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Chapter

Fifteen

HADLEY

Kendall: Can we go out tonight? I need to drink and dance.

Hadley: Sorry, babe, I can’t. Career seminar for me. Rain check?

I shift in the hard plastic chair in the library meeting room, crossing and uncrossing my legs. Nope, doesn’t magically make this seat hurt my butt any less. Why is this seminar in the library, anyway? Aren’t there, like, a million classrooms on campus?

Sighing, I try to focus on what the presenter is saying. When I convinced my advisor to let me try a bunch of different classes this semester, she agreed, only if I signed up for these Career Assessment Seminars put on by the college. So I have to attend once a month and figure out…hell if I know.

The girl in front of me nods her head and takes frantic notes, filling her paper with purple ink. What is she writing? What could be gripping enough to copy down?

The presenter is about ninety years old. Balding and wheezy, he drones on. What if he keels over during this lecture? Would I call 911? Or go get?—

“Now the last thing for the night, they want you to take a quiz,” he says, and I manage to keep my groan inward. “I think it’s on the interwebs?”

Oh god. He frowns at a stack of papers. “I’m supposed to pass these out and you scan the quar code?” He pronounces “QR” like it’s a word, then glances around the room. “But how can you scan them if there’s no fax machine?”

Maybe next time they should find someone from this century to lead this seminar. Or maybe he’s full of wisdom. Either way, I hop up and paste a grin on my face.

“Here, I’ll pass those out. We know what to do.”

He smiles, angelic, and I count this as my good deed for the day. There are only a handful of other students here, so it doesn’t take me long. I start my own career path quiz.

Why are these things always so impossible?

Am I detail-oriented? Sometimes, I guess.

I’m meticulous about my skincare routine.

Do I avoid conflict? I don’t know. Hunter and I confronted our dad together…

but then I bailed from his house over Christmas break without a backwards glance. That was textbook avoidance.

I sigh. I wanted to use this semester to figure myself out, not have to take a quiz where I already need to know everything.

I’m not proud of this, but I pick the third option as my answer to every question to get this over with. At the end, my results say I should go into communications. My mass comm class is more boring than watching paint dry, so no.

Snapping my laptop shut, I wave at the presenter and file out. Glad I spent an hour of my life on that.

Winding my way through the library, I’m almost to the front door when I hear my name. I spin on my heel and suck in a breath.

Jonas. In those damned glasses again. Does he know what they do to me? How my stomach plummets to my toes when I see him looking like Clark Kent, knowing he’s Superman underneath everything?

He gives me a shy smile, barely turning up the corners of his mouth, but my belly does somersaults at the sight.

“Hey Hads, how’s it going?”

I shrug. “It’s okay.”

“You leaving?” He gestures towards the doors behind me. “I’ll walk you.”

“I don’t need you to do that.”

“I know you don’t. But I’d like to.”

It’s not macho posturing—the way he says it, I believe he genuinely would like to walk me home. There’s something so sweet about it that I cave.

“Alright. What brings you to the library tonight?”

I let him open the door for me, butterflies lifting off in my middle. It’s more like something out of one of Jasmine’s regency romances than my billionaire fare, but the innocence of it thrills me.

“Study group,” he says, adjusting the zipper on his Harrison Hockey jacket and shoving his hands in his pocket.

March in Indiana is unpredictable. We had one nice day last week where the sun was shining and it was sixty degrees. Sorority girls were sunbathing on the quad. But now it’s back to a gloomy forty degrees most days and chillier now since it’s dark.

I should have grabbed a coat to wear over my hoodie. As it is, I hunch my shoulders and pick up the pace.

“What were you doing?” Jonas asks, his tone light as he walks beside me.

I sigh. “I have to attend these career seminars. It was…” He raises an eyebrow as I trail off, encouraging me to continue. “I don’t know. It shouldn’t be this hard to figure out what I want to do with my life.”

Jonas huffs a laugh. “I don’t know, seems like a pretty tall order. It’s okay to take your time and go slow, make the right choice.”

I stop walking and shake my head. “But that’s the thing. I need to decide soon so I can declare a major and get all my credits in, especially if I want to do a study abroad program.”

His eyes light up. “So you’re really doing that, living your dream and finally getting to travel?”

“Yeah.” I bite my lip, but I can’t help but smile at his enthusiasm for me. “London. As long as they have a program that fits my degree…once I know what I’m gonna study.”

I let out a frustrated groan, then stomp my feet and rub my hands together so it looks like I’m trying to stay warm and not throwing a tantrum like a two-year old.

Jonas blinks, unzips his jacket, and places it around my shoulders. It wasn’t a bid for his coat, but I should have seen it coming. I inhale, surrounded by the piney scent of his cologne and fresh, clean laundry. My stomach swoops to my toes again.

“Thanks,” I mumble, and move towards my dorm.

“Hadley,” he says, bumping my shoulder with his own, “Far fewer people have things figured out than you’d guess.”

“Yeah but?—”

“Take Hunter for example,” he cuts me off, his eyes shining with intensity. “He’s always wanted to play hockey, right?”

I nod. “For as long as I can remember.”

“I hope he gets to do that. But what if his Plan B turns out better than that?”

“Better than a career in the NHL?” I can’t picture anything else suiting Hunter.

Jonas’s face shutters closed at my words. I probably ruined his pep talk.

“Fair point,” he says, voice faint. He clears his throat. “It’s okay if it takes you a little longer to figure out what you want. Doesn’t make it any less valid. Or make you any less driven.”

I swallow. “How did you know that was bothering me? Everyone treats undecided students like they are lackadaisical for not knowing what they want.”

He shrugs. “I’ve seen it on campus. I’m sorry you’re dealing with it, but I have faith in you, Hadley. Whatever you choose will be right for you. Do you have a favorite class? Something you can see doing and feeling good about?”

“You know…” I trail off, thinking about it.

All the career seminar stuff phrased it as finding my passion or at least picking a career that fits my strengths.

But feeling good about it...that resonates.

My computer science class is challenging but fun.

I don’t dread it. There’s a lot of math involved, more than I would have guessed, but it’s straightforward.

And the design elements allow for creativity.

It’s a versatile career, too. “There might be something.”

His smile spreads across his face—not just the closed-mouthed grin but the full-fledged version that sends my heart swooping to my toes again. “I can’t wait to hear more.”

I shouldn’t take any more of his time, though, especially not when it’s cold outside. I shift my feet and gesture towards my dorm. “Thanks, Joe. I appreciate you.”

Unwrapping his jacket from around my shoulders, I brush a quick kiss to his cheek. I shove his coat into his arms before I can overthink that move and hurry into the warmth of my building.

When I chance a look behind me, he stares off into space, rubbing the spot my lips hit his jawline. The dreamy gaze on his face is enough to undo me, and I hesitate, about to turn around and run after him.

Thankfully for me, a pack of girls cross the lobby at that moment, blocking him from my view. By the time they pass, he’s gone and my resolve returns. I remember all the reasons he has to stay just a friend.

But I pull my phone out of my pocket.

Hadley: Thanks for making me feel better tonight.

Jonas: I didn’t do anything.

Hadley: Well, keep not doing it, then.

I bit my lip, unable to keep from smiling as I walk to my room, texting him the whole way.