Page 52 of Palm South University: Season 2

JESS AND SKYLER ARE STILLshoving the last bags in the trunk of Skyler’s bright yellow convertible rental as Grayson’s thumbs run the hem of my tank top. Jess takes four steps backward before running full speed at the car and jumping on the bags, which only makes her fall flat to the ground and the rest of us die laughing. Her blonde hair is splayed out on the pavement as she curses. When one of my makeup bags tumbles out and hits her square in the gut, Skyler doubles over, laughing so hard she can’t breathe.

Turning in Grayson’s arms, I thread my fingers together behind his neck and squint against the sun’s rays into his bright blue eyes. “Are you sure you don’t want to come? Save me from my sisters?”

He chuckles, sweeping my red locks to the side long enough to kiss my forehead. The heat from the sun mixed with the warmth of his touch is just enough to make a film of sweat gather on my forehead. “You’re going to have an amazing time.”

“I would have a better time if you were coming, too.”

“I know, Cass, I know,” he says with a sigh. Running a rough hand over his beard, he glares at the space behind me. “I wish I could. You know I have to work,” he explains again, his hand gripping the back of his neck. “I don’t really fit in with this crowd, anyway.”

“What?” I ask, shaking my head slightly at his assumption. “Everyone loves you.”

“Not everyone.”

I pause as his eyes harden right along with his jaw. Following his line of sight, I find Adam, and his eyes flick down to the ground as soon as I do.

“He’s just protective over me,” I say with a shake of my head, turning and forcing Grayson’s gaze to me again. “We’re friends.”

“That’s not what he thinks.”

I scoff. “Trust me — Adam iswellaware that we are friends.”He put the title there first, I want to say, but I don’t.

“If you honestly think that, then your pretty green eyes are more closed than I thought.”

My mouth snaps shut, my mind suddenly racing with what he sees that I don’t. The last thing I want is for Grayson to feel like he needs to compete with Adam. This semester was supposed to be about leaving all that drama in last semester — Adam, Clay, all of it.

So, I’ll prove to him that I mean what I say.

“Is he looking at us?”

Grayson looks up and nods. “Of course he is.”

Smiling, I slide my hands up into his hair and pull him down to me, pressing my lips to his, pushing my hips forward. He stiffens slightly, but when I moan softly and slide my tongue inside his mouth, he breathes a sigh of relief and tightens his grip on my waist.

When I finally pull back, panting just slightly, I smile. “Good. Now he knows I’m yours.”

Grayson grins, breathless, his forehead to mine just as Skyler calls out after me.

“Come on, Little! Key West awaits!”

Jess does some sort of banshee call and Erin, Ashlei, and Bo join in from where they’ve already piled into one of the huge buses the Omega Chis rented out. I giggle, kissing Grayson once more.

“I think the time has come.”

Grayson watches as Skyler slides behind the wheel of the Mustang and Jess finds her place in the passenger seat, leaving my only option right next to Adam in the small backseat.

“Ugh, I hate this,” he breathes, his hands gripping at my shirt as he pulls me as close as he can. “But I trust you.”

“It’s less than a week.”

“Barely.”

I smile, pulling him in for a long, heated kiss before finally backing away. Grayson holds my hand until it pops out of his grip and I turn, jogging toward the car and hopping into the backseat. When I’m settled next to Adam, I blow a kiss back to Grayson and he catches it, tucking that hand into his pocket and using his free hand to push his shades back down. I watch him, still mesmerized by the tattoos on his arms as they flex beneath the hot Florida sun.

“I think you found a winner there, Little,” Skyler says, eying me in the rearview mirror.

“Me too,” I agree, and I know it’s true. Grayson came when I least expected him, when I had sworn off boys completely, and every day with him since then has been amazing.

As we pull out of the Kappa Kappa Beta driveway, a string of cars, vans, and buses, horns blaring, voices cheering, I keep my eyes fixed on Grayson until we turn the corner out of campus and he fades from view. Flipping back around in my seat with a sigh and a smile, I type out a text to him on my phone, telling him once more how much I’ll miss him.