Free Cornered by Amy Valenti

Cornered
    by Amy Valenti
     
     
    Chapter One
     
    I’d never seen a girl try to turn a sandwich in the university cafeteria into a r omantic dinner date before, but the new student, Kate, seemed determined to turn my friendly gesture of welcome into something more , and without offending her I could do jack about it. Though I ate as quickly as I could , she took tiny bites of her meal, drawing it out for as long as possible.
    I made polite conversation, smiling and nodding where appropriate, but Kate either didn’t read the signs or had decided to ignor e them. Just as her foot brushed mine under the table, I hear d a familiar voice across the room, and look ed over to see Sian wal k in .
    She was a friend, officially. Unofficially, we both knew it was just a matter of time before we became something more . I wasn’t sure when, but sooner or later I was gonna have to ask her out. We’d been dancing around each other for a year or so now, and the situation had progressed from exciting to maddening.
    She spotted me, and a slow smile spread across her face. Doubtless our fellow students had been gossiping ab out the situation, and she ’d come to check the situation out. She tilted her head a little to analyse Kate . I narrow ed my eyes at her a little i n warning, and her smile split i nto a full-on grin as she headed for the vending machines.
    Kate noticed my c hange in expression, and glanced over her shoulder to find the source of it. Her brows shot up when she located Sian , who was g othed up to the nines as usual, and she jerked a thumb over her shoulder, leaning in toward s me conspiratorially. “Takes all sorts, I guess.”
    “ She’s in our next class ,” I told her, relieved to be off the topic of her childhood in Mississippi .
    “You’re kidding me,” she said, frowning . “ She’s a medical student ?”
    “ Just cause she ’s g oth, that doesn’t mean she’ll make a bad doctor ,” I replied , shrugging. “ She’s smarter than me. ”
    “Oh, I certainly am ,” Sian called , scooping a candy bar from the machine. “ And I can hear you.”
    As she meandered over to us, I perform ed the introductions. “ Kate Howard , meet Sian Turner .”
    “Good to meet you,” Sian said , rounding the table and taking a seat … in my lap.
    Trying to ignore the sensations that having her warm body pressed against mine evoke d , I breathe d into her ear, “What the hell, Sian ?”
    “I’m rescuing you,” she replied , her equally soft words sending tingles through my skin. “Work with me, he re. ”
    I was in uncharted waters, but I’d always been able to improvise at a moment’s notice. Slipping my arms around her waist, I pull ed her tighter against my body, smiling up at her. “Good day?”
    “I t’s getting better,” she answered lightly, with the slightest quirk of her eyebrow. Before I could respond, she d irected her next words toward Kate . “So how’d you meet my boy?”
    Kate blinked at us, dismayed. If i t wasn’t for the fact that she was clearly interested in more than a cafeteria sandwich, I’d have fe l t bad for her. “We’re in the same dorm .”
    “ Cool, ” Sian said , smothering a smile. S he turned further toward Kate , adjusting her position in my lap a little and giving an almost imperceptible gasp when I tighten ed my grip in response. “Hope y ou’re finding your way around okay.”
    “You two known each other long?” Kate asked , trying to act as though I didn’t have a strikingly attractive girl nestled close to me.
    “ Since our first anatomy class, last year, right? ” I said , and Sian shot me a theatrically delighted glance.
    “You remember the date we me t? That’s so sweet!” Before I could anti cipate her next move, she kissed me full on the mouth, her lips lingering for a couple of seconds longer than was appropriate under the circ umstances. My instincts overrode my common sense, and I couldn’t stop myself from kissing back, enjoying the