{18+ COLLEGE ROMANCE COMPLETED}
What sucks more than being rejected by the girl of your dreams? Finding out afterward that she's moving in with you.
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The night that Beau Martin spends with Collins Bryant is the best one of his life. He wants to...
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"Put me down."
Despite the extreme amount of anticipation coursing through my veins, I chuckled. "You don't want to be put down, Adler."
She smacked my back, but it was weak. If Nessa wanted me to put her down, she'd have to hit a hell of a lot harder than that. I'd seen her swing a punch before. I knew what Nessa-Who-Meant-Business looked like, and this wasn't it.
When I readjusted her on my shoulder, she shrieked and grabbed onto my neck.
"Yes, I do," she protested and then pretended like her breathy voice didn't completely give away how much she was enjoying this. "I was kidding. It was a dare."
I scoffed.
I wasn't surprised that it was a dare; Nessa didn't usually act that brazen in front of her friends. She liked to keep displays of affection a little more private than Madie and Bren, who were damn near groping each other in front of the fire, and even Beau and Collins, who kept exchanging glances that made their plans for later tonight more than obvious.
But she'd meant every word she just whispered in my ear.
"It might have been a dare," I muttered. "But you weren't kidding."
"Grayson," she whined, but there was a tiny hiccup of laughter in there, too. I heard the smile in my name.
"Yes, darling?"
"Put me down."
"Fine," I said, kicking my way into the bathroom adjacent to our bedroom. Flipping Nessa back over my shoulder, I set her on the countertop next to the sink.
I let myself take in her breathless state before shooting her a wink and spinning to turn on the water in the large freestanding tub opposite the counter.
"Grayson Everett, we are not taking a bath right now."
Oh, she wanted to pull out the two-name-scolding, did she? Maybe by the end of the night, I'd get her to include Wilder, too.
With a turn of my heel, I caged Nessa in, hands planted on the countertop. Leaning in, I dropped my voice.
"Oh, so now you don't want to check out this tub?"
Nessa's throat worked as she swallowed, her brown eyes flicking up to mine. "I wasn't being serious," she said, fooling no one.
"You weren't being serious when you very purposefully reminded me of the last time you wore this swimsuit?" I slipped a finger beneath the string that held her top up, plucking it like an instrument. It was light green, bringing out the olive tones in her skin. "You weren't being serious about how you sometimes think about how hard I got when you sat on my lap in that hot tub in the mountains?"
When all Nessa could manage was to blink up at me and bite down on her lip, my grin cocked to the side. Yeah, that was what I thought. I bent even closer.
