Page 125 of His Reckless Freshman

There’s a thick, horrible beat of silence, and as soon as all eyes are on me, I squeeze mine shut, resting my cheek against Ben’s shoulder and facing away from them.

Ben softly snickers and hitches his shoulder, squeezing my hand and trying to get me to look at everyone.

“She’s kind of nervous to meet you, because she’s under the false impression that you all hate her.”

“What?” Sawyer balks. “Why would we hate your girl?”

“Because she said shitty stuff about us when she was trying to interview us for that article.” Darian scoffs. “Don’t you recognize her face?”

“I can’t even see her face right now,” Sawyer argues.

Ben squeezes my hand again, softly murmuring, “Don’t be scared.”

I swallow, willing myself to look up already.

“But then she wrote that kick-ass article that made you guys sound awesome, even though only one of you was smart enough to let her interview you.” Charli snorts. “Guys are such dumbasses.”

Her words make me giggle, and I pop my head up to grin at her. She winks at me, and then I glance around the room.

“Yeah, well… I have to admit, you’re a good writer.” Darian smirks at me, his brown eyes playful.

“Yeah, you’re all right.” Sawyer raises his chin, and I give him a shy smile.

Jimmy just kind of stares at me for a minute, and Mac is eyeing me up with a quiet smirk that is… kind of unnerving, actually.

“Would you stop?” Ben tells him off, moving to block his view of me. “Be nice.”

“I’m not sure he knows how to do that,” Charli teases, and I find myself smothering a laugh when she turns to me, pointing a thumb at Mac. “You’ll have to excuse him. I’m pretty sure he was raised by vampires or something equally creepy. The guy likes to weird people out with those crazy blue eyes of his, but underneath that icy exterior, there is actually a beating heart. I know it’s hard to tell, but I swear there are some squishy nice bits about him.” Charli throws him a cheesy smile while Mac narrows his eyes and gives her the finger. “See! What a sweetheart.”

I laugh again, the sound coming out as this weird guffaw. I was trying to swallow it, but that didn’t really work and… great, now I’m choking on my own saliva. I cough and splutter, turning beet red while Ben rubs my back and asks if I’d like some cereal.

At midnight?

“I’m good.” I shake my head, and he smiles at me, his eyes telling me not to worry.

“So, how long has this been going on?” Sawyer turns a chair around and swings his leg over it, grinning at me like he knows the answer already.

Ben gives him a little side-eye, wrapping a protective arm around my waist. “We became official about a week ago.”

“Thought I heard some shenanigans up there.” Sawyer wiggles his eyebrows at me, and I’m going red all over again.

Squirming in my socks, I tug Ben’s sweater down even farther and start praying this will be over soon.

But it isn’t. They invite us to take a seat at the table. Ben makes himself some peppermint tea, and I hover in the kitchen, not leaving his side for a second, then perch on his lap while the guys tell me all about their basketball game. Sounds like this new coach might be a real asset to the team, and they all seem pretty excited by how well they played, even though they lost.

“This might be our best season yet,” Darian tells me, and I smile at him, their excitement rubbing off on me too.

Hooking my arm around Ben’s neck, I share his cup of tea and feel myself starting to relax the more time I spend down here. Jimmy’s pretty quiet. He sips something hot and steamy that must be some kind of tea, although it smells a little funky. Mac is downing another beer, and Sawyer’s on his third bowl of cereal.

These guys are definitely entertaining. Darian and Charli banter like classic siblings, and I watch them with a smile, loving the way Ben’s hand is resting on my thigh. I feel so safe with him and nestle even closer, making the very easy decision to stay the night.

The next morning, after Ben gets back from his run, I sit around the dining table, enjoying delicious scrambled eggs. Sawyer’s a master in the kitchen, according to Charli, and if these eggs are anything to go by, then she’s right.

On the way to my first class, we swing by Java Jeans to grab some coffee, and then Ben’s kissing me goodbye and telling me to meet him after basketball practice.

“Do you want to go out for dinner or eat in?”

I shrug. “I don’t mind.”