I shrug. “That’s not any of your business. When are you posting the list?”

Still glaring, she says, “Four.”

“Cool, have a good workout.”

I hear her call my name, but I ignore her and head out of the building toward my first class. Talking to her has made me late, but I had to make sure Claire made the team. Checking my watch, I know I only have two more hours till I can meet her after her class and convince her to have lunch with me. I’m sure she won’t say no, but still, it makes me nervous. Like Jayden said, this isn’t me, and while I’m scared shitless of this, I can’t wait for the next moment I see her, the next time I can touch her and feel her underneath me.

Speaking of Jayden, I could kick his ass. He really did call my mom, and of course, my mom fussed and begged me to bring Claire to dinner, but I quickly squashed that. There is no way I’m doing that yet. While I want her to be my girlfriend, I don’t want to scare her off. Jayden told me to cool it, wait for her to say that she wants to be exclusive before I start slamming my chest with my fists and claiming her as mine. So I guess I’ll chill even if I don’t want to. I’ve always been the compulsive type on the ice, taking the shot when I know I have it, but in life, I calculate and make sure that everything I do is a good idea. Like which school to go to, what classes to take, who to be friends with, and who to trust.

Especially with females.

I never lie. I tell them upfront that our time together is a one-time thing and that’s it. If they can’t handle that, then sorry for them; I don’t have time for crazy. I’m a busy, hotshot hockey player. There are too many girls who want one night with me, and the crazy thing is, I never uttered those words to Claire. They weren’t even there. The only thing that was there was lust and need. When she touched me, everything went hot. She left her mark on me, and I am honestly A-OK with that. I like her. A lot. And I want her to see her, over and over again.

Thankfully the next two hours pass quickly, and while I have no clue what happened in my classes, I don’t care as I run across campus to where her class is letting out. I left a little early to make sure I’m on time, and when I see her coming out of the building in a pair of sweats and a large purple Assassins sweatshirt, her hair down in waves along her shoulders, everything inside me stops. I don’t even know who I am as I stalk toward her, and when she sees me, she grins, but I don’t say anything. I take her face in my hands, kissing her hard against her sweet lips. Deepening the kiss, I feel her books fall to the ground as her arms come up to wrap around my neck, her thumbs playing with the back of my neck, curling my toes and making me hard in every place possible.

Parting, I kiss her bottom lip, running my thumb along her jaw as our eyes meet.

“Hi,” I whisper and she grins.

“Well, hello to you,” she says, her cheeks warming in such a lovely face.

“I’ve waited all morning to do that.”

Her lips curve up even more, her teeth gleaming, and I see that one of her bottom teeth is a little crooked. For some reason, I find that incredibly sexy, and I can’t help but kiss her again. Her tongue comes out, licking my bottom lip, and I groan before deepening the kiss more, moving my tongue with hers. I want to rip her clothes off and then mine and slam her against a wall, but I know we don’t have time for that. We’ll be lucky if we have time for lunch. Parting so slowly, I grin against her lips as her hand comes up to cup my face.

“Tell me you don’t have anything planned for the next hour.”

She laughs. “Skylar is studying, so we can’t go back there.”

I give her a playful scolding look before saying, “Who said anything about that? I want to sit on the quad and eat lunch with ya.”

Her face warms even more as she nods slowly. “I think I have time for that,” she says with a wink, lacing her fingers with mine.

Reaching down, I get her books for her, and we start toward the food court for some sandwiches before finding a nice spot in the sun. There is a chilly wind, but with the sun, it feels amazing. Crossing her legs, she sits down with her sandwich in her lap, taking a sip of her Coke as I do the same, opening my sandwich and taking a huge bite.

“How’s your day been so far?”

I shrug. “It’s better now.”

She giggles before taking a bite of her sandwich, causing me to grin.

“Yours?” I ask.

She shrugs too. “It’s been okay. Phillip has been calling me all day, and I’m ignoring him. Thanks for that, by the way. I was in a sex daze yesterday and really didn’t care what you did, but today, I’m a little mad at you.”

I send her one of my sweet smiles that I use to get me out of trouble with my mom and she caves quickly. She knows it too because she throws a chip at me as I laugh.

Going up on my knees, I crawl to her, my hands on either side of her hips and my face right in front of hers as I press my lips to her nose before whispering, “Sorry about that.”

She pushes me away playfully but as I go to sit, she grabs my shirt, pressing her lips to mine again before releasing me for her sandwich. “Apology accepted, but you best believe there will be repercussions. I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes down here looking for you. He’ll probably threaten you some more, so be ready… I mean, if we still see each other and shit, which, by the way, what are we doing here? This isn’t Jude Sinclair behavior according to the vast majority of our peers.” Leaning toward me, she whispers, “Word on the street is you’ve been seen multiple times with a fiery redhead. Some say you’ve been taken off the market. This redhead must be something.”

I laugh as I shake my head. “She is.”

Her mouth curves in a grin as she picks at the lettuce on her sandwich. “So really, Jude, are we just having fun? Or what?”

I watch her as I ask, “What do you want?”

She laughs as she looks up at me. “I mean, what I want might not be what you want.”

“So tell me anyway,” I say, taking a drink of my Coke. “You never know.”

“I wouldn’t mind this going somewhere. It wouldn’t be horrible to be with the hottest guy on campus.”

I scoff as I grab her by her ankles, pulling her to me. She shrieks as I pull her between my legs, her legs sliding inside my hips and mine resting around hers. Meeting her gaze, I say, “I wouldn’t mind that either.”