Free Romancing the R.A. (Campus Crush series) by Ashelyn Drake

bathroom. I take the world’s fastest shower and partially dry my hair. Throwing on shorts and a tank top, I check my reflection quickly and pull Julia toward the door.
                 
    “I better get details on the way.”
                 
    “We watched a movie, made out, and...” She eyes me, waiting for me to confirm her suspicions. “I’m so not telling you about the rest.”
                 
    She shrieks. “But it happened! I knew it! College agrees with you.”
                 
    Well, Andy agrees with me at least. “So, what about you and Mike?”
                 
    “Yummy, right?” Her eyes widen. “Not the greatest kisser, though. Still, he was fun to hang out with for a few hours.”
                 
    “So you slept in our room?”
                 
    “Unlike you .” She elbows me as we walk into the cafeteria.
                 
    I look all around for Andy, spotting him at a table with the other R.As, including Mike, who waves to Julia, and Melinda, who appears to have moved on judging by how she’s groping the arm of the guy sitting next to her. At least I don’t have to worry about her anymore.
                 
    “Sucks that they have to sit together at meals,” Julia says.
                 
    Then it hits me. I don’t know if I’ll get to spend time with Andy again before we leave. After breakfast, we have exams, one after the other, and then they send us home. I have to say goodbye. I can’t leave without at least giving him my number. It’ll be months before the semester starts and I’ll get to see him again.
     
    “Julia, I—”
                 
    “Need to find a way to see him before we go. I know.”
                 
    That’s why I love her. She understands me. “But how? I don’t think he’ll be at the exams, and he doesn’t even have my cell number.”
                 
    “Relax. Write your number on a napkin and tell him to text you after the exams. They should be over by eleven. You can meet up before we drive home.”
                 
    I nod. That will work. As long as he doesn’t have swim practice. “What if he—”
                 
    “Just go give the guy your number.” She hands me a napkin and her lipstick and pushes me toward Andy’s table. “I’ll get you some cereal.”
                 
    I write my number down, hating that all I have to write with is lipstick. It seems so—well, like something Melinda would do. But what choice do I have? I take a breath and walk over to Andy. “Hey.”
                 
    “Hey.” He still has the same look in his eyes as he did yesterday—the same desire.
                 
    I relax a little. “I wanted to give you this. I don’t know if you’ll be around later.”
                 
    He pockets my number while getting up from the table and walks me over to the egg station. He leans close, and his lips brush against my cheek as he says, “You can’t leave until I make an omelet for you.”
                 
    He’s going to cook for me? I smile at the sweetness of the gesture.
                 
    “I’m guessing you’re a mushroom, green pepper, and American cheese kind of girl.” He narrows his eyes, waiting for my response.
                 
    “You’re good.”
                 
    He wags his brow and starts making my omelet. I try to think of something to say, something to let him know how glad I am that we met, that I don’t regret anything that happened between us. But nothing is coming to me. At least nothing that doesn’t make me sound like an obsessed little incoming freshman.
                 
    He puts the omelet on the plate and breaks off a piece with a fork. He holds it out to me. This time I don’t hesitate to let him feed me. The omelet is heavenly.