A rush of testosterone moved through his veins at the sight of that blush that started to cover her chest and neck.
“Sure. Wherever you feel comfortable, Alex.”
If he felt this strongly about her and they’d just met… he was a fucking goner where Mary Trellis was concerned.
She’d no doubt fight the attraction, and that had a grin spreading wide on his face. He always did like a challenge.
8
Well. That certainly wasn’t how she saw today going. She hadn’t thought it would have been that easy for Alex to agree to go with her. But he’d almost seemed… excited, anticipating going with her and pretending to be her bad-boy boyfriend.
And the latter shouldn’t have made her feel as… good as she did right now. Nope, he was all wrong for her. They were like oil and vinegar. He was the epitome of what she saw as a bad boy. She was the stereotypical ideal of a good girl.
She was pretty proud of herself for at least acting semi-normal when they met, but toward the end it had been damn hard when she’d felt the way he looked at her as a physical touch.
Even now, just thinking about the way his biceps had bulged underneath his t-shirt, how she’d seen his abdomen muscles under the thin cotton as clear as day, had goosebumps skating along her flesh. Mary had to be a masochist, because the only thing Alex Sheppard would be sure to give her was a broken heart.
She exhaled as she walked down the street, bag thrown over her shoulder, focus on the asphalt. She wasn’t hard of hearing and had picked up enough talk around campus about how he could get any girl he wanted, not just because of his talent on the field, but because he was smoking hot. She’d heard plenty, too much if she were being honest, things that had to do with drunken nights at frat parties and walks of shame the next morning.
Mary found it all rather ridiculous that the girls around campus had heard the same things she had, yet they still ran up to him yearning for that broken heart and tattered appearance of a night well spent. Feeling disgusted at where her thoughts were, how consumed they were, she focused on the red stone and arched entryway of the campus library that came into view.
She got to the front double doors and pulled one open before stepping inside.
After winding through the interior, she took a seat at an available table, set her bag down, and logged into the computer. She should have focused on studying and working on her own courses, but concentrating on anything was pointless, especially when all she could think about was how her parents would react when she brought Alex to Margo’s wedding.
A lot of eyebrows would raise, a lot of gasps would sound over slightly covered mouths as they whispered between fingers how scandalous it was that she brought “trash” to their uppity little gathering. Maybe it was a bit childish to want to shock the lot of them, but all her life she’d felt like an outsider, like the square peg trying to be shoved into the round hole.
A small part of her also grew warm at the idea that Alex agreed to go with her so quickly, and with a huge grin on his face.
Mary wanted to show her parents and sister, three of the people that were in the thick of all of that down-nosing, snotty aristocratic bullshit, that she was an individual and could make her own decisions. She could be with who she wanted. It didn’t matter that it would be a fake relationship with Alex, because the fact of the matter was she would have been with him regardless. And that truth scared her because it was so strong she couldn’t even focus.
Hearing her mother repeatedly ask about bringing a date, her sister’s nagging about what she should and shouldn’t do, and the overall anxiety seemed to plague her on a daily basis. So yeah, doing this was petty and maybe even childish, but damn would it feel good just to see their faces.
So Alex joining her seemed like the perfect release.
Release.
Such a simple word, but it meant so many different things. And the one meaning currently floating around her head was the sweet rush she knew would surely consume her by being with Alex… in every way.
Mary wasn’t a virgin, but her one sexual experience was so lackluster that she’d all but forgotten it after it had happened. Alex on the other hand was most likely—most definitely—experienced as hell. So there was that intimidating little tidbit.
But no, Mary couldn’t go there. She wouldn’t, no matter how much she desired him. She wasn’t in the habit of letting her heart get destroyed, and Mary could absolutely see herself falling head over heels for Alex way too fast, what with all that charm and good looks he exuded.