Playing With Fire - Stacey Lynn Page 0,3
my body responds to his looks, his cocksure grin he’s currently sporting, and his size. In the harsh fluorescent light of the kitchen, he’s even prettier than he was outside. More rugged. He’s so damn sexy that my girl parts Lizzie accused of growing cobwebs wake up and dust themselves off.
Oh no. This is not good.
“We can pay our own way.” In fact, I always insist on it. Lizzie is one thing, but I don’t need a guy to take care of me and even if I wanted one, it’s not going to be this guy, who most likely thinks spending ten dollars for a plastic cup will get me in his bed later.
That’s never going to happen. Ever.
“I bet you can, Katie. But tonight it’s on me. Consider it an apology.”
“Kate.” I ground out my name. Of course he’s heard Lizzie say it, but I’m still left in the dark as to who this guy is. “And you are?”
“Jude Taylor.” He says it like I should know who he is. There’s a slight hitch to his upper lip, which is really just as beautiful as the rest of him, even shaded by his dark scruff. “You two want to put your coats away? You can lock them in my room.”
“No—” I say, at the same time Lizzie shoves me out of the way.
“We’d love to.” She flashes me a glare and smiles up at Jude, which now explains the song. “Show us the way?”
Jude smiles down at Lizzie and then me. It’s like he has some sixth sense to what I’m thinking… that I am not going to his room. And worse, I am most definitely not going to want to bang on the door to grab said coat later while he’ll most likely be in the midst of banging something else because his smile evaporates.
“I keep my room locked all night. They’ll be safe there. You have my word.”
His word doesn’t mean a whole lot since I don’t know him, but it seems to be enough for Lizzie. She snags his arm, looping her arm through his and smirks back at me. “Then show us the way, handsome.”
“Let’s go, beautiful.”
He says it to me, not her, and Lizzie doesn’t seem to mind. Thankfully. Something tells me if she even tries to make a move on Jude, I might rip my best friend’s hair out of her scalp.
The sudden whip of jealousy that slams into me is so foreign, I stay frozen to my spot on the kitchen floor until both of them look back at me.
“You coming, Katie?”
“Yeah, Lizzie. I’m coming.”
I’m coming out of my mind is what’s happening, and I don’t like the sensations prickling my skin at all. Not one little bit.
Jude Taylor is trouble with a capital T and someone I need to stay far away from. The problem is, I’m quickly forgetting all the reasons why.
Chapter Three
His room is cleaner than I expected. In fact, his room is cleaner than any chemistry lab I’ve stepped foot into. There isn’t a piece of paper sprawled on his desk. His shelves holding hockey trophies mixed with perfectly lined up textbooks look recently dusted. There isn’t a piece of garbage or lint on his floor, and his bed looks like it’s been made with military precision.
He unlocked the door moments ago and I’m still stuck in the doorway, gaping at the room so clean you can probably perform surgery in it.
“Wow,” Lizzie says and flings her coat on his bed. “You are clean.”
Jude shrugs like it’s not the first time he’s heard it, nor is he embarrassed by it. “Mama raised me right, what can I say? You leaving your coat here or you want to keep hugging it all night?”
He’s talking to me obviously, but my mouth is still hanging wide open.
“It’s just… it’s…”
“Clean. I get it.” He takes my coat before I realize he’s moved, and then he drapes it over the back of his chair at his desk. “And I like things to look nice. You shouldn’t be so quick to judge us athletes as all being stupid jocks.”
“Ouch,” Lizzie mock whispers near me. “He’s got you pegged.”
He’s right. I’ve done nothing but judge him from the minute he touched me, and I obviously haven’t hidden it well. But I do have a reason.
“I would venture to guess you’re the anomaly and not the standard.” I spend hours in the university’s physical therapy building connected to the hockey rink with an underground tunnel that