“Hey,” I say. “I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself back there. I’m—”
“Tanner Shaw,” she finishes for me. “I mean, I know. We’re in communications class together. I sit in the row in front of you to the left.”
“You’re in our class too? The one with Chloe and Nathan?” I could have sworn Chloe was sitting by herself in there, and this girl isn’t someone you miss.
She smirks. “Yep.”
Damn, how did I miss her?
“Sorry, I must have been actually listening to the professor. First week of classes habit.”
She laughs. “I’m Sydney.”
“Well, Sydney, I promise I won’t overlook you again.”
Damn, way to sound like a creep. But seriously, I feel like someone just told me Bigfoot exists and I’ve been walking by him my whole life without noticing.
“Do you want to hang out?” I motion with my head to the pool.
“I’m here with some of my teammates. I don’t want to ditch them.” The group of girls behind her sneak glances at us as they arrange patio chairs so they can sit together.
“All right, well, got room for one more?”
“You want to hang out with us?”
“I want to hang out with you,” I correct her.
She grins. “Absolutely.”
We’re just getting situated and Sydney is introducing me to her teammates when Nathan and Chloe rejoin us looking cozy. Definitely something going on there.
“Aren’t they cute together?” Sydney says to her roommate. Emily, I think she said her name was.
Emily sighs. “Chloe’s been at Valley U for less than a month and already has a boyfriend. I’ve been here a year and nothing.”
Boyfriend? Well, damn, I didn’t think Nathan had it in him, but it explains his newfound disinterest in getting shit-faced and partying with randoms.
Girlfriends aren’t normally my thing. The commitment doesn’t freak me out, I’m just not interested in the drama that often seems to follow. Playing two sports means I don’t ever have an off-season. Getting up early, working out, long practices—it’s a lifestyle for me.
The girls play twenty questions with the happy couple while I focus my attention on Sydney.
“What year are you?”
“Sophomore.”
“Same.” I think back, really peeved that I haven’t run into her before. How is that even possible? “Have you been at parties here before?”
Maybe she doesn’t party much or had a boyfriend last year?
“I have and a few at the baseball house, too.”
“You know I play baseball?”
“Yes, Tanner, I know you play baseball and basketball. I know that you were the third highest scorer on the basketball team last season and your saves on the baseball team are on track to be the best of any closer the school’s ever seen.”
My brows lift and hide under the hair hanging onto my forehead. Damn.
“I like sports.”
“That is hot.”
She smiles and arches a brow.
“Not that you like sports, though that’s super cool. It’s hot that you know my stats.”
“I know a lot of people’s stats.”
“Let’s not talk about them.”
Chuckling and shaking her head, Sydney smiles at me. “You’re as cocky as they say.”
“You’re way hotter than they say.”
She looks like she’s going to ask so I add, “No one’s said, but damn if I’m not real pissed that they haven’t.”
She’s grinning and still shaking her head at me.
“Do you want another drink?” I need to stand, move around. I’m so amped up talking to this girl.
“Can I see the gym inside?” she asks and then bites her lip.
“The basketball court?”
She nods enthusiastically.
That isn’t a request I imagined getting from a chick tonight, but far be it for me to deny this girl anything. “Sure.”
With our drinks, we walk inside and weave through the party. When she nearly loses me in the crowd, she reaches out and grabs my elbow. Heat races up my arm at her touch. I slow long enough for her to get a good grip. Her skin is soft, but her hold is strong.
The guys have always kept the court locked during parties, so I’ve never been in here myself while people are over. I unlock it and hold the door open for her to enter first.
“Wow.” She walks in, tilting her head up and then turning to take it all in.
I follow, staring at her. The gym is cool, but Sydney is a fucking wet dream.
“This is amazing, Tanner. If I had a place to practice volleyball in my house, I’d never leave it.” Her gaze finally lands on me and her face is lit up with such excitement it stirs something inside of me.
She continues her exploration as she walks toward the rack of basketballs. Reaching out, she lets her fingertips graze the tops of the balls.
“Do you want to play?”
Glancing over her shoulder, she asks, “Basketball?”
“Sure, why not?”
She picks up one of the balls and turns it over, running her palms along the leather. It’s as if she’s someone who played a long time ago and is getting a feel for it again, reacquainting herself with an old friend.
She steps out of her heels and pads over to the top of the key. I didn’t bother turning the light on when we walked in, so it’s dark, only the skylights giving us enough illumination to see. She checks it to me, and I send it back, intrigued and anxious to see if she can play.
With a hesitant start, she dribbles twice with her right hand before switching to her left. I’m too far away to steal it without moving so she takes her time dribbling in place before she takes a step to the basket.
I let her come to me. When she’s less than an arm’s length away, I place a hand at her hip. It’s a small amount of contact that I do almost instinctively when I’m defending, putting pressure on the offense and letting them know I’m not going to allow them to go where they want, but my fingers tingle as she presses back into me, pushing me toward the basket.
Sydney is fairly tall. I’m over six feet and the top of her head, even slightly bent over with the ball, comes up to my chin. Her frame is slender but strong and she doesn’t seem intimidated despite how impressive she thinks my stats are.
Oh, and she definitely played ball at some point in her life. She naturally turns, angling her body to keep the basketball farther away. Her blonde hair brushes against my bare chest. She smells like cotton candy—sweet and addictive.
“What position did you play? Guard?” I guess.
She backs me up to the foul line where I refuse to give up any more ground quite so easily. And I’m not going to lie, her body pressed into mine is foreplay I didn’t even know I was missing. I’ve never dated a chick who played basketball, or that had any real athletic ability. Now I wonder if I’ve missed out on a bunch more things because I’ve never been this excited about the idea of kissing someone.
“Forward.” Sydney plants her left foot between mine and turns so she can get a half step in front of me and pulls up for a shot. I could block it, but I don’t. I watch as the ball rolls off her fingertips and sails through the air, and the look of excited anticipation while she waits to see if it’s going in. And I keep on staring, not really caring if it goes in or not, as she raises her arms in victory.