Free Bet in the Dark by Rachel Higginson

at the door for a minute, while I tried to find a large enough something to crawl under and possibly die. I didn’t know if cause of death would ultimately be from stupidity or embarrassment, but I was positive at this point, either one was possible.
                  If only I could find a space big enough to hide my stupid, betraying body.
                  I could not believe I was about to kiss him!
                  What kind of wanton idiot was I all of a sudden?
                  Maybe Colton did more of a number on me than I originally thought. After all it took me six months before I gave him an opportunity to kiss me. Not that he didn’t try, I just never let myself be open to that. Then again, I wasn’t sure I was super attracted to Colton in the first place. But those were therapeutical musings for another day. Besides, now here I was, not even three weeks out from our breakup and I was the one initiating things with the untouchable Fin Hunter.
                  I meant, Fin.
                  Just Fin.
                  The super-hot, super dangerous, super bad influence senior that knew all of my brothers.
                  Ding ding ding, and stupidity wins over embarrassment every day of the week.
                  “You alright, Ellie?” Fin was looking back at me from over his shoulder, his hand stilled on the intercom to let the pizza guy up.
                  I was standing in the middle of his living room biting a hole through my bottom lip.
                  Ugh.
                  “Fine,” I squeaked. Cleared my throat. And tried again, “I’m fine, just hungry. Faint with hunger almost. I mean, man cannot live off Ramen Noodles alone, right?” What was I saying??? I cleared my throat again. “What I’m trying to say is let the pizza guy-“
                  The loud buzzer blaring through the apartment cut off my command, but somehow I could still clearly hear Fin’s laughter.
                  I did eventually escape to the bathroom, where I had a stare down with myself in the bathroom mirror. Like the rest of the apartment, Fin’s bathroom was even cool. It was huge and spacious and by all the amenities in the glassed in tile shower, I guessed he didn’t have an en suite in the master. There was an actual claw foot bathtub completely separate from the shower, though when I looked inside it was kind of dusty so I was guessing Fin wasn’t the type of guy to take relaxing bubble baths. The mix of modern and cozy antique was completed with a detached sink that boasted an open faucet and a burnished gilded mirror. In the long vanity there were so many cabinets to open and snoop through, but I kept my attention firmly on my own reflection.             
                  We needed to have a talk.
                  Me, myself and I.
                  Fin was completely off limits. Not only was he probably the farthest thing from interested in me, but my brothers would go ballistic. Seriously, lose their minds over this. It wasn’t just the rumors I heard from other people on campus, it was rumors I heard directly from them.
                  While they themselves might live debauched, womanizing lives, they would never condone it in another man, especially one their sister was interested in.
    And really, is that what I was looking for anyway?
Was I trying to get a membership into the fan clubs I utterly hated?
    No, I wasn’t.
    I didn’t even want to be here in the first place. This was a debt, a debt that wasn’t even mine. So why on earth was I making things harder for me?
    Game plan: pizza, finish “orientation,” get lost.
    Easy.
    I turned the water on and washed my hands in icy cold water, trying to bring back every last piece of common sense I had lost out in Fin’s office. Eventually, I