. “I know you’re too good for him, but he probably needs that.”
She pointed a finger at Raven. “And you better treat her right, not like all those
other skanks. You hear me?”

Raven nodded but didn’t make eye
contact. “Yes, ma’am.” The shame his mother placed on him was more than enough.
I now understood what he meant when he said he wanted be good and make things
right in his life. I eased back in my chair, thinking about everything his mom
had said. What exactly had Raven told her about us? She made it seem like we
were together or dating. If we were, that was news to me.

∑

Raven remained somewhat silent on the
way back to the dorm. I figured it was what his mom had said. We hadn’t
discussed where we were headed or what we wanted from our relationship.
Probably because it was too soon. Instead of asking, I kept to myself and allowed
him to work out his own demons.

“I’ll give you a call later.” Raven
leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek. My eyes closed and for a moment, I
swore it was Collin kissing me. Did he not want to kiss me on the lips anymore?
Were we headed down that same road? I just left an empty and emotionless guy;
the last thing I wanted was another one.

“Okay. I’ll be studying.” I opened the
door and grabbed my purse, keeping my eyes away from him. If I looked at him, I
wasn’t sure what I’d do — jump him or cry and beg him to kiss me.

“Thanks again, Raven,” Delaney said.
“I’m going to scan these photos and then I’ll give them back to you so you can
return them to your mom.”

“Yeah, no problem.” He casually looked
over his shoulder, acknowledging Delaney.

We got out of the car and I closed the
door. He drove off slowly and something told me that things between us were not
the same.

“Wow. That’s one messed up story.”
Delaney opened the door to the building and I trudged in behind her.

“Yeah,” I muttered.

“After hearing all of that, I need to
read one of your romance books.” She removed the strap of her camera from her
neck. “Then again, I’m sure this project will have a happy ending.” She gave me
a slight nudge.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked as I hit the
button for the elevator.

“I don’t know. He’s acting kind of
distant.”

“Distant?”

“Yeah.” I stepped into the elevator and
Delaney followed behind me. “Didn’t you notice he didn’t even bother to kiss me
on the lips?”

“Now that you mention it, yes. Maybe the
pictures just brought back a lot of bad memories.” Delaney waved a manila
folder that encased pieces of Raven’s life. The good and bad.

Delaney had a point. “You know, I didn’t
think of that.” I leaned against the wall for support and sighed. As the
elevator rose, the lightness in my stomach pressed hard against my diaphragm,
causing my breaths to become shallower. “But I think it was what his mom said.”

“About you being too good for him?”

I nodded.

“Maybe so, but quit worrying and give
the guy a break.” The elevator doors opened and she laced her arm through mine.
“I know he’s crazy about you.”

“You really think so?” I leaned my head
against hers.

“I’ve got the pictures to prove it.” She
held up her camera and smiled.

She might have seen something between
us, but I recognized the negative vibe in the car and what lurked in the depths
of his eyes. Something had definitely changed.

***

My intuition proved to be right. The
entire week passed and I had only heard from Raven a few times, one of them
being a request to review his term paper. When I had finished my edits, I asked
if he wanted to meet in person to talk about them, but he said he’d let me know
if he had questions. Unfortunately, he never asked to see me.

I tried to remind myself that we were
friends who happened to share a few moments of fun, but the kisses he left on
me told my body something else. My heart had even felt it. But other than
telling me he wanted to have fun with me, Raven hadn’t made me any promises. So
why was I missing him so much?

“I’m headed to the library to meet
Luke.” Delaney popped her head in my room.

I glanced up from my laptop. “Okay.”

“Is everything okay?” Delaney resituated
her backpack.

“Yeah, I guess.” I reminded the ache
coming from the center of my chest to stop bothering me and just let me be.

“You still haven’t heard from Raven?”

I pretended to be typing even though
none of the letters formed any words. Raven was totally distracting my mind.
How could a guy have that effect on me? Especially when we had only kissed.
“No, but it’s probably because he’s studying for exams,” I said, using first
excuse that popped up my mind.

“Exactly. So stop obsessing over it. But
if you need an excuse to call him, I think I can help you.” She placed a manila
folder on my desk.

“What’s that?”

“The pictures I borrowed from his mom.”
She winked and my fingers stopped. “Tell him I put the pics on a CD as well.
It’s in there.”

Picking up the folder, I smiled. “Okay,
I will.”

“See you later.” Her voice lilted as she
spun on her heels and left our suite.

Opening the folder, I removed a few
pictures. I shuffled through them and stopped on a picture of Raven kneeling in
the center of a football field. In one hand, he held his helmet, and in the
other, a football. His face looked a few years younger and his body leaner but
still muscular. He had that same charming smile and that enticing sparkle in
his eyes that woke every nerve ending in my body.

Damn I miss those eyes on me.

Not caring if I seemed like the
desperate girl, because in all honesty, I probably was, I picked up my phone
and typed out a message.

Me: Are you busy?

I stared at the screen for a while,
waiting for him to text me. Checking the time, I saw that it was only
eight-thirty. He couldn’t be asleep. I had a final the next day, but I didn’t
care because I wanted to see him.

Thirty minutes later, he replied.

Raven: Yeah, studying. What’s up?

What’s up? Seriously? What happened to
all the flirting and dying to see me? His flirtatious swagger had completely
evaporated into the abyss.

Me: I’ve got the pictures Delaney
borrowed from your mom. She even scanned them on a CD.

I added that extra tidbit of information,
hoping that would urge him to want to meet me.

Raven: Okay. I can get them from you
later.

Crap! So much for that idea.

Me: No problem.

