Waiting for Us (28 page)

Book two in the Waiting series coming January 2016….(unedited sample and subject to change)

Beacon University - Shelby

September 2012

  My alarm didn’t go off this morning, for some unknown reason and now I’m running like the devil himself is chasing me, trying to make it to my creative writing class on time. It’s the first day of my junior year and I’ve heard that Professor Hanlon is a real bastard to deal with. He loves to make examples out of his students and by examples, I mean humiliate them in front of the entire class. Hailey, my best friend, and roommate had him for a professor last year and she absolutely detested him. She would frantically race out of our apartment on the mornings she had his class, in fear of being late. Hailey claims the only redeeming quality he has is his handsome appearance; God knows it’s not his glowing personality. Being late on the first day of class is not the way to make a good impression, but it seems like no matter how much I hurry, fate keeps sticking her foot out and repeatedly tripping me.
I should have stayed in bed.

I’m already five minutes late by the time I finally find a parking space to pull my Audi Quatro into. I glance at myself in the rearview mirror and cringe at what I see. I didn’t have time to shower so I put my long curly blonde hair in a messy bun on top of my head and slicked on some pink lip gloss. That was the extent of my primping and honestly who cares if I’m wearing a ratty pair of cutoffs and a pink tank top that says princess across my chest? Of course wearing this shirt probably wasn’t the wisest choice, especially when I’m dealing with this particular professor. He’s going to take one look at it and falsely label me a spoiled prima donna. Oh well, it’s not like it will be the first time I’ve been misjudged.

As I get out of my car, I grab my large black Michael Kors bag off the passenger seat and sling it over my shoulder. I nudge my car door closed with my right hip and push my cell phone into the back pocket of my shorts. My keys get tossed in my bag before I zip it up as I’m speed walking down the endless corridor. The problem with rushing is that you get so intent on where you’re going you shut everything else out. All you can think of is reaching your destination in the fastest way possible. That single-minded focus can get you in a lot of trouble. Especially, when you’re not expecting anyone else to be there.

Crash!
I smash into what feels like a brick wall and ricochet off of it, stumbling awkwardly before finally landing in an undignified manner. Yep, you guessed it…on my ass, pretty similar in appearance to a turtle on its shell. My bag went flying clear to the other side of the hallway. Thankfully, I remembered to zip it closed on the way in. I don’t even want to think about what would have been strewn all over the hallway
. Condoms, tampons, thong…
a tremor runs through at how embarrassing that would have been; falling down was bad enough.

         At first I just sit there in a daze and take stock of the situation. Once I realized what happened I jumped to my feet as quickly as possible, an apology on my lips
. Fuck! It’s Professor Hanlon
.

“I’m so sorry. I was hurrying and I didn’t expect anyone else to be there when I came around the corner.” I chew my lip while I wait for him to say something, but he just stands there with his arms crossed over his chest…his large, muscular arms that make his Polo shirt look like it’s two sizes too small.  His eyes are perusing my body from head to toe and slowly repeating the journey in reverse order, ending with his eyes locked on mine. His hair is the color of caramel and longish on top, with random pieces falling forward to hang near his heavily lashed eyes. He has on thick black framed glasses that frame his hazel colored orbs perfectly. I find myself lost in trying to discern exactly what color his eyes are. I can see green, gold and brown, just from where I’m standing. I wonder what they would look like on closer inspection? I wonder what they would look like just before they close for a kiss?
Oh my God, get a grip!
I silently admonish myself.

Since he still hasn’t spoken a single word, not with his mouth anyway, his muti-colored eyes are a different story. They’ve said plenty of things to me…inappropriate things. It’s time to get myself out of this horribly awkward situation. “Oookay, I’m gonna go now. Once again I’m sorry and I hope you suffer no ill effects from this.” I wave my hand back and forth gesturing between us. He remains in the same place not moving or speaking. If it wasn’t for the sexy smirk that has taken over his sculpted lips, I might think he was a statue…like David in Rome…only not naked and carved in stone. This guy is definitely warm flesh and blood.

