Freya’s heart was pounding in her chest as she looked up at him. He still had her hand in his and the red hot kiss he’d planted on it was lingering there with a tingle. She felt herself blushing as she realized she couldn’t pull herself away. He smiled and bit his bottom lip.
“Yes,” Julie interrupted their moment. “This is my brother… He’s a pain in the ass, but I love him to death.”
He smiled and stepped closer to Freya so she had to scoot over for him to sit down.
“Don’t mind if I join you, do you, girls!” It was more of a statement than a question, but Freya found herself shaking her head and smiling like a kid on Christmas morning.
“Of course not,” she beamed. “It’s lovely to meet you.”
Julie noticed her enthusiasm and suppressed a grin of her own.
“So how is everything over on campus, Sis?” Kellan asked, “You’re obviously making friends.” He turned and winked at Freya.
“It’s all good,” she smiled. “But we were just saying we’re not really into all this drinking and partying… Thank god we met each other and can just spend our evenings not getting wasted and throwing up out of windows.”
“That’s because you’re classy girls,” Kellan grinned. “Imagine what dad would say if he caught you in that kind of state.”
“Exactly,” Julie nodded. “Our dad’s pretty strict,” she whispered to Freya.
“A bit?” Kellan laughed. “More like obsessively!”
The pair began to delve into a story of how their father had kept them on a tight leash all of their lives and hated the idea of them ever straying too far from home. Freya listened intently and found that she couldn’t take her eyes off Kellan. He must have only been a couple of years older than her, but he seemed so much more mature and he oozed confidence and power.
“He’ll like you though,” Kellan’s voice broke her train of thought. “You’re obviously a good influence on Julie, so I’m sure he’ll love to have you up at the house.”
“Huh?” Freya said as she realized she hadn’t caught a word they were saying.
“He was just saying normally dad doesn’t like any of my friends,” Julie laughed. “But he’ll like you because you’re clearly a nice calming influence.”
“Oh,” Freya laughed, “Yes, of course.” She made a Scout salute and Kellan laughed.
“Well you’ll have to come up and see us,” he nodded as he raised his eyebrows and took a sip of his drink. “In fact, mom and dad are away this weekend and I was thinking about having a few friends over … Nothing wild, don’t worry, good girls.”
“What do you think?” Julie turned to Freya and asked reluctantly.
“I think it would be rude not to,” Freya smiled. There was no way she was missing out on an invitation from someone like Kellan.
“Okay, Bro,” Julie said with a sigh. “We’ll come up to the house this weekend, but the first sign of silly and wild behavior and we’re both leaving, okay?”
“Okayyy,” he yawned and Julie threw a rolled-up napkin at him.
The waitress arrived at the table to take their order, and Freya found herself prickling with sweat. The heat coming from Kellan was intense, and she couldn’t figure out whether it was her attraction to him that was setting off the reaction or it was really coming from him. When he had held her hand, his skin had been hot to the touch…
He shifted on the seat next to her, and his thigh brushed up against hers. On the other side of the table, Julie was smiling as she watched them.
“And for you?” the waitress asked looking down at Freya.
“Go on,” Kellan said as he took the menu from her hands and handed it back to the waitress. “Get the ribs, I promise you won’t be disappointed.”
Okay,” Freya shrugged. “I’ll go for the ribs.”
The waitress wrote it down and went to put the order in. Kellan smiled at Freya and raised his eyebrows.
“A girl who’s not afraid to get her hands dirty, I like it!” he joked.
“Well, I can’t pass up a good recommendation, can I?” she smiled.
Her heart was fluttering in her chest as he flirted with her and made her feel at ease. There was something raw and unique about him that made her feel like he was completely different from anyone else she had ever met.
After they had finished dinner and paid their tab, the three of them walked out to the parking lot and Kellan picked up Julie and gave her a big hug.
“So good to run into you, Sis,” he grinned. He plonked her down on the ground and moved over to Freya.
“And even better to meet you,” he smiled before he leaned in and gave her a gentle peck on the cheek.
Freya blushed as she watched him walk towards his big black truck and climb inside.
“Jeez,” Julie whispered. “How hot for each other are you two?” she joked.
Freya shrugged it off and turned back towards Julie’s car.
“No need to pretend otherwise,” Julie said as she started the engine and grinned at her. “I knew you’d hit it off… that’s one of the reasons I brought you here tonight. I kind of hoped we’d bump into him.”
“Really?” Freya turned to look at her in disbelief. “But he’s your brother… Wouldn’t most girls hate that?”
“Not me,” Julie said as she pulled out of the parking lot. “In fact, the second I met you, I wanted to get to know you because I knew you’d be a good match for Kellan.”
Freya looked at her dumbfounded, like she couldn’t believe her luck.
“Girls like you are hard to find, Freya,” she said. “And I only want the best for my family.”
As they sped down the highway, Freya couldn’t keep the smile from her face. She’d made a new best friend and met an amazing man in the span of one day. So far college was shaping up to be pretty awesome indeed.