Chapter Four
HANNAH
I slapped down the piece of paper with Nathan’s name on it on my professor's desk and shook my head. “I need another name, Ms. Walsh, the topic you gave me is impossible to explore further.”
She leaned back in her chair. “Is that so?”
I nodded eagerly. The truth was that I was still pretty ticked off about what had gone down last night. The sooner I could get rid of all traces of Nathan Cummings the better and that included the little piece of paper with his name on it. “He won’t sign it, he flat out refused to sign it.”
She studied my face for a few beats, not even bothering to look at the paper I had placed in front of her. “I think you should keep trying, Hannah.” And then she looked back down at the stack of papers in front of her, silently dismissing me.
My mouth hung open. Had everyone lost their mind around here? I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. “Ms. Walsh, you aren’t understanding me, I can’t do the assignment, my subject wants nothing to do with it.” I was trying to keep my tone calm, trying to remember no matter how annoyed I currently was, she was still my professor.
“Keep trying.” She didn’t even look up.
“I can’t.”
“Then you fail.” She looked up and met my eyes.
“But I need this class to graduate!”
“Then I suggest you get started on your assignment, Ms. Parker.”
I stood there for a second, stunned into silence. Once I realized she wasn’t going to say anything else I lunged forward and grabbed the paper from her desk again before I stomped out of the room and slammed the door shut behind me.
Okay, maybe, I was being a little dramatic but could you really blame me?
My entire grade depended on the campus hottie who happened to have the biggest chip ever on his shoulder. Even if I could get him to ever talk to me again there was no way he would get over his cocky attitude long enough to actually agree with what I needed from him.
I was still fuming twenty minutes later, even with a fresh coffee in my hands. The swift breeze across the campus did little to calm my overwhelming anxiety about the situation at hand. Ms. Walsh was normally so reasonable. What was her problem? It wasn’t my fault Nathan wanted nothing to do with me!
Not that I wanted anything to do with him, either.
He was awful. He was full of himself. He thought the entire world revolved around him just because he could throw a damn football. Must be nice to live in such a bizarre fantasy land. Sure, he had managed to manipulate my body into an ecstasy of hotness last night with his smoldering face and chiseled chest but the next time I saw him it would be different.
I wouldn’t be filled with the same sense of heat; I wouldn’t fall for his stupid deep blue eyes or his signature cocky smirk. No, the next time I saw him I would be firm and unaffected. I would be determined and I would get exactly what it was I needed out of him. If Nathan Cummings thought he could ruin my future just because I had bruised his pussy count last night he had another thing coming.
I was so busy thinking about how different my next encounter was going to be with him that I didn’t realize I was crashing into someone until it happened. I lunged forward, my body colliding into a hard chest forcefully.
A set of muscular arms lunged out and caught me before I could lose my balance completely and I knew who it was even before I looked up into those sparkly blues. The lust and tingles that came over my thighs gave it away right away; it was the same exact feeling as last night.
“If you wanted to get on top of me you could have just asked,” Nathan breathed.
I pushed my body off of his in annoyance, so fast that I ended up losing my balance again, this time landing on my butt in the middle of the quad. An act that would have been embarrassing under normal circumstance but added to the fact that it was in front of Nathan and the rest of his adoring fans and it resulted in outright humiliation. “Crap,” I mumbled, brushing my hands again my knees.
Nathan’s large arms were under my shoulders in seconds, pulling me up like I weighed nothing. “Fuck, Hannah, can you try to stay on your feet for more than two seconds?” Something I couldn’t read passed over his features briefly –concern maybe- before his usual lazy and full-of-himself gaze glazed back to the surface.
Being that close to him again had my body feeling all star struck. I pushed my legs together and scowled myself. Calm down, Hannah, you act like you’ve never seen a hot guy before. I tried to force my eyes away from his defined chest and up to his face but the feeling in my veins only deepened. Apparently, I had forgotten for five seconds that Nathan Cummings was more than just a hot body; he was perfect from head to toe. And that included his deep eyes, soft lips, and angled jaw.
“You,” I seethed up at him.
“Me,” he replied happily.
