Free All Played Out (Rusk University #3) by Cora Carmack Page B

something you shouldn’t do alone . . . you’ll call me. I sing a mean karaoke, and I pull all-nighters all the time, and I—”
    “Okay.”
    I pause, letting my arms trail down from her shoulders to her elbows.
    “Okay?”
    I lean a little closer, pitching my mouth closer to hers. “Does that mean I can be your strange—”
    She covers my lips with her hand, cutting off my words, and with that familiar proud tilt of her chin she says, “The list says to kiss a stranger. Not be kissed by one.”
    And with that she pulls out of my arms and starts toward the pool, her hips swaying to the heavy pounding of my heart.

Chapter 9
    Nell’s To-Do List
    •   Normal College Thing #12: Go skinny-dipping.
    I keep my head held high and my back straight the whole way over to the pool.
    But inside?
    I am an equation with too many missing variables. My heart is doing things that biologically it should not be able to do. Or at least it feels that way. And my nerves begin to bleed through as I try with shaky hands to undo the childproof lock on the fence around the pool.
    The pool where I am trespassing.
    Where I am breaking the law.
    And where I will presumably be wearing far less clothing in a matter of minutes if I do actually go through this.
    Just breathe, Antonella. The more you breathe, the less panicked you’ll feel.
    It’s all biology. Hormones and neurons and impulses. This is a biological response to an intimidating situation. I have nothing to fear here. My brain just thinks I do.
    While I’m still struggling with the lock, Torres’s hands settle over the top of mine, halting my movements. He’s directly behind me, one arm on either side, effectively surrounding me with his skin and heat and scent.
    “Relax,” he says in my ear, but if anything that just shatters the smidgen of control I’d managed to wrangle back from my panic. My shoulders tense, rising up closer to my ears, and I squeeze my eyes shut.
    “I can’t,” I admit, my voice quiet. “You . . . intimidate me.”
    “Why?”
    “Because . . .”
    “Because you like me. Even though I’m flashy and shameless. Even though I’m too concerned with how other people see me, and I’m like a puppet who doesn’t realize his strings are being pulled?”
    I flinch at the reminder of what I said at that Frisbee game. He’d been so close and so appealing, and I’d lashed out with my most ruthless honesty so that he’d give me some space to breathe, to think.
    I twist, looking over my shoulder at him, and my back comes into contact with his chest.
    “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
    He doesn’t look angry. His face is relaxed and easy, but he’s so good at putting on a show that could just be what he wants me to see.
    “Don’t be. I’m just reminding you why you have no need to be embarrassed in front of me. You said we were complete opposites. That you don’t care what people think. So don’t start now. But if you’re too nervous, just say the word, and I’ll take us back to the party. Or I’ll go back to the party and leave you here to check this item off your list alone.”
    I swallow. I don’t want to be alone. But I’m not sure I’m brave enough to do this with him either.
    “Will you go first?” I ask.
    He stills behind me, and his jaw clenches. I watch his neck work as he swallows, and I wonder what he’s thinking. His voice is deeper, almost hoarse, when he says, “Sure. I can do that.”
    He pries my hands off the lock, and in a move that sends shock waves across my skin, he places a casual kiss on my fingers before releasing them.
    All of a sudden I feel that same suffocating sensation that made me lash out at him with harsh words, but this time it makes me want to lash out in a different way. I want to place my hand on the sharp edge of his jaw and turn his face toward me. I want to bring my mouth to his and find out just how hot the heat between us can get.
    But this time I control the impulse. I push it