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Enjoy life?
Ha!
When have I ever been able to do that?
The answer is never. There’s always been too many balls I’m attempting to juggle or too many fires I’m trying to put out. It’s exhausting. Much too exhausting to focus on fun.
What scares me most is not being able to stop myself from falling for him even more than I already have. Because in the end, he’ll walk away and move onto the next girl, and I’ll be stuck, wishing we were still together.
That’s never happened before. Guys come and go from my life, dropping in for a few brief moments before leaving again. None have ever made a lasting impression.
I didn’t allow them to.
It never bothered me when they vanished. I’ve always had too much going on to get overly involved. When you’re treading water, just hoping to make it through another day without drowning, a relationship is the last thing on your mind and a luxury you can’t afford.
It's a relief when a customer makes eye contact with Carmen, and she takes off across the dining room. Shoving Asher from my thoughts, I stop by a few tables and make sure everyone has what they need before reluctantly gravitating to him to check his progress.
Well…that’s what I tell myself, anyway.
As soon as he glances up and our gazes collide, energy crackles in the air. It feels like a living, breathing entity swirling through the atmosphere.
My mind empties as we continue to stare. Unsure what to say or do, I point to the book and attempt to gather my scattered thoughts. “How’s it going?”
Instead of answering, he nabs my fingers and tows me to him. When I’m close enough, his hand slips around the nape of my neck before pulling my face down until his lips can coast over mine.
Just as I lose myself in the caress, someone clears their throat from nearby. Startled, I jump away, only to find my cousin with a shit-eating grin on her face as she saunters past with a platter of food held in one hand. Even though she doesn’t laugh, I can practically hear the husky sound ringing unwantedly in my ears.
Heat fills my cheeks as I settle across from him and try to refocus my attention. His books are spread out across the table along with his laptop.
I blink and try not to stare at his lips as memories of how he used them on me the other night flit through my head. “Getting much work done?”
“Yeah,” he says with a nod. “I’ve plowed my way through one assignment and I’m just about to start a paper for my other Comms class.”
“I have a couple minutes if you want me to glance at it.”
He taps the keyboard a few times before swiveling the computer in my direction. I pull it closer and scan the document, correcting a few minor grammatical errors before returning the device.
“It looks good.”
His lips lift into a slow smile before he glances at his phone. “You’re done in an hour, right?”
“Yup.”
Heat fills his eyes as the lids fall to half-mast. “Good. Looking forward to having you all to myself again.”
The air once again turns charged as our gazes cling. Liquid heat gathers in my core before I quickly stomp it out. “I, ah, should go.”
“All right.” His attention flickers to the books. “I’ll just be here, working diligently.”
I nod before rising to my feet and taking off through the dining room as my pulse thrums a steady beat. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the way he makes me feel.
“I just seated some customers for you,” Carmen says as we pass by one another.
My gaze travels around the open space before landing on a group of four college-aged guys. I stop and fill up glasses of water on my way over to the table. After setting them down, I give them my spiel.
“Hello, I’m Lola. Welcome to Taco Loco. Do you need more time to look over the menu?” I meet their gazes one at a time. I’ve been waitressing long enough to know when a group is going to be a problem, and that’s not the vibe I get from this one. There’s nothing worse than a table full of assholes.
One of the dark-haired guys flashes me a grin. “You go to Western, right?”
I nod, all the while keeping a friendly smile on my face. “Yup.”
“I think we’re in the same International Marketing section.”
I tilt my head and study him more closely. The class he’s talking about has thirty students in it. Instead of admitting that I don’t recognize him, I say with a bright smile, “Oh, right. Sure.”
“Professor Connelly is so freaking boring. Half the time I just want to take a nap.”
“Really? I like him. He’s my academic advisor. The guy really knows what he’s talking about. This is the third course I’ve taken with him.”