I walk the handful of steps to the other side of the hall and bend over to grab my bag. I glance at him as I stand back up. I think he was totally checking out my ass. I decide to return the favor, blatantly looking him over from his brown leather Sperry’s up his tan cargo pants that do little to disguise his muscular thighs. My eyes continue their journey climbing over the hills and valleys of his defined abs, encased in a tight fitting green shirt. I may or may not have given a closer inspection to certain areas, but I’ll never tell. Once my gaze has slowly traveled the full length of his body, I make sure to smirk at him before saucily walking away. I can feel his stare burning into me as I continue on my way down the hall, so I add some extra sway in my hips for his viewing pleasure.

I open the door to the classroom to find it fairly crowded. Oh great, trying to find a seat in this zoo should be fun. I’m still standing by the door craning my neck, searching for an available spot when I hear a deep, male voice call my name.

“Shelby.” A large male hand connected to a muscular forearm is raised above the heads of the seated students and I gravitate toward it like a glowing beacon on a stormy night. As I slowly make my way over, I pay close attention to the feet and backpacks protruding in the aisle. One wipe-out per day is enough, especially when I’ve already reached my daily quota and it’s only nine o’clock.
What can I say, I’m such an overachiever
. I smile when I notice who the voice that called my name belongs to. It’s Jeff, my sometimes friend with benefits. Well, he’s always my friend, but I don’t always get the pleasure of seeing him naked. He and I have been hooking up on a fairly regular basis for the past six months. Our arrangement works great for both of us. He’s hot and his benefits are plentiful….wink, wink. We both like sex and neither one of us wants a commitment. Plus, he’s a great guy and lots of fun to hang out with.

“Hey Jeff, I didn’t expect to see you in this class.”

“Yeah, me either, but I needed another English class and this was all that was available. It’s looking better now, though.” He nudges my elbow with his and winks at me.

“Jeff,” I say, with an eye roll. “Your flirting is wasted on me unless you’re just trying to hone your skills. If that’s the case, then hone away.” He smiles at me, making the outer corners of his dark blue eyes crinkle with tiny creases.

“I’m simply trying to butter you up so you’ll come over tonight.”

“Leave the butter out of it Jeff, it’s not necessary and it would make everything way too slippery. Not to mention the grease stains that would get on the sheets. No products exist that can completely remove grease stains.”

I’m about to continue on with all the reasons why sexy times and butter do not go together when Professor Hanlon walks in the room.
Damn!

It’s amazing the effect a teacher walking in the room can have on a group of twenty-year-olds. The class goes from loud and chaotic to hear a pin drop silent within mere seconds. It makes me feel like I’m in second grade again and Mrs. Harrington is holding up her peace sign, signaling it’s time for us to use our “listening ears,” for storytime. I half expected Professor Hanlon to greet us with “Good morning boys and girls,” but he doesn’t. There really isn’t much of a greeting given by him at all.

“I’m Professor Hanlon and this is creative writing. If you thought you were in another class, feel free to leave. If you’re supposed to be in another class, you may also leave.” Ironically, at this point we lose five people from the class
. Sucks to be them.
He passes out the class syllabus before returning to the front of the room to take attendance. He calls out each student’s name, waiting for their reply before continuing on. I’m waiting for him to say my name and my stomach is getting a little nervous. I’m not sure why, though. I’m pretty confident I can manage to pronounce the word “here” even under the worst of circumstances, never mind when I’m stone cold sober like now. It’s four letters and only one syllable. As far as words go, it’s not very impressive at all. It takes more effort to hiccup or burp than it does to articulate it. So what am I worried about? I’m so lost in my musings that I almost miss him calling my name. If it wasn’t for Jeff kicking my leg under the table, I’m not sure if I would have heard him.

