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She shook her head. He grinned and wrapped a meaty hand around her elbow. “We got a bunch in this other room here. Strawberry flavored.”

Her taste buds despised beer; the rotten barley scent of it reminded her too much of her father. But strawberry flavor she might be able to handle. And she could do with a little bit of liquid courage at the moment. Tess had seemed pleasantly happy after doing Jell-O shots with Dorian Wade—before she’d gotten violently ill, anyway. Paige just wouldn’t let herself drink that much.

As soon as he led her into another room and ordered a round of shots, everyone around her cheered and about five co-eds scurried forward to offer her tiny plastic cups of red Jell-O.

With a shy smile, she accepted from one of them. Dorian took another. They faced each other, and she tried to drink hers as if it was a liquid, getting nowhere.

“No, honey.” Dorian laughed and took the shot from her hand. “Here, like this.” He slowly demonstrated the proper procedure by wrinkling the bottom of the cup to dislodge the gelatin. “Then you wrap your entire mouth around the rim and suck it out with your tongue.”

He brought it to her lips, and she opened her mouth, trying his suggestion. He moved in closer beside her, his chest brushing her bare arm. A warm hand settled on her lower back as he leaned in to watch her in action.

She flushed but wiggled her tongue into the small shot cup and sucked out as much Jell-O as possible.

“That’s more like it.” He grinned.

The helpful co-eds cheered her on and offered her another. Since it tasted just like strawberry gelatin, as Dorian had said it would, she took one. Vaguely she wondered how many Tess had swallowed until she’d gotten as drunk as she’d been. But it didn’t really matter. Paige would stop as soon as she began to feel the effects.

Two shots later, she found herself sitting on a couch with four guys, Dorian among them, and turning down a fourth.

Dorian tugged on her hand. “I love this song. Let’s dance.”

She nodded and let him pull her to her feet. But the music was too loud and the gyrating bodies were too crowded for her to move much. Plus all the active people crammed into the room exuded a humid heat that made the Jell-O in her stomach gurgle in a nauseating way.

Leaning up into Dorian’s ear, she called, “I think I hit my limit.”

He must’ve thought she meant alcohol-wise and not dancing-wise because he gave her a strange look before his mouth tipped into a big smile.

“Want to get out of here?” he called back.

She nodded, so he took her hand and led her through the horde. Once they reached the back door and stepped outside, she sucked in the cool January air. Though she wished they could’ve stopped to grab her coat, she welcomed the much-needed space.

Instead of stopping just outside the door, he led her around an outbuilding that abutted the fraternity house to an open area that held a fire pit and a couple of picnic tables. Tiled with cobblestones, the clearing was undoubtedly a popular spot in the warmer months. But tonight it stood deserted.

“Brr.” She hugged herself and rubbed her bare arms briskly.

“Cold?” Dorian shifted closer. “Here, let me help with that.” With a smile, he tugged her to him and wrapped his arms around her. Heat poured off his large body, and she soaked it up gratefully, burrowing closer to him.

He chuckled and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. “Better?”

She sighed. “Lots.” Closing her eyes, she focused on the generous warmth he was sharing. “Though I always thought quarterbacks were a lot smaller than you.”

Laughing again, he nuzzled his nose against her hair. “They tried to make me a lineman my first year I tried out, but I was so good at throwing the ball, I became the quarterback.”

“Hmm.” She could fall asleep like this. It was so cold, and he was so warm.

“I’m going to kiss you,” he murmured in her ear.

She didn’t say anything. It had been far too long since she’d kissed anyone. When he tilted her chin up, she let him. She wanted to see if he could make her heart race like a certain other person she didn’t want to think about.

His mouth was pleasant enough, and she definitely wasn’t repulsed. But he seemed to like to take control, which was a little unsettling right out of the gate. After she let him open her mouth, he became even more enthusiastic and backed her against the wall of the outbuilding until they were framed by the ivy growing up the vinyl siding. And it didn’t shoot a single spark of chemistry through her.

Depressing.

But maybe if she imagined he was Logan…

Just thinking that name launched a bolt of heat straight down the center of her spine. She moaned, and a hand began to wander up from her waist, cupping her where she didn’t let just anyone cup her, especially on the first kiss.

She broke her mouth away from his. “Okay, that’s enough.” She nudged him in the chest to get him to step back.