ROMANCE: Bad Boy Romance: GAINING YARDS (Alpha Male College Football Player and BBW First Time) (Contemporary New Adult Sports Romance) (6 page)

The library was packed, but Emma knew it would empty out soon. The frat party at Mason's place was tonight; she'd heard Zoey and some others talking about it. Apparently it was a big deal. It was alumni night—past members and new members got a chance to welcome each other. Everyone was trying to cram their studying into one short, intense session before heading over there. Even Zoey was here right now, her nose grinding against her books. When seven o' clock hit though, Emma would have the place all to herself.

She flipped through her biology and chem books, marking important passages with a tab before writing things into her notebook. There was another big test in biology on Monday and Emma couldn't afford to bomb it again.

The only good thing to come out of the last test was that no one in class had passed it with anything higher than a C, so Professor Douglas had decided to grade everything on a curve, thus turning her F into a C. Mason, as it turns out, had received the highest grade in class, much to Professor Douglas's astonishment. He appeared to have decided that Mason was some sort of idiot savant, and was now trying to nurture his untapped scientific genius rather than make fun of him.

Emma flipped back and forth between the pages of her bio book looking for the answer to question fourteen on the practice test Professor Douglas had given them. There were to be no surprises this time, he said, for which the entire class had thanked him.

She was flipping back to chapter nine when something hit the side of her head. She looked down and saw a paper airplane fall to the floor. It toppled onto its side; written in bright pink letters were the words "Open Me." Emma looked around but didn't see anyone watching her. She unfolded the airplane and read the message:

I love you. Please give me another chance. I'd do anything for you, including humiliate myself. Look up.

Emma raised her head and saw Mason walking towards her, a feather boa draped around his shoulders, a pink bathrobe covering his body. A small giggle escaped her throat. She couldn't help it. He looked ridiculous. Someone next to her looked up, and that person nudged the one next to them. Soon the whole library had their eyes on Mason. He stopped in front of Emma, who was trying to hide her smile.

"Mason," she said. "If you think that parading around in a bathrobe makes up for what you did to me..." But she couldn't hide the light creeping into her eyes.

"I don't," he said. "But I'm betting this does." He jumped onto the table where Emma sat with her books spread out. "Here ye, here ye," he said, raising his arm like the Statue of Liberty. He had the total attention of everyone in the library, including the librarians and professors who were working there.

"Mason," Emma whispered, tugging on his robe. "What are you doing?"

He took a deep breath. "I would like to declare, right here and now, my undying love for Emma Davis." He looked down at her and she felt her cheeks burn. She really wished he'd come back down from the table now. She appreciated what he was doing. But apparently he wasn't done.

"To prove my love for this woman, I would now like to perform a song just for her."

There were laughs and groans. She saw Professor Douglas in the back, holding a book and watching with a surprised smile on his face. Then, before Emma knew what was happening, Mason removed the pink bathrobe. The library burst into a round of laughter and applause as Mason stood before everyone in a hot pink lace thong. He began to sing:

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,

You make me happy, when skies are grey,

You'll never know dear, how much I love you,

Oh please don't take, my sunshine away."

People stood up and began to stamp and applaud, hollering so that it didn't seem like a library anymore. It was more like a football stadium. Mason's cheeks were glowing. He looked down at Emma and reached out a hand to her. She took it.

"Am I forgiven?" he asked.

"Most definitely," she said, her face beaming.

"Good. I have one last thing I need to do. Will you meet me outside my frat house tonight at seven?"

"Okay."

He smiled and gave her a kiss that made her heart race before raising his head back up and looking across the sea of students who were still applauding. The librarians were trying to get things under control again.

"And just so this love of mine will never again doubt me..." he said, then he pulled the lace thong off in one swift move and jumped off the table, streaking through the library as the applause tripled and the librarians gave up.

Emma's heart had never felt so light. Zoey came running up to her. "I got it all on video. What's your email? I'll send it to you."

Emma couldn't hide the shock on her face as Zoey took her email down and seconds later Emma had the video in her inbox.

"Thanks."

"No problem," Zoey said. "Do you have a dress for tonight?"

Emma shook her head.

"Come on," Zoey said, closing Emma's books up. "There's not much time."

An hour later Emma emerged from her dorm room with Zoey, who was now behaving like they were old friends rather than enemies. They walked across the grounds together, Zoey leaving her when she saw Mason approaching. "Good luck," she whispered.

"Thanks," Emma said. The dress she wore was bright pink—Zoey said she should wear it in honor of Mason's love declaration—and hugged every curve of her body.

"Hi," he said, taking her in his arms. "You look beautiful."

He kissed her hard and her insides tingled. She was ready to forget the frat party and go back to her room. "Thank you for coming. You know I meant every word I said in the library, right?"

She nodded. There was no denying his feelings for her anymore. "I love you," he said, pressing his lips to hers once more. She could almost feel his pulse as his mouth moved against hers.

"I love you too," she told him. He smiled and took her hand. "Come on," he said. "My father is an alumnus. I'll introduce you, properly this time."

"What if he hates me?" Emma asked.

"I don't care," Mason said. "I'm not losing you, ever again." He squeezed her hand and led her inside. They didn't know what the future might hold, but they knew that from now on, they'd be facing it together.

THE END

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