I could not figure Ryan out. It had been a couple weeks since he had taken me to Stroubes. As much as I wanted to deny it, secretly inside, I’d been hoping he would ask me out again.

Honestly? I’d been dying for him to ask me out again.

But he still hadn't.

What was his deal?

I had a great time that night. He genuinely seemed to be enjoying himself too. Could I have read him wrong?

The gorgeous image of the supermodel hostess at Stroubes came back to me, reminding me that all kinds of beautiful girls threw themselves at Ryan.

Had I blown it the very first night when he asked me out in the concession stand line? Had he lost interest?

Worse - had he never been interested in the first place?

Every time I thought about him, my mind felt scrambled and crazed while a naughty tingle throbbed between my legs. Whenever we were working at Green Garden Greaux, Ryan took every opportunity possible to take off his shirt to show off his hard body.

I couldn’t blame him. He was gorgeous.

It wasn’t as if I could forget what his body looked like anyway since the first time I’d laid eyes on it. Images of his sculpted masculine form when he was shoveling dirt and his muscles were flexed dripping with sweat, played on repeat in my mind.

I couldn’t get him out of my head, but unfortunately, it seemed I was the furthest from his.

What happened?

During the Engineers Without Borders meetings, Ryan was friendly, but he seemed much more standoffish since we’d had dinner together. There seemed to be a loss of familiarity there, but I couldn’t quite understand the reason for it.

I thought we really connected that night. After he’d told me how he helped Todd, was I foolish to think we shared a special moment?

I would have never guessed Ryan was more than just a jock with a one-track mind. He wanted to help people. He wanted to make a difference in the world, just like me.

When he dropped me off after dinner, I googled LSVT BIG right away, completely in awe of how Ryan referred Todd to a licensed LSVT BIG physiotherapist. Sitting on my bed still on a high from that wonderful dinner, I watched a video on YouTube that demonstrated how LSVT BIG therapy helps Parkinson’s patients.

Recognizing the big exaggerated movements in the video, I mused over Ryan’s comment that he was interested in kinesiology research. Out of curiosity, I googled ‘Ryan Romero Kinesiology Biomechanical Biomedical.’ Like any girl with a crush, I googled ‘Ryan Romero’ before, but those results were mostly about his baseball career.

My mouth dropped open.

The first result was a link to a research article Ryan wrote for The Journal of Sports Medicine and Allied Health. He had written a literature review of previous research done on the biomechanics of baseball pitching in relation to injury risk and prevention.

I read the well-written article, marveling that Ryan had a published paper in a peer-reviewed journal, something that I hadn’t even done yet. Hot Ryan with his sculpted arms, washboard abs, and chiseled jaw had published an academic paper.

Ryan wrote: ‘The purpose of the present paper is to provide a comprehensive review of previous research on the analysis of the biomechanics of baseball pitching to provide direction for future research in injury risk and prevention.’

The abstract alone was so eloquently written I was legitimately getting aroused. Ryan Romero, not only had an incredible body, but he had an actual working brain.

He was too good to be true. Gorgeous. Smart. Accomplished.

After finding out he was a published scholar, the intensity of my attraction to him skyrocketed. To make things worse, I ran into him on campus all the time. If I wanted to forget about him, there was no viable way to. Every time I turned around, he was right there, looking hot and sexy without even trying. He always greeted me politely, but again, the flirty Ryan of two weeks ago was nowhere to be found.

All I could think was maybe he was already seeing someone else?

I spent the last two weeks on high alert looking for clues that there was another girl in the picture. The good news was that he was never with a girl the numerous times I’d run into him on campus and he never took a girl to any of the football games.

The bad news? He wasn’t showing much interest in me either.

Where was the bad boy player I’d been warned about? Helena and Gloria were adamant that he was this jock who was only trying to get into my pants. And now that I actually wanted him to even look in my direction, he showed no interest in me at all.

The words of my mother rang into my ears: if I worked hard enough and believed in myself, I could accomplish anything. Granted, my mom was, in no way, talking about getting a hot guy to be interested in me, but that didn’t matter. I was Kassandra Lee Fairchild. I was not going to give up so easily.