The screen remained blank and I waited
to see if he would tell me anything else. More time passed and nothing. After checking
my stupid phone every few minutes for over an hour, I finally turned it over
and returned my focus to the paper I was trying to write. It took me four hours
to type two pages. I was screwed. I’d never finish the paper in time.

I heard the door unlock and Delaney
shuffle into the suite. A loud thump sounded, telling me she had dumped her
backpack in the doorway of her room.

“Are you still up?” She popped the top
on a can of Coke Zero, her favorite, and took a sip.

I rubbed my eyes and then blinked a few
times. “Yeah, I can’t seem to finish this paper.”

“Let me guess,” she sat on the edge of
my bed, “thinking about Raven?”

Swiveling around in my chair, I sighed.
“Unfortunately, yes.”

She took a few more sips. “Did you tell
him you had his pictures?”

“Yep. He said he’d get them later.”

A frown formed across her face and her
eyes narrowed. Then, like a light turning on, her eyes widened and smile crept
over her face. “I’ve got a great idea.” She whipped out her phone and started
texting a message.

“Who are you texting?” I eyed her
suspiciously.

“Raven.”

In one quick leap, I lunged for her
phone. “No. Don’t.”

“Don’t worry.” She pulled her hand out
of my reach and held the can of soda up with the other, as if it were some type
of defense tool. “This isn’t about you.”

I tried to grab her phone one more time,
but she crawled backward onto my bed. “Please don’t,” I pleaded, but she
ignored me.

“But I have the perfect idea.” She shot
me an evil grin and then tucked her phone in her back pocket. “I need a few more
pictures of Raven before next Tuesday. If he agrees, you can come with me.”

It might have been a good strategy to
see him, but the last thing I wanted was to force him to see me. If he wanted
to be with me, he would tell me. His text proved that he didn’t. It was simple.
Raven was no longer interested in me and I wasn’t completely sure why. That
part sucked the most. My shoulders slumped and I plopped down beside her on my
bed. “Delaney, if you have to trick him to see me, then forget it.”

“Maybe he just needs a little nudge.” A
few minutes later, a sound came from Delaney’s phone.

“That’s not your text message tone.” I
looked over her shoulder. “Unless you changed it.”

“It’s not. It’s my Facebook messenger.”
She hit the app on her phone.

“Why are you messaging Raven through
Facebook?”

She arched a brow and it was like I was
having one of my mom’s blonde moments. “Because I don’t have his phone number.”

“Well, I can give it—”

“That’s okay. I don’t need it.” Her eyes
focused on the screen. “He says he’ll meet me tomorrow at the stadium at noon.”

“What? Let me see that.” I yanked the
phone from her hand, scanning the messages.

Delaney: Hey, Raven, I really need a few
more shots of you to finish my project. Can I take some of you in your football
uniform at the stadium?

Raven: Sure. How about noon tomorrow?

“I don’t care.” I handed the phone back
to her. “You can go take pictures of him. I’m not coming.”

“Yeah, that’s what you said last time.”
Her disdaining stare irked me. Probably because I knew it was what I wanted to
do. I watched her prance out of my room and shut the door behind her. Why was
she always right?

***

After Delaney left my room, I got the
sudden urge to write the best damn paper ever. The words flowed from my brain
and poured onto the paper until I finished at three-thirty in the morning.
Supporting statements and arguments were like words to songs, each of them deep
and meaningful beyond my understanding. I reasoned with myself that I didn’t
want any excuse to not go with Delaney tomorrow. Funny how some things will
motivate you.

“Are you coming?” Delaney stood in my
doorway, checking the functions on her camera.

I stuffed one of my books in my backpack
for my final test I had the following Tuesday, even though I knew it was
pointless because I’d be staring at Raven the entire photo shoot. I needed a
practical decoy and a book was perfect.

“I wouldn’t miss it.” I swung my
backpack over my shoulder.

She smiled. “Good.”

I followed her out the door. “Did he
mention anything about me to you?”

“No,” she said in a low tone. “But I
also didn’t mention anything either, so quit reading into things.”

I held on to the straps of my backpack
as reality continued to remind me that Raven and I were only a dream.

A fantasy.

As much as I wanted to be in his league
of hot bitches, I wasn’t. I may have been smarter and more talented than most
of them, but not when it came to doing what he wanted most — sex. It was
something I had only read about in romance books and dreamed about with him. I
had to be kidding myself to think he’d want to be with me.

“He has no idea I’m coming with you.” I
blew out a stressed breath. “Does he?”

Recalling what he said, I reminded
myself I could change. I would change. If that’s what it took to be with him,
I’d do it. After all, I didn’t like the old Lexi Thompson. I needed to release
the ego dying to come out.

“Relax. I’m sure he’ll be glad to see
you.” We crossed the street and headed toward the stadium. The wind had a
chilly breeze, but the sun kept it tolerable, at least for a southern girl.

“So, how are things between you and
Luke?” I was eager to take the focus off me.

Delaney’s face scrunched in confusion.
“Oh, I don’t know. One minute we’re okay and the next he’s all pissy with me. I
have no idea what the hell he wants.”

“Why are guys so wishy-washy?” I sighed
and then stopped at the guard booth outside of the stadium. I peeked through
the window, but the guard that was there last time was nowhere to be seen. I
shrugged. “I guess we can enter.”

We walked down the hill until we came to
the main gate. I pulled on it, but it didn’t open.

“Great.” Delaney pulled her phone from
her backpack and sent Raven a text through Facebook.

Delaney: I’m here at the front gate but
can’t get in.

It took a few minutes before he
responded. I glanced over her shoulder as we read the message.

Raven: I’ll send someone to let you on
the field.

“Okay, we have to wait.”

I slid my backpack off my shoulder and
sat on a ledge. Delaney dropped her phone in her bag and then sat next to me.