From Campus Good Girl

PROLOGUE

EMILY

Sitting down at an empty table for lunch, it occurs to me that I’ve grown a lot in the four years I’ve attended Trinity College. As a hermit freshman year, sitting alone in the cafeteria would have been my worst nightmare, and embarrassment would’ve forced me to grab a to-go box and eat in my dorm room.

But that Emily is a girl of the past—mostly.

I still have my moments of fear and doubt, but today I’m going to enjoy my growth as a confident young woman.

My curious gaze travels around the cafeteria, a hive of activity this time of day with students rushing to snag a quick snack before class, while others settle down for a meal with friends. It won’t be long before a scene like this becomes a memory since graduation’s in a few short months.

Not ready to contemplate life after college quite yet, I focus on eating my turkey sandwich until the chair next to me is drawn back and someone sits down. A whiff of something spicy tickles my nose, and it’s a struggle to maintain my composure as this stranger’s All-American looks shoot off a spark of energy in my body.

Careful not to choke on the bite of lunch in my mouth, I slowly chew and swallow, frantically searching for a reason why he’d sit next to me. We’re a small, private college with a student body of three hundred people, so I recognize him as a basketball player, though his name escapes me, but I doubt I’ve registered on his radar before now.

“Hey, I’m Landon.” Tan, muscular arms cross over the tabletop as he leans forward, and his charming smile short-circuits rational thought. Introduce yourself!

“Um, I’m Emily…” Confusion draws the sentence out, and a flush flames to the surface of my skin. Darn it. Just when I’m feeling good about the growth I’ve made, here comes reality to show me how far I still have to go.

Because my ability to talk to attractive guys? Not great.

Boys who are in relationships or don’t trigger a physical reaction? I’m perfectly capable of having intelligent conversation with.

But Landon? He’s freaking hot. And I’m not equipped for this, especially when it’s so out of the blue.

Another laugh comes from the table next to us where more basketball players congregate, watching our by-play with amusement. Landon glances over at them with a shake of his head, then turns back to me. “I didn’t want you sitting alone, so I thought I’d join you.”

Is this some kind of joke? His friends are laughing. He doesn’t have food to eat. He just plopped down next to me out of the kindness of his heart? When we’ve never talked before today?

Logic wars with hope. This could be the start of something. Maybe he actually wants to get to know me, and this was his excuse. But then I hear his friends loudly goofing off in the background, obviously making fun of him… or me, and I can’t shake that this is some sort of bet he lost.

I don’t have long to wonder when Rachel, a girl from my chemistry class, drops her things off in a chair, her gaze bouncing between the two of us, before getting in line for slices of pizza. Landon fidgets in his seat before standing up with a jerk of his chair.

“Oh, it looks like you’ve got someone already.” Right as he finishes his sentence, Kelly and Melanie take seats across from us with quiet hellos, and he quickly excuses himself. But instead of heading to the table of basketball players, he leaves the cafeteria altogether.

Curiouser and curiouser.

“What was that about?” Kelly asks, all three of us tracking Landon’s movement until he disappears from sight.

“I have no clue. He said he didn’t want me sitting alone.”

“That’s nice… But wasn’t that Landon Greer? Nice isn’t how I would describe him.”

“Yeah, I’d say he’s friendly.” Melanie’s eyebrows wiggle with insinuation, but she must read my ignorance because she explains, “I overheard one of the cheerleaders bragging about their night together, then her friend chimed in to confirm his prowess. Seems the entire squad has either slept with him or plans on it.”

Unerringly, my eyes drift to the side where a couple of those girls have joined the basketball players next to us. While they’re covered in sweats or jeans rather than cute cheerleading uniforms, underneath the thick outer layers are toned muscles and lithe curves from all their workouts—a complete opposite to my inflated college twenty-five pound weight gain.

And I immediately dismiss the whisper of What if? that taunted me when Landon appeared. Why would he want me when he has cheerleaders vying for his attention?

This was a fluke occurrence—a game between him and his friends—and I bet he forgets about it and me before the day is done.

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