To Love a Player
Authors: Gjoe Uzor
To Love a Player
Gjoe Uzor
Published by Biblio Publishinig at Smashwords
Copyright © 2013 Gjoe Uzor and Biblio Publishing
www.BiblioPublishing.com
ISBN:
978-1-62249-112-4
1
Mollie
I was rushing across the quad, praying that I would make it to my last class of the day. I lost track of time after lunch while studying in the library. When I looked at my watch, I realized that I had five minutes to run across campus just to make it on time. It was one of those times where I wished I had a scooter or one of those Segway things. I was nearly there, there was only the open courtyard separating me and the door to the hall where my class was held.
All of a sudden, I felt something hard crash into me and I catapulted towards the hard ground below. Closing my eyes, I braced myself for the landing and was surprised when I felt myself hovering just inches above it. Looking down, I noticed two arms holding my waist and I tried to ignore the tingling sensation their grasp was sending through my body. Instead, I focused on my anger of nearly getting knocked down.
"Hey," I shouted, looking angrily into the bluest eyes I had ever seen and seethed, "watch where you're going!"
A smirk appeared on the face that was mere inches from mine and the guy holding me said, "Wow, how about 'you're welcome, Callen, for saving me from eating dirt.' That would be so much better than yelling at me. You're the one who wasn't looking where they were going."
"So you ran into me on purpose?" I asked, glaring at him as I bent down to pick up the contents of my bag that had spilled on the ground.
"Something like that," he smirked as he squated down and handed me my notebook that landed at his feet. I shot him another glare and he shrugged, nodding to something behind me. "Plus I saved you from tripping over that bench right there."
I followed his nod and saw the bench that would have gotten in my way. I was still mad, but I didn't want to seem rude, so I muttered, "Thanks." He raised his eyebrows and shrugged like it was no big deal. I narrowed my eyes at him for a moment, trying to figure out where I had seen him before. He raised an eyebrow, shooting me a questioning look before I shook my head. If I hurried to my class, I would be able to sneak in the back door without being noticed. Since class would have just started, the test wouldn't be handed out yet.
Opening the door, I saw that my professor's back was turned and knew that this was my opportunity. I quickly dashed in, almost making it to the nearest chair when the door slammed shut behind me, stopping me in my tracks. Turning, I saw the guy that nearly knocked me over outside saunter in, his blue eyes honed in on me and he was wearing a huge smirk as he passed me, taking the chair that I was rushing to get to. Ugh, seriously? What is it with him?
"Miss Black, so nice of you to join us," Professor Elliott's voice boomed in the small auditorium. I could feel my cheeks going pink with embarrassment as everyone's head turned in my direction. My new enemy still had that goofy smirk, I resisted the urge to slap it off his face. Somehow I thought that he would enjoy that a little too much. Wait, how is this guy in my class? I've never seen him before. Not that I would have really noticed because I usually sat in the front.
"I'm sorry, professor, I was in the library getting ready for our test today." I said with a sheepish smile. I heard the guy cough, "Kiss Ass" and a few girls near him let out sickening sweet giggles as if it was the funniest thing they ever heard. I shot him a fuming look, which he returned with another smirk. He was such an ass.
Professor Elliott just waved his hand for me to take my seat. I found one in the middle of the row in front of me and cringed because it meant that I had to crawl over people to get to it. I mumbled apologies as I made my way to the chair and sat down. My professor started passing out the tests to each row and I tried to squelch the anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach. I had studied and studied for this test and knew that I would get a good grade, but I was still anxious hoping that the information that I just soaked in at the library would stay fresh in my mind. I knew that my professor loved to put a twist to his test and the information that you spent all your time studying would be omitted, so I always made sure that I was doubly prepared.
I felt something hit me in the back of the head, so I turned to see Callen wink at me. I rolled my eyes at him before shooting him another glare. He just smirked at me; he seemed to be enjoying my annoyance. Shaking my head, I turned to the test in front of me, praying that I had studied hard enough. It was the last big test before our final in two weeks, almost like a prelude to what we would be expecting. I closed my eyes to clear my mind and got to work.
I stared blankly at the test in front of me, wishing I had studied last night instead of hooking up with the hot blonde who offered to tutor me. What was her name? Britney? Chutney? Chelsea? Shrugging my shoulder slightly, I knew that it didn't matter. I looked up and saw her send me a sexy smile, so I winked and gave her one of my trademark smiles. I loved college; it was so much better than high school. You could hook up with as many girls as you wanted to and didn't have to worry about being caught by your parents, or theirs.
My eyes focused on the brunette in front of me. I was curious as to why she didn't react like the girls I usually "accidentally" bumped into. The currents from our brief embrace were still ringing through my body. I hadn't ever felt that with a girl before. I loved how fiery her gray-blue eyes got when she glared at me; they reminded me of a storm brewing in the distance.
I smiled at the back of her head as I watched her writing furiously on her paper. I watched with fascination as I saw her gather up her long hair and twisted it up, putting her spare pencil in it to secure it. The skin of her neck looked soft and instantly, I wanted to kiss along the nape and tangle my hands in her hair. I saw her tuck the wayward strands that had fallen out behind her ears and I shook my head of the thoughts that started popping into it, trying to focus on the test in front of me.
My eyes ignored my brain and kept looking up at her neck. I knew that I couldn't focus as long as her neck was tempting me, so I checked to make sure Professor Elliott wasn't looking and leaned forward, removing the pencil and watching her hair cascade back down to her shoulders. I groaned internally at how exotic the sight of that made me feel. It was a fleeting moment because she whipped around and gave me an icy glare. I gave a quick nod of my head and smirked as I whispered, "Thanks for the pencil."
