Page 11 of Courting Clemson

“I don’t mind. Stay put, and I’ll be right back.” I hustled into my room and went straight to the medicine cabinet. Fetching two little white pills, I returned to my roommate with a tall glass of water and ordered her to drink it all. Most of the time, the majority of a hangover could be cured just by rehydrating.

“Why are you up so early?” Grace asked me after swallowing the pills.

I chuckled. “It’s not really early, darling. It’s almost nine already.”

“Oh, shit, I definitely need more sleep.” She downed the rest of the water, and I scooped the empty glass off the coffee table to put in the dishwasher. If I left that up to her, the damn thing would still be there when I got home this evening.

After putting my shake in a to-go cup, I cleaned up my mess and grabbed my duffle bag. Today, we had a volunteer gig at a local animal shelter and a late practice afterwards. I really hoped I’d have a chance to talk with my coaches about my grades and crossed my fingers they’d be able to pull some strings for me. I had already emailed the professors of the classes I failed, basically begging to allow me to do anything they could dream up to improve my final grade.

I had no idea how it would all work out, but I couldn’t return to Los Angeles and live under one roof with my parents again.

Hell no.

“Why don’t you go sack out in my bed?” I offered. “I’m out for most of the day, so you won’t be disturbed. Out here, you’ll be woken up every time someone comes in or out.”

“That sounds amazing, but I don’t think I have it in me to crawl that far. My head is really hurting.”

“Maybe once the pills kick in?” I suggested and slung my practice bag over my shoulder. “I’ll see you around dinner.”

“Have a great swim, Clemson. See you later,” she grumbled from under the blanket again.

I closed the door to our old house as quietly as possible and hopped into my car. Thankfully, no one had me parked in on the driveway, and I was on the road to the shelter in no time.

We congregated in the lobby of the animal rescue while the volunteer coordinator assigned our tasks. I would be walking some of the larger dogs and accepted the leashes and harnesses the woman handed me.

I was partnered with a guy I didn’t recognize, and when I got closer, I was certain he wasn’t a student. Faint lines formed around his eyes when he smiled, and a few white hairs speckled his temples.

He was quite handsome but clearly much older than me.

He smiled and offered his hand. “Hi. I’m Luke.”

Like an idiot, I juggled the leashes I was trying to untangle to offer a hand back. I ended up dropping half the mess I was dealing with, and we both bent to pick up what hit the ground.

“Sorry about that,” he said while we were both grabbing for the same red nylon strap.

“Totally my fault. I’m as clumsy as a baby giraffe most of the time,” I said and quickly dropped the end I was pulling on when I realized we were having our own little tug-of-war with the thing.

“I didn’t catch your name,” he said with a warm smile.

Okay, so this guy was way hotter than I first gave him credit for. His smile was so kind and genuine, I could feel myself getting lost in it. He had the brightest, lively blue eyes and two rows of perfectly straight, white teeth.

I gave my head a little shake when the silence built between us as I stared at the man.

“Sorry,” I mumbled and quickly looked toward the door.

Times like this, I hated being so young. I already felt like a bumbling child, and staring at this guy like I’d never seen a handsome man before made it worse.

We walked through the kennels and found the pets we were assigned. Luke had three, and I had two. I knew better than to try to handle more than one in each hand. I watched as he expertly slid the harnesses on his dogs and snapped the leashes onto the collars and stood tall once more.

When I stood there not moving, he asked, “Do you want me to do yours?”

Before I could answer, he was swapping the gear in my hands for the three leashes he already secured. He made quick work of the last two harnesses, and we set out for our stroll.

The animals were so happy to be out on the sidewalk. They were well behaved but of course had to stop and sniff everything.

Luke was quiet at first, and I made no effort to say anything either. I was having a hard enough time wrangling my animals to worry about the awkward silence between us.

Finally, when we established a good pace, he asked, “Do you volunteer often?”

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