I was a great catch, I reminded myself. Attractive. Hard working. Intelligent. Kind.

Maybe Ryan just needed me to show interest in him? After all, I had shot him down before.

Unlike anything I have ever done in my life, I hatched a plan to get the Ryan who looked dreamily into my eyes over dinner to come back out of his shell. He was in there hiding in that gorgeous body. I just had to tease him back out. Before the EWB meeting, I went to Sabilov Lab early and sat outside in the courtyard, waiting for Ryan to get there. 

With the sole intention of making an impression on him, I wore my pink skater style skirt that flared out perfectly revealing my long legs. I paired it with my white ruffle scoop neck blouse that dipped just enough to highlight my cleavage. I made sure to wear my hair down and flowing around my shoulders. To finish the look, I swiped my lips with my Sugar Pink lip gloss. I’d never put that much effort into getting dressed before just to go to school, but I was a girl on a mission.

It felt like I had staged a photo shoot. I sat on a bench, elegantly poised with my notebook out, trying to actually go over my Chemistry notes for an exam I had later that week, but failing miserably. My eyes kept darting up from the pages to look for Ryan.

When I spotted him at the edge of the courtyard, I waited until he was just close enough to look up from my notes in surprise. With the biggest smile, I called out, “Ryan!”

Ryan looked over me and smiled in recognition, giving me a faint wave.

Keeping up my friendly casual air, I swiftly picked up my bag and notebook and walked over to him. “Hey, headed to our meeting?”

Ryan thumbed the straps of his backpack, looking towards Sabilov. “Yeah.”

“Great! I’ll walk with you,” I said.

We walked to Sabilov’s entrance. Ryan looked incredible in just a jeans and a t-shirt. A light wind blew through just then, and I could faintly smell his spicy manly scent.

Catching Ryan sneaking a glance at my plunging neckline, I knew I had him where I wanted him. “I never got to properly thank you for dinner a couple weeks ago,” I said, nonchalantly.

Ryan shook his head. “No, I should thank you. I was starving. Sorry for dragging you there. When I’m hungry, I have to stop whatever I’m doing and eat. No matter who I’m with.”

Okay, maybe it hadn’t been what I thought it was. “As a thank you, I thought maybe you’d like to grab some dinner with me after this meeting?”

Ryan grimaced. “I’d love to, but I have baseball practice after the meeting.”

My heart sank like a tossed stone. Suddenly, I felt stupid in my flared mini skirt and ruffle blouse. “Oh. Okay. Maybe some other time,” I said smiling, but inside I was chastened that my plan hadn’t worked.

Ryan held the door open for me, as I walked inside. “You know what? Some guys on the team are going to a frat party after practice. You should come.”

It was my time to grimace. A frat party?

“I don’t know. I’m not really a frat party kind of girl,” I admitted. “Don’t those parties get kind of rowdy sometimes?”

Ryan grinned. “If you go, I’ll make sure no one messes with you. I’ve got your back.”

“I don’t know,” I said uneasily.

Ryan put a hand on my arm. His hand on my bare skin exhilarated me. “You’ve got to go to at least one frat party while you’re in college, right?”

Shrugging my shoulders, I said, “Maybe? Is it a graduation requirement?”

Ryan laughed. “Yes. It’s an unwritten LSU requirement to graduate.” He lightly shook my arm in a plea. “Come on! You should go with me. After this year, I won’t be around to look after you.” He paused and said with a coy look, “In case, you know, it gets rowdy.”       

He was teasing me. And I loved it.

It wasn’t a quiet dinner gazing into each other’s eyes like I had hoped for, but it was hanging out. And Ryan looked so cute smiling at me and offering to watch out for me at the party.

Normally, a frat party was the last place I’d ever thought I’d go, but I couldn’t say no to Ryan.

I smiled at him playfully. “Okay. I’ll take you up on that.”

Ryan flashed me a sexy grin. “You won’t regret it.”

I hoped he was right.