Whoever was out there was now pounding on the door. Good Lord! Who the hell is out there making that racket, she thought, as she wrapped a towel around her. “Chill! I’m coming!”
Amber pulled open the door. Her jaw nearly dropped to the ground. Her eyes opened wide in disbelief, because standing there looking handsome and smug, was Casanova. His eyes slowly roamed over her figure before giving her a wink. “Nice.”
“What do you want?” Amber asked, her hazel eyes blazing with anger.
“Umm, Sarah Layton. Is she here?”
“No, smart guy. She’s one room over to the right,” Amber bit out.
“Your right or mine?”
“Yours.”
He was about to say something else, but Amber was in no mind to listen and began to shut the door on him. Just then Shawna strolled up the corridor.
“Hey!” she called out. “Can I join this party?”
“Now you show up?” Amber said to her roommate.
“I wouldn’t miss this hottie for anything,” Shawna said, giving Casanova the full blast of her megawatt smile.
“Gotta lay rubber. Got places to be,” the object of her lustful looks said and headed toward Sarah Layton’s dorm room.
Amber shut the door as Shawna entered.
Shawna asked, “Was he coming or going?”
“Neither. He knocked on the wrong door.”
“Too bad,” her roommate replied. “I’d love to make toast out of that slice of white bread.”
Amber rolled her eyes. Shawna didn’t meet a pair of pants she didn’t long to try on.
“If you keep doing that, they’ll roll right out of your head,” Shawna warned, dropping her handbag on her bed. “You know the boy was choice.”
Amber gritted her teeth. Shawna was right—the guy was hot and Amber hadn’t missed checking out his cute, tight butt that filled his jeans perfectly as he walked away. Nor had she missed how his thick, shaggy blond hair fell to the back of his collar, practically inviting her to run her hands through it. His fair skin was clear with a smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose. And when he smiled, he exposed dimples that matched the cleft in his square chin. Dammit! Why was she even thinking about him? She loathed guys like him and their smug attitudes. She wasn’t shallow like all those other girls that seemed to be so attracted to him. She’d never fall for just a pretty face. Let him turn heads as he walked by. Hers wouldn’t be among them.
* * *
The following morning Amber noticed Shawna hadn’t come home after the party the night before. Amber didn’t understand how her roommate could function as well as she did. Shawna, an inner city girl from the Bronx, New York, never turned down the chance to party. No longer on the tight leash her grandmother kept her on, she wanted to cram as much fun in the freedom she now experienced away at school.
At Ohio State University on a full scholarship like Amber, she had to maintain a B average. But unlike Amber, who constantly had to study, Shawna didn’t seem to even open her books. She was brilliant and could read and retain the contents of even the most complex textbooks with ease. They’d been roomies since their freshman year in undergraduate school. Now they were taking the last of the required classes required to complete the Doctor of Physical Therapy or DPT program. At the end of the semester, they would be practicing physical therapists, but Amber had applied for a clinical residency in Orthopedics to further her clinical skills.
Amber took a quick shower and dressed, heading over to the cafeteria for breakfast. Her mind was wrapped around the exam in human growth and development she’d be taking later that afternoon. Though she studied as much as possible and had maintained a good grade average, she always feared doing poorly.
As Amber headed toward the cafeteria on autopilot, she went over several key points that might be on the exam. But she wasn’t too preoccupied to check out the guy walking directly in front of her in an Ohio State University jacket and a baseball cap. He had a nice butt. She passed him when he stopped to read a notice tacked to the bulletin board and took in his ruggedly, handsome profile. Oh, Lord. Not him again, she thought. Couldn’t she go anywhere on campus without running into Casanova?
Once inside the cafeteria, Amber’s mind shifted back to her upcoming exam and she got in line at the self-serve counter. She slid her tray along the rail, grabbing a breakfast sandwich, potato wedges and coffee. When she’d reached the end, she realized she’d forgotten orange juice. Oh, damn, Amber thought and turned back around quickly, slamming her tray into a solid body carrying a full tray of food. Casanova! Her breath caught in her throat. Of all people on the entire campus, it had to be him.
Her purse dropped to the floor and food and drink flew everywhere. It would have been funny had Casanova not been covered in it. Coffee streamed down his cheek and there were bits of scrambled egg in his hair. His jaw clenched as he tried to wipe the coffee from his face. “Dammit! Can’t you look where you’re going or are you just naturally a walking disaster?”
Everyone turned to gape at them. There were snickers from a few of the onlookers.
Mortified, Amber’s face heated. Like an idiot, she instinctively bent down to grab her purse and fumbled to take out a tissue to wipe the coffee off his face. However, the tissue was useless and shredded, leaving bits of tissue stuck to his chin, making things worse. And the throbbing blue vein on his neck was beating out the message that he wasn’t too happy about their encounter. Not waiting around for the fireworks, Amber dropped her tray into the used bin, muttered a “Sorry” and hurried out of the cafeteria.
“Wait!” Casanova called after her. “You—”
But the minute she