“You,” I said again, pushing my finger into his chest this time. “Are ruining my life.” It was only then that I realized his hands were still holding me up upright and I forced them off of me, sending the hot flash that had been overtaking my body to calm down instantly.
Nathan tightened his grip on the straps of the black bag that was slung over the back of his large shoulders and tilted his head to the side as he looked down at me. “Wow, girls usually wait until after I’ve slept with them to make such a bold statement.” And then he let out a sharp half laugh.
The sound startled me and I felt my shoulders jump slightly. Lord, was everything about Nathan captivating? Even his laugh was dominating and loud, drawing even more attention to us than before. I tried to ignore the curious looks the rest of the campus was giving us. I already knew what they were thinking. What was Nathan Cummings doing talking to a girl like me?
“My teacher refuses to give me a new subject for my research paper! Apparently, even my English teacher is obsessed with the idea of you!” I half yelled it toward him like it was an insult but it turned out to be a waste of breath since Nathan was barely paying attention to me, he was too busy winking at the blonde who just walked past him and shot him a flirty wave.
I smacked him hard across the center of the chest. “Hey, superstar, down here!”
He tore his eyes back toward me. “What? You jealous?” Then he preceded to look me up and down slowly like he was doing me a favor. His baby blues started on my feet and didn’t stop until they were resting on my face, only pausing a few times along the way. Once when he reached the spot between my legs and again when my breasts came into his view.
I crossed my arms over my chest and squeezed my legs together even tighter self-consciously. I was back to my normal self this morning, my average self. The pounds of makeup and styling products were long gone, replaced with my signature blank skin and limp brown hair. And my wardrobe? Well, let’s just say my black sweatpants and hoodie were a far reach from the tight fighting dress I had forced every part of my body into last night.
“I told you I didn’t always look like that!” I spat out before I had a chance to think about it. Ugh, why did he make me so damn nervous? He was a massive jerk! He should have been the last person in the world who I was wasting my energy on. Still, it was like a virus that had infected the entire campus, one that made you want Nathan Cumming’s approval.
What a joke.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“But you were thinking it!”
He leaned in closer to me, sending his minty scent flying further into the air. “You didn’t tell me you could read minds, Hannah. I’m not an easy man to impress but…”
“I don’t see a man anywhere.” I tried to put more distance between us.
Nathan’s eyes went dark and the smirk disappeared from his face, replaced with something deeper, something that sent shivers up my spine. He moved closer to me, moving his lips to my ear the same way he had last night. “Oh, trust me, Hannah, I’m all man.”
“Can you make me not throw up before noon?” I found myself saying even though the thought of his manhood pressed up against me wasn’t a horrible mental fantasy. I shoved him again and made a gagging sound. “You, Nathan Cummings, are going to do the right thing for once in your life and sign this damn release.”
Nathan watched in amusement as I dug through my bag, pulling out my cell phone, a bunch of pens, and a notebook before my fingers finally closed around the release. “Here!” I held it out to him, hoping he wouldn’t notice the slight shake of my hand.
Nathan glanced at it and then reached around it, grabbing my cell phone out of my hand instead and bringing the screen to life. “No passcode, really?” He shook his head in disapproval and then started typing away at my keypad.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I gasped.
He shoved my phone back at me. “I just called me from your phone.”
“What the hell for?” My voice sounded hoarse.
Ugh, why was I always swearing at him?
“Hey,” a loud voice called from across the campus. “Would you quit trying to fuck the entire freshman class, Cummings, and get your ass over here? Some of us have places to be.”
I glanced at the guy on the other side of the quad and tried to not turn an entire shade of red in the process. I had never had this many eyes on me in my life and while I knew they were only looking because of Nathan, it still made me feel extremely uncomfortable and on edge.
Nathan pushed his hand under my chin and forced me to look at him. “I’ll be in touch.” And then he slowly started to back away from me toward his boys on the other side of campus. “But, damn, don’t be embarrassed, Hannah, because you’re definitely fuckable, even when you aren’t sexed up.”
My words from last night rang through my mind and I felt like I might pass out.
Nathan smirked and shot me a wink and then he was gone completely.
Oh, I was so screwed.