“Here,” I reply before kicking Jeff back. “That hurt! Couldn’t you have poked me with your finger or gently nudged me with your hand?” I notice Professor Hanlon has stopped going through the roll call so I direct my gaze toward him. He’s staring intently at me as if he’s waiting for me to stop talking
. Oops. I seriously should have stayed in bed this morning.

“Are you done now Miss Tyler or would you like us all to wait while you continue?” I’m suddenly mute and all I can seem to do is shake my head.

“No, you’re not done or no, you are?” He continues. I pray my voice doesn’t fail me now because a head shake isn’t going to suffice.

“No, I’m all set. Please continue with your roll call.” It accidentally comes out in a semi-bitchy tone which is appropriate because I’m semi-bitchy about fifty percent of the time. The probability of catching me at my worst, which is snarky, bitchy and sarcastic, is pretty high. I happen to think that those are some of the best parts of me, though, so I guess it’s all in how you look at it.

“I’m glad I have your permission to continue, Miss Tyler.”
Speaking of sarcastic.
He finishes taking attendance and goes over the syllabus with us, explaining his expectations.

“I do not tolerate tardiness. You need to be on time or don’t bother coming to my class at all.” He glances in my direction as if he is directing his message at me personally. It seems like this might be a case of “do as I say, not as I do,” since he was late for class too. I stare right back at him, he’s not going to intimidate me.

Jeff leans over and whispers in my ear.

“Why does he keep looking at you?”

“I’ll tell you tonight after you’ve had your wicked way with me.” We both snicker, earning an ice cold glare for our disruption. He seems so prickly like it doesn’t take much to set him off.

Acknowledgements:

There are many people that helped me along in my journey to write this book. My husband Daniel is my inspiration for all the good parts of Marcus and Cory. He’s the best friend I could ever hope for and my biggest cheerleader in life. I feel like I can accomplish anything with him by my side.

My two sons are my greatest blessings. They provide me with endless amounts of love and laughter. I know that they will probably never read my books and I’m not sure that I would want them to.

I have to thank my beta readers - Amy, Renee, Madeline, Tanya, Carol, Angela, Lisa and Dee. Thank you for all the insight you offered and thank you for loving the characters I created. It means the world to me and it was a big motivation for me to publish this book.

Thank you to my writing bestie Renee Kennedy. You cheered me on and encouraged me whenever I needed it. I am forever grateful that we met when we did. “That’s the way we do it.”

Letitia Hasser/RBA Design – Thank you for the beautiful cover you created for my story. It’s everything I hoped it would be and I can’t wait to see what you come up with for the next one.

Laura @ Editing For You- Thank you for all your hard work on Waiting for Us. It means the world to me that you cared about my story and you were invested in my characters. Thank you for putting up with my technologically challenged self. I’m looking forward to working with you on many more books in the future.

I’ve met some really amazing people along this journey and some of them are my favorite authors. – Harper Bentley, Dee Kelly, Anne Mercier, Elizabeth Haley, Robyn Roze, Winter Renshaw and Lucia Franco. You have all been there to answer any questions that I may have had and to offer me advice when I needed it. I admire each and every one of you professionally and personally as well.

Recently I’ve become a part of a group of authors on Facebook and these guys have been absolutely amazing. Ella Emerson, Olivia Howe, Kylie Hillman, ML Preston and CJ Martin, your support is greatly appreciated!

Thank you to all the bloggers and authors out there that have shared my book and teasers. I couldn’t get my book into people’s hands without you guys. I sincerely thank you all for your hard work. I have to give a special thank you to the lovely ladies at Dayreader Reviews – Renee, Donya, Amy, Niketa and Kristy. I adore you all!

Last but definitely not least, I have to thank you all you readers that have purchased my book and reviewed it. I can’t think of sufficient words to even express how much it means to me that you are taking time out of your busy lives to read something that I have personally written. Mwah! xo