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She looked over her shoulder, and there was Drew, walking toward her by himself. Where was his girl?
Nicole moved out of the middle of the lane, over by a parked car, and waited. “Can I help you?” she asked, like her heart wasn’t going crazy.
“You left this at the counter.” He held up her scrunchie.
She hadn’t even noticed it was gone. When she took it, his fingers brushed hers, and she was way too aware of it. “Thanks.”
“I didn’t get a chance to ask your name in there,” he said.
Because you were kissing another girl. “Nicole.” She made herself focus on the doors he’d just come out of. “Where’s your girl?”
“She’s not my girl.”
“Could’ve fooled me. You two looked . . . close.”
“That’s fair.” He just stood there with half a smile, like he was enjoying this, whatever this was. “I haven’t seen you around before. Do you go to DU?”
“Yes.”
“Freshman?”
She shook her head. “Sophomore.”
“Oh yeah? Transfer student?”
“I’ve been at DU since freshman year.”
So he’d never noticed her on campus. Why did that sting? It shouldn’t have.
“Then that’s a damn tragedy. You’ve been at DU all this time, and we’re just now meeting?”
“Yeah, well . . . thanks again for the scrunchie.” She shifted her Waldenbooks bag to her other hand and pulled the scrunchie onto her wrist. She started toward her car, and he fell into step beside her like he’d been invited to.
“Where are you from?” he asked.
“Virginia.” She already knew where he was from. She’d read every article the school paper had ever run on him, though she’d take that little fact to the grave. “Boston, right?”
Damn it. Just why? Why would she say that? She wasn’t supposed to know or care where he was from.
He smiled, slow and pleased with himself, like he knew good and well she hadn’t pulled Boston out of thin air.
She played it off and tipped her chin toward his cap. “The hat kind of gave it away.”
“Right.”
“And your accent,” she added, because apparently she was committed to digging the hole deeper. “You’re a long way from home.”
“I’m here for football. That’s it.”
She nodded, because of course he was. Football culture at DU was insane.
“What about you?” he asked. “What made you come all the way here from Virginia?”
A car came creeping down the row, and Drew switched sides, putting himself between her and the traffic.
“Just wanted to try something new.”
That was true, but it wasn’t the whole answer. Drayton had a good premed program, which was all her mother needed to hear. It was also far enough from home that nobody was standing over her shoulder every time she picked up a paintbrush. Maybe she’d even get brave enough to admit that painting was what she wanted to do with her life, not medicine. She wasn’t about to get into all of that with Drew. Why would he even care?
