#Nerd (Hashtag #1) (5 page)

Rimmel

I knew when he walked into the library. I didn’t even have to look. I felt the change. I felt people actually turn and glance his way. How did he do it?

How did he command so much attention… so much energy just by walking into a room?

I kept my eyes down on the paper in front of me. The guy didn’t need any more attention. I was surprised he could even walk upright with his big fat head.

I heard his deep chuckle. His low voice filled the room as he spoke to others as he walked through the library. I sat in the back tonight. I figured the less people around us, the less chance of him wandering off into the back of the aisles with some random girl.

Just the memory of how I found him the last time we were here was enough to make me squirm in my seat. I could still see the look of pleasure on his face, the way his lashes fanned out across his cheeks. I remember the way the girl moved, the sounds she made in the back of her throat. She seemed to enjoy it.

I wondered if that was something I would enjoy.

His dark-colored bag hit the top of the table, and I jerked in surprise. “Are you daydreaming?” he teased as I looked up.

I glanced at my watch. “You’re on time.”

“Told ya I would be.” Romeo used one large hand to spin the bag toward him so he could pull out his books and notebook.

Seconds later, a girl with long dark hair and a big chest sidled up to the table. If she knew I was sitting here, she gave no indication. “Hey, Romeo.”

“Hey,” he said, offering an easy smile.

“Are you going to the bonfire tonight?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” he said. “How about you?”

I watched her tug a strand of hair away from her shoulder and twirl it around her finger. I rolled my eyes and pulled a paper out of his book with his assignments written on it. He had a history paper due on Tuesday.

“Where’s your outline for your paper?” I said, interrupting his flirting. She wasn’t too happy about the interruption and glanced over and gave me a dirty look. I looked away.

“Maybe I’ll see ya tonight,” he said, turning away.

She muttered some silly reply and left.

“Your outline?” I asked again.

He gave me a sheepish look.

“Oh my God.” I groaned. “Please tell me you have an outline.”

He shrugged.

“A topic? Resources?” I tried.

“I’ve been really busy at practice. Coach has been running us into the ground.”

“Those excuses might work on everyone else in this building, but not me,” I snapped.

His sinfully blue eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”

“I told you I wasn’t going to do your assignments.”

“I didn’t ask you to,” he bit out.

I blew out a breath. “No, you didn’t. Sorry.” I turned away to get a pen out of my bag. I really didn’t want to get into some kind of argument with him. He was already garnering enough attention for doing nothing at all.

Romeo had gone silent. He was staring at me, and my stomach did a little flip. “Did you just apologize?” He seemed surprised.

“Umm…”

“Girls never apologize.”

I snorted. When I realized what I’d done, I slapped a hand over my mouth and nose. When I peeked up through my hair, I saw the broad grin stretched across Romeo’s face. He was laughing at me.

I turned away. “Do you have a list of approved topics?”

The paper appeared beneath my nose. I scanned it quickly and found a topic I was familiar with. “Do this one,” I said, pointing it out.

I didn’t wait for him to reply. I pushed back my chair and stood. “Let’s get some reference books. Then we’ll start the outline.”

I wandered down an aisle I knew had what we would need and didn’t bother to see if he was following. Truth was I probably
would
do his assignment if it got me out of here quicker.

I spotted a row of books that looked to be useful and stared up at them, pondering the titles. Romeo moved up beside me with quiet grace. I figured that was a benefit of being so athletic. Most guys his size weren’t as graceful. He moved so close I could feel the heat radiating off his frame.

His warmth was delicious, and I fought the urge to lean closer. Being a Florida girl made it really hard to get used to the seasonal changes here in Maryland. Every time I stepped outside my dorm and the crisp fall air met my skin, I was shocked. But standing here in this narrow, silent row with Romeo’s body heat threatening to wrap around me to keep out the chill, I wasn’t shocked.

I was something else entirely.

I cleared my throat and blindly reached for one of the books. At this point, any book would do. Of course, the books I wanted were above my head, mocking my short stature. The tips of my fingers brushed the front of the shelf and I rose up on my very tiptoes to try and get a little higher.

In my desperation, I lost my balance and teetered over. I probably would have landed in a heap on the floor, but a solid arm wrapped around my waist and tugged me back. Romeo anchored me against his chest, holding me there while he reached up with his other arm and brought down a book.

He didn’t let go.

Leaving his arm wrapped around my middle, he lowered the book in front of my eyes. “Is this the one you wanted?”

His voice was just above my ear, the question a mere whisper against my hair.

I shivered.

His arm tightened around me.

My eyes tried to droop closed. He smelled good again today. Clean, deep, and my eyes popped back open.

What the hell was I doing!

I straightened and took the book. “Yes, thanks.”

He dropped his arm but didn’t move back. I took a breath and pointed at another book on the high shelf. “Grab that one too.”

He did and I moved off, down the aisle and around to the other side. He followed, but this time he didn’t crowd me.

After we chose a few more books and articles, we settled back at the table and got to work. It was easy to forget about the effect he seemed to have on even me when we slipped into the assignment. Time flew by as we worked.

