Summer Fling - Players of Marycliff University, Book 1

Chapter 2

Lance wasn't sure why he'd bullied the girl into wearing his shirt instead of just taking her home.

Well, yes he was. He didn't want to just take her home and drop her off. The way she called him out on his manners and didn't take any bullshit piqued his curiosity. And he was afraid that if he even took her back to her place for a clean shirt she'd change her mind.

He was being truthful when he said he'd been thinking of leaving the party when she showed up. But he'd been thinking how nice it would be to just go home and hang out by himself for a while. Until Abby crashed into him and spilled soda all over his shirt. He'd liked the feel of her body crushed against his. Until the sticky cold feeling had seeped in. That was kind of a mood killer.

When she said she needed to find a way home, he'd seen an opportunity and taken it.

And, damn, but there's something about a hot chick wearing your shirt that was just sexy. He didn't really understand it, but he liked that Abby was wearing his Superman t-shirt. He'd almost put it on, then on impulse decided to bring it out for her and grabbed a different shirt.

He was kind of hungry, so the dessert thing wasn't entirely an excuse. But now he wasn't just hungry for pie. He was hungry for her.

He wanted to get to know her. Get the chance to feel her against him again. See if he could rile her up some more and see what happened. See what would happen if—

No. He had to stop that train of thought before his feelings became more obvious. She seemed like a no-nonsense kind of girl from their interactions at the party, but she wasn't too sure of him. She kept shrugging him off when he touched her and maintained as much distance between them as she could without being rude. Even now she was sitting close to the passenger door. He clenched his hands around the steering wheel to keep himself from touching her again, just to see how she'd react. He didn't want to scare her off.

Lance glanced at her out of the corner of his eye while driving to the diner. She looked wistful, almost sad, with her arm resting on the window ledge propping up her head, and the wind whipping the little hairs around her face.

He cleared his throat. "So, what's your major?"

Abby turned to look at him, her hand falling to join the other one in her lap. "Spanish. You?"

"I just graduated. I got my degree in Marketing."

"Congratulations. So are you job hunting now?"

Lance shook his head. "No. I have an internship for the summer, and my dad expects me to come take over the family business when that's done."

"The family business, huh? That sounds like you're in the mafia or something."

He laughed at that. He was right about her. She was a spitfire and he liked her sense of humor. "No, not the mafia. Just a mechanic shop."

"You have a degree in marketing and you're supposed to go be a mechanic?" The surprise was evident in her voice.

Lance grimaced. "Yeah. Every business needs marketing." That's what he'd told his dad to convince him that going to college was a good idea. He was supposed to go to work as a mechanic straight out of high school, but with his mom's help convinced his dad that college would be good for him, good for the business.

He steered the conversation back to her, not wanting to talk about what was waiting for him at the end of his internship. "What about you? What are you going to do with a Spanish degree?"

Abby shrugged and looked out the window again. He wished she would keep looking at him. How was he going to get anywhere with her if he couldn't even hold her attention? "I don't know. Travel, maybe. There's lots of things where speaking two languages can help. I haven't decided yet."