Page 23 of Courting Clemson

I turned out the lights, pulled