Romeo was surprisingly intelligent, and he didn’t just sit there and make me give him all the answers. Before I knew it, we had an entire outline and his introduction. My back felt stiff from sitting on the unforgiving library chair, and I pushed back from the papers and stretched a little.

The clock hanging above the exit had me blinking. We’d been sitting here for a little over two hours. Time was up.

“If you follow the outline and write a couple sentences on each bullet point, your paper should be no problem to finish over the weekend,” I said.

“Do you ever do anything other than study and homework?” he asked. His voice wasn’t condescending or even sarcastic, so I tried not to bristle.

“What makes you think all I do is homework?”

The corner of his lips tilted up. “Because you knew where the reference books we needed were. Because you’re really good at homework.”

“I did an assignment on your topic last year. I used those books.” I defended myself, bending down to snag my bag off the floor. “And yes, I have a life outside of schoolwork.”

“Are you going to the bonfire tonight?” he asked, shoving his papers in his bag. He had no organization at all.

“No.”

He glanced up in surprise. “No?” Then he smiled. “Is fun not your thing?”

I stuck out my tongue.

“I didn’t realize a fire in the middle of a field was considered fun.”

He was already standing, towering over me, but once I spoke, he dropped back into his chair and rotated so his body faced me. “It’s not necessarily what you’re doing. It’s who you’re doing it with.”

He flashed me one of his smiles that lit up the entire room.

It was hard not to be affected by him. Especially when that smile was directed at you and so were his incredibly clear blue eyes. Suddenly, I understood why so many girls fell at his feet. He had an uncanny ability to make whoever he was focused on his entire universe.

I’d never been the center of anyone’s universe before. Okay, maybe I had, but it was different and it had been very long ago.

And then there was the other time I felt like this…

I jerked away from his attention, my elbow sliding across the table and knocking into my water bottle. It fell over on its side and the cap popped off. Water gushed out over the surface of the wood, and I shrieked. My chair clattered against the floor as I jumped to my feet and pulled my books out of the way.

Romeo also stood, but it was a fluid, silent movement. As I fumbled around looking desperately for something to stop the water from covering everything, Romeo reacted.

In one smooth motion, he reached behind him, palming the back of his cotton shirt, and slid it up over his back until it was free of his head. He tossed the shirt onto the water, and as it soaked it up, he picked up my now empty bottle and recapped it.

Excited murmurs filled the once silent room around us.

Giggling and loud sighs floated in our direction.

The book in my hand felt like it weighed a million tons as my gaze latched onto Romeo. He was standing there without a shirt.

Completely bare-chested.

His body was incredibly honed and sculpted. If he wasn’t standing there breathing right in front of me, I would have thought he was a sculpture. Every single muscle in his torso and chest was precisely defined. The corded muscles in his arms were sleek and long, stretching out across his broad shoulders and meeting with his wide, solid chest. His waist tapered down into a V and he had these muscles…

I swallowed.

These muscles that stood out just above his low-slung jeans. It was like indentations on either side of his hips.

My mouth felt dry as I stared at those hollow dents.

“How much of your stuff got wet?” he asked, his calm tone breaking into my muscle-induced trance.

“Umm, what?” I said, snapping my eyes to his face.

He chuckled and I felt my face flame. He totally knew I was checking him out.

“Is your stuff ruined?”

“Oh,” I said, tearing my eyes from his golden skin and down to my things. “No, it’s fine,” I mumbled. I glanced at the table where his shirt was completely saturated. His wide hand palmed the fabric and mopped up what was left of the liquid.

The way his back muscles moved as he leaned over the table to swipe it stole my attention. I forced my eyes away. Not only should I be embarrassed about the mess, but also for staring this way.

“I’m sorry,” I said, reaching out to help him.

He tossed a grin over his shoulder. “I got it. No worries.”

The librarian cut through the small crowd gathered around our table (all girls) and gave us a glare. “What’s going on here?”

Romeo straightened from the table, clutching his drenched shirt. “We had a spill,” he explained. “But it’s taken care of.”

“Oh,” she said. The irritation in her eyes quickly changed into something else… something like admiration.

Oh, gross. The librarian was totally checking him out.

“Sorry for the disruption,” he said and gave her a lopsided smile.

He totally knew what kind of effect he had and he was eating it up.

“Well,” she said, still looking at him. “As long as everything is cleaned up.”

“It is,” I said, suddenly irritated.

The librarian transferred her gaze to me and it hardened. “Rimmel.” She sighed. “I should have known the commotion was caused by you.”

Embarrassment speared me as people snickered. I began packing up as Romeo entertained his audience.

I turned to leave, ready to disappear in the crowd, but I didn’t get very far. Romeo wrapped his hand around my wrist and tugged me around. He was wearing his varsity jacket over his bare chest. The front was open and showed the indent of his abs all the way down to his jeans.

“See you Monday?” he asked.

“Sure,” I mumbled.

The crowd parted and let me through, swallowing me up as I went. Romeo’s rich laugh filled the back of the library as I moved toward the door.