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Then of course, there was Mark and Carmela. My own sister. She and Mark ended up together when I invited Mark to stay at the ranch with me after he moved back to town to take over his late father’s medical practice. I thought I was just bringing in my buddy for some video games and beer, but when Carmela needed a fake fiancé for a wedding with her ex and her former best friend, Mark stepped up to the plate and ended up turning it all into something real.
Yet, here I was, the only one who’d never left Murdock, and the only one still single. And I was going back to college like a damn teenager.
“So, you bought a backpack?” Mark asked as we leaned against the fence, watching as Carmela and Mallory rode horses. The other girls were inside the big house, farther out onto the property, happily having a girls’ night while we boys tried to figure out what we were going to do after sundown.
“And pencils,” Ryan said. “And a Trapper Keeper.”
“Not going to lie,” Graham said, “I had a Trapper Keeper full of notes on hitters all the way up to my last year in the league.”
“Of course you did,” Ryan said. “You’re a giant man-child. Camden buying a Trapper Keeper is fucking weird.”
“I like it,” Mark said. “Lay off of him a bit. The man wants to get his education.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Like the rest of you nerds did, save Ryan who got all his learning in the desert.”
“Hey, I have an idea,” Victor chimed in. “Why don’t we take this lug out to the campus and go to a bar down there? What’s that bar we went to when Graham was in town?”
“Big Danny T’s?” I asked.
“No, no, the one in Slater,” Vic said. “The Wooden Leg?”
“Oh yeah,” Graham replied. “The one that’s owned by the former wrestler who had a fake leg in his boot for years and no one knew about it.”
“What?” Ryan asked. “I must have missed all this.”
“You did,” Vic said. “You were still in the desert. Trust me, this place is cool. It’s real big for the kids at Slater since they let you in at eighteen, but they mark your hand with a stamp of a pirate so you can’t drink underage.”
“A pirate?” I asked.
“Wooden leg,” Mark and Vic said at the same time, then laughed.
“All right, fine,” I said. “I’ll go for a little bit, just because of the pirate and wrestler stuff. But I reserve the right to leave early.”
“Sure, sure,” Graham said. “It’s your celebration.”
Rolling my eyes, I headed back to the house to get changed. It didn’t take much, just a change of shirt and jeans. The last thing I wanted to do was possibly meet some other student or teacher or something with dirt all over my clothes.
Mark ended up as the designated driver, drawing the short straw among the others. I was exempt on account of them wanting me to experience a little bit of the college life. As we drove into town, a good half hour away, I started feeling uneasy about the whole thing. Most of these students were half my age, and I didn’t want to seem like the creepy old guy hanging around trying to pick up freshmen. I wasn’t there to pick up anyone. I was barely there at all.
The girls decided to come as well and were caravanning behind us with Carmela at the helm, and as we got out and headed inside, she poked me in the back and laughed.
“You going to get out on the dance floor and meet some college girl?” she teased.
“Unequivocally no,” I said. “I’m not here to meet anyone. I’m here to hang out, drink a beer or five, and watch you guys have fun.”
Carmela shrugged and headed to the floor, dragging Mark behind her. The rest of them followed suit, and soon, I was alone, standing on the edge of the dance floor with a drink in my hand as I watched my friends dance while I wished I was home on the ranch.
Eventually, they wandered back, and we collected around a table where most of them took a seat. I was about to put my drink down and wander away to the bar to order something for the group to eat when a gorgeous girl approached me, her eyes burning into mine and stopping my breath from escaping in one look. She strode right up to me confidently, and in a flash, took my face in both hands and crushed her lips into mine.
2
KRISTEN
He didn't resist. That would have made the whole ridiculous situation so much worse. It was already embarrassing enough walking up to a complete stranger in a bar and kissing him. If he had recoiled or pushed me away, I might not have been able to recover from the humiliation. I would have had to crawl into a hole somewhere and ride out the rest of time.
Fortunately, he seemed almost into it. He wasn't exactly kissing me back, but there was a bit of pressure coming back toward me, and when I pulled back from the kiss, he smiled at me.
That made the situation better. And at least he was hot. Brianne could have chosen any of the guys at the bar for me to kiss for the game of bridesmaid bingo we were in the midst of playing, so at least she had the decency to select one I would have chosen to kiss even without the dare attached. In fact, that is absolutely what I would have rather been doing.
