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Falling For Autumn 9
Kolson
Kolsondidn’trealizehow badly he wanted to see Autumn until she wasn’t sitting in their spot. He looked at the time. Had he taken too long in the shower? He looked around the room, but Autumn wasn’t at any other table.
“Kolson.” A whispered voice came from a door to one of the study rooms. When he turned to see who the voice belonged to, he was relieved to see her. She smiled like she was as happy to see him as he was her. “I arrived early to get one of these.” She pointed at the study room. He was thankful that he could be a little louder in there. Kolson couldn’t help it if his voice tended to carry.
Kolson strolled into the room. It smelled like the taco truck across the street. His stomach growled. The granola bar in his backpack wasn’t going to be enough to satisfy him now.
“I brought tacos.” She motioned toward the brown bag on the table. Her face lit up like she was proud of herself. He could hug her. Did she have any clue how hungry he was?
“I don’t know if I got enough. I know how much my brother eats and he’s smaller than you.”
He cracked a smile. “Are you fat shaming me again?”
She was even cuter when she blushed. Why was his mind going there? The truth was, Kolson hadn’t had a girl consume his mind this much since high school.
“I didn’t mean it that way,” she said.
Kolson nudged her with his elbow. That tiny touch did something to his insides. “I’m teasing you, Hazel.”
“It’s not like it’s not muscle.” Autumn mumbled and looked at the computer as she sat.
“You notice my muscles?” He smirked and flexed his bicep.
Autumn laughed, even though it was a sarcastic laugh, he liked it. “Eat your tacos and let’s get to work.”
She sat with perfect posture. Kolson hadn’t realized that he was staring at her until she looked at him and said, “What?”
He had to think of a good reason for staring, and not because he thought she was cute. “Do you dance?”
“Ha.” She giggled and her cheeks turned pink. “What?”
“You have great posture. I had a girlfriend in high school who had great posture. She was a competitive dancer.” Kolson reached for the tacos.
“Oh, um.” She shifted. “I danced when I was younger, but I wasn’t coordinated enough.” She blinked her hazel eyes. “You’re the guy who dated the homecoming queen?”
“What?”
She shrugged. “The tale as old as time, the football quarterback and the most popular girl in school.”
“I’m a linebacker.” He laughed at her assumption that he was a quarterback. “She wasn’t popular. Just flexible.”
It wasn’t until after Autumn groaned and rolled her eyes that he realized what he said.
“Shall we get started?” She asked, all business.
He nodded and began to eat a taco.
Autumn pushed her glasses and said, “We have your sources. Have you come up with a thesis?”
“Not yet.” That hadn’t been part of their deal. He was trying to take his time with the tacos because he didn’t want to be rude, but he could have shoved the entire thing in his mouth.
She looked at him with her irritated face. Kolson wanted to see her happy face. The one that looked like she was excited to see him.
“Guess we’ll work on that today,” she said.
“Thanks for the tacos.” He wanted to tell her he’d pay her back, but he couldn’t promise that when he never knew when his mom would have enough money to send. Instead, he said, “I’ll make it up to you.”
