Free Claire (Hart University Book 2) by Abigail Strom

and one a few hours away in New York. I’d gone to both. We’d won both, too, and Andre had declared me the new team mascot, explaining that the only reason they’d lost so many games last year was that I hadn’t been there.
    Will and I had been hanging out a lot more, here at my dorm and over at his place. I felt like our friendship was on a really firm footing.
    “I have to go,” I said to Jenna. “Talk to you later, okay?”
    Then I switched calls. “Hey,” I said to Will, curling up on my side with the phone between me and the pillow.
    “Hey. Still up?”
    “No.”
    “No?”
    “Well, I’m awake, obviously. But I’m in bed.”
    A beat went by. “Oh.”
    After that Oh , there was silence.
    And then a rush of heat went through me.
    I’d gotten pretty good at restraining my lustful feelings for Will when we were together. But I didn’t have to restrain myself now, did I? I mean, he wasn’t actually here. We were on the phone. He had no way of knowing that my whole body was now a few degrees warmer, or that my nipples tightened at the sound of his voice, or that there was an itch between my legs that made me squeeze my thighs together.
    I let myself imagine that his next question would be, What are you wearing?
    Nothing , I’d tell him, even though I was wearing a pajama top and underwear. Then he’d say—
    “Are you still interested in hearing about my prospective dates?”
    I was so caught up in my silly fantasy I didn’t process what he’d said at first. “What?”
    “You said you wanted to know about contenders. Girls I want to go out with?”
    Well, that was one way to kill a girl-boner.
    I sat straight up in bed. “There’s a girl? A girl you want to go out with?”
    I prayed to God I didn’t sound as panicked to Will as I did to myself.
    “Yeah. I met her yesterday at the gym.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me about her yesterday?”
    Now I hoped I didn’t sound as pissy to him as I did to myself.
    “I didn’t know I wanted to date her yesterday. I mean, that only came up today.”
    I took a deep breath and tried to dial myself down a notch. “Oh.” I cleared my throat. “So, tell me about her.”
    “Well, she’s an athlete. A soccer player.”
    An athlete.
    Before, the panic had been sort of amorphous. But now it was settling. Hardening.
    An athlete. Will was a jock, and now he’d met a girl jock. They could talk about jock things in a way I couldn’t.
    I’d been thinking of the girls in Will’s orbit as cheerleader types like the Pantherettes I’d met. But there were lots of other girls in his orbit. Girls who might not be interested in Will for superficial reasons.
    Of course I didn’t know this girl’s deal. The mere fact that she was an athlete didn’t mean she deserved an amazing guy like Will.
    “Well.” My voice was a little rough, and I cleared my throat again. “I need to meet her, obviously. You can’t go out with her until I meet her. That’s what we said.”
    “We did? I’m pretty sure you’re making that up.”
    Of course I was.
    “I want to meet her,” I said stubbornly.
    “I don’t think there’s time. Not before the date, anyway. We made plans already. Just now. She called me, and we’re going out tomorrow night.”
    “Tomorrow night?” I could feel my panic rising again, and I forced myself to calm down. “Okay, how about this. Have her come to your house before the date, and I’ll just happen to be there. You can be upstairs getting ready, and I’ll have a chance to—”
    “I already told her I’d pick her up at her place.”
    Of course he had. Will was the kind of guy who’d pick a girl up at her place. He was a gentleman, damn it.
    “Unacceptable.”
    “But—”
    “Nope. Unacceptable. Are you going to see her before tomorrow night? Is she in any of your classes? Will you run into her at the gym? I could be there working out or something and—”
    I heard a snort of laughter. “You don’t work out, Claire. You’ve never been