“Priya. Holy shit,” he says, unfiltered. Then, seeming to realize what he said, he clears his throat before he continues, “I mean, Priya. Wow. You look… you look… that dress.”
I’ve never seen Zephyr fumble for words like this before.
I’m tempted to keep letting him stumble around this way, but I feel like that’s too mean. So, I jump in to help.
“Is it too much? My roommate decided to give me a makeover of sorts,” I tell him. “I feel like my dress is painted on.”
Zephyr just keeps staring at my dress and tryingnotto stare at my dress.
He lifts his head and smiles at me. “No, it’s not too much at all. You look incredible.”
“Thank you,” I say, blushing. “You look pretty good yourself.”
I feel like I see him blush, too.
Zephyr extends his hand in front of himself, and says, “After you.”
And we head out to have our very first college adventure together.
Chapter Five
Zephyr
My head is spinning over Priya.
When she walked out of the elevator, she might as well have bowled me over with how fucking hot she looked.
Honestly.
Priya has always been beautiful. She has always been the girl that I look for in the room.
But tonight? Tonight Priya is a fucking smokeshow.
And not only am I hopelessly in love with her, but I am absolutely hungry for her.
Add in the fact that I am about to drink with her and this is a recipe for danger.
I take a deep breath as we walk into the bar.
I have to keep my wits about me.
I can’t fuck this up.
But as we walk to the bar, I catch the eyes of strangers checking out my best friend’s ass and I want to choke them out. I didn’t think about this part of college. In high school, it was always just me and Priya. But now? I have to worry about a whole world of men wanting her.
And I won’t let that happen.
I walk up to the bar with my fake ID and my Hartford college football player swagger.
I turn to Priya and ask, “What would you like to drink?”
“I don’t know. You ask that like I drink alcohol all of the time,” she says to me, shrugging.
I laugh and turn back to the bartender. I order two beers. I feel like that’s a safe bet for both of us.
I hand it to Priya, trying my best not to completely consume her with my eyes. But God, how can Inotstare at her?
“A toast!” Priya says, raising her glass to me. I raise mine too. “To our first year of college. To being here together. And to having a hell of a lot of fun.”