She narrowed her eyes at me and ripped it out of my hand. My eyes focused on her full lips as she mouthed, "Leave me alone!" before turning around, tossing her hair angrily over her shoulder. I raised my eyebrows in amusement, shaking my head and went back to the test. I finished with ease and instead of leaving, I stared down at her still working away. I peered over her shoulder and saw that she was going back through her answers. She's a perfectionist, I thought as I watched her correct herself.
I began to wonder why it was that I had never seen her in this class before. It wasn't that I was honestly looking; I usually was flirting endlessly with the girls that sat next to me. She must have sat towards the front of the room which was at least ten steps down from where I was. She stood up from her seat and I shot her a sexy grin, which she rolled her eyes at and kept on walking. I watched her walk down the stairs, hand her test in, and walk out the door. I slung my bag over my shoulder and practically ran down the steps, tossing my test to our professor and dashed out the door.
When I got outside, I spotted her walking across the courtyard, so I jogged to catch up with her. I reached out for her arm, pulling her to an abrupt stop. Her eyes darkened with a glare and bored holes into mine when she saw that it was me. She yanked her earbuds out of her ears and yelled, "Seriously, what is wrong with you?"
"I was going to apologize and offer to buy you a latte," I said, pulling her close to me. This move was one of my favorite moves to use on girls because they always melted in my arms. This girl, however, put her hands up onto my chest and shoved me back, causing me to stumble slightly because I wasn't expecting it. I looked at her shocked, not believing that she had just shoved me away. Her eyes were a raging storm now as she said angrily, "Leave me alone. Go find some bimbo to hit on or something, isn't that what you do?"
My mouth opened slightly. I felt hurt by her words, even though it was true. My reputation as a player was widely known at our small college, which oddly enough still made most of the girls still want to be with me. Except for this one, a voice said in my mind. My heart thumped back, she could change your player ways. I watched as she rolled her eyes and turned away from me, leaving me to my internal thoughts. I was about to go after her when I heard my phone ring. I looked at it, seeing that it was my sister.
"Hey Lace, what's up?" I asked, watching my mystery girl walking further away from me. I saw a guy pause in front of her and I waited, with a smirk on my face, for her to react the way she did with me. Instead, she embraced him as he lifted her up and swung her around in a circle, kissing her lips. Jealousy ignited in my body and I heard my sister ask, "Cal, are you still there?"
"Uh yeah, sorry. What did you need?" I asked, my eyes still on my girl and this boy who was now walking with his arm around her waist. I heard my sister sigh as she repeated what she had said earlier, "I need you to come spend some time with your nieces and nephew this afternoon. I have my last interview with a potential summer nanny."
"Still haven't found one yet, huh?" I asked, feeling sorry for her. My sister was returning to her job as a fashion designer full-time after working part-time for the last two years. There were complications with her last pregnancy, my nephew, so she didn't feel comfortable with travelling as much as she used to and did a lot of her work from home. She was having trouble finding a nanny perfect enough, they were either too old fashioned or they were only after the job because of who she was. Those were the ones who didn't really care about the kids and those were the ones that I hated the most.
"Ugh, no," she groaned. "I'm one interview away from calling an agency and crossing my fingers that they send me Mary Poppins. I just hope this last girl is what I need or else I will have to rely on you this summer."
"You know that I would love to do that rather than work for your husband and our father at the firm." I said, wishing that she would say yes. My father had gotten the idea that it was time for me to grow up and leave what he deemed as my 'immature ways' behind me. He had an unpaid summer internship at his engineering firm for me. I would be working on a big project, alongside my brother-in-law, who I wasn't a big fan of. The only perk was that I got to live at their guest house on their huge property and honestly, I didn't really need the money since I was loaded. I was looking forward to a lot of weekend parties and lounging by the pool. Okay, yeah that does sound immature, but really it was going to be summertime, who wanted to be stuck in the office all day long?
"Daddy would kill me if I let you do that, besides, I can't exactly trust you to keep an eye on them while you're seducing your weekly fling," she said, half joking. I pretended to sound annoyed as I said, "Hey now! Wait, who needs a favor this afternoon?"
"Oh little brother, you know that all I want is for you to stop with your slutting around and settle down with a girl who sparks your heart," she sighed and added, "Speaking of which, I hear Sophie's back in town from Paris."
"Ugh, no thanks," I grumbled."Trust me, there are no sparks there."
Lacey laughed as she said, "Yeah I know, there's a whole fire. Anyway, so can you come spend time with your adorable nieces and nephew? The interview is a three-thirty."
I smiled as I replied, "Alright, I'll see ya in a half hour."
I was lost in angry thoughts when I noticed someone pausing in front of me. Looking up, I almost expected to see Callen standing there, but knew there was no way he would have been able to run and casually stop in front of me. I changed my scowl to a wide smile when I saw that it was my boyfriend, Ben. He gave me a curious look as he picked me up, twirled me around and gave me a long kiss.
"Why the scowl, babe?" he asked as we continued walking towards my dorm so I could change for my interview. I shook my head as I leaned into his grasp around my waist and said, "It doesn't matter. How did your project go?"
Ben sighed deeply, giving a shrug as he said, "I think it went okay. Hopefully the company will like it and I'll be selected for the internship."
Ben was in school for graphic design and was selected with four other people to compete for an internship at Premier Designs, a prestigious graphics design company. His teacher all but told him that he was a shoo-in, but it really depended on what the image manager for the company thought. If he got it, then he would be about an hour away from me in Boston.