Free Just a Little Crush (Crush #1) by Renita Pizzitola

“Don’t be taking advantage of my roomie. I know you want to occupy Vagistan and all that but she’d be sooo pissed at—”
    “Oh my God. We’re done.” I pressed my hand to her mouth as my face seared with embarrassment.
    Luke bent over in hysterics. “I think I love your friend.”
    “Awesome. She’s yours. Just don’t let her talk anymore.”
    “Keep her mouth busy? On it.” He pulled her forward and planted his lips against hers. Not exactly what I’d meant, but happy to have her silenced.
    “Huh,” Ryder said. “Now, that’s a new one, even for me.”
    “Please forget everything she just said.”
    He chuckled. “Let’s get your friend home.” He looped his fingers in mine. “C’mon,” he called to his friends. “Did you drive here?” he asked me.
    “No, we took a cab.”
    “Us too.”
    Outside, he hailed a cab, but when all five us couldn’t fit, Fallon, Luke and the other guy climbed into the first cab. Ryder and I took the second one. When we got back to campus, Ryder walked me to my dorm room.
    “Did you have fun?” he asked.
    “Yeah. I did. More than expected.” I smiled.
    “Good.” He shot me a sidelong glance. “You feel okay?”
    “Yeah, great.”
    With a laugh, he said, “Hope you still feel that way in the morning.”
    We reached Laney Hall and took the elevator up to my floor. My stomach bubbled with nerves and excitement. I desperately wanted a goodnight kiss, and then some, but when we reached my door, my shoulders sank.
    “Is that a sock?” Ryder asked.
    Hanging from the knob was a rainbow-striped sock. “Um, yeah. Which means Luke and Fallon really hit it off. How did they get here so fast?” We’d caught a few lights on the way home, but did our cab driver purposely take a long way to campus to make more money?
    “Interesting. This happen often?” He gestured to the door.
    “Sadly…yes.” I slumped against the wall. My buzz waned quickly and now I just wanted sleep. “But trust me, I’d rather find a sock there than blindly walk in. Been there, done that.” I shook my head, recalling the awkward run-ins before the sock rule was instated.
    “You’re kidding?” His expression was somewhere between incredulous and amused, but if he’d known my roommate, he wouldn’t have been surprised. Though he’d probably still be amused. Mason sure had been as I’d recounted the whole incident in horrifying, graphic detail.
    “Um, no. But the whole knocking to enter my own room got old after a while. This was our compromise.”
    He nodded toward the door. “So what do you do when it happens?”
    “Depends what time of day it is. Usually I just go to Mason’s room.”
    “Oh.” He crammed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Walk with me?”
    He could probably hear my frantic heart rate. “Um, sure.” Cocky Ryder was intimidating. Sweet Ryder damn near killed me. When his ego ruled his attitude, I could pretend to still hate him, but the way he’d behaved tonight kind of made me want to let him do everything Fallon theorized.
    We stepped outside and walked down the sidewalk. The campus was dark and quiet. Occasional laughter or voices would ring out, but for the most part it was just us.
    “Can we sit for a minute?” My feet throbbed from the wedges and I desperately wanted them off.
    “Yeah.” He glanced around.
    There really was no good place to sit and, considering I was in a tiny dress, I couldn’t just sit on the ground. Along the sidewalk the ground sloped a little and was padded with grass. It’d have to do.
    “Here’s fine.” I sat on the embankment and unlaced my shoes. They slipped off and I buried my feet in the cold grass.
    Ryder leaned back, placing his palms on the ground behind him. “I’ve never really spent time on campus this late at night. Kind of nice.”
    “It is.” The sky was dark but a few stars were visible. A gentle breeze rustled the trees overhead. I stretched my legs out and crossed them at the ankle.
    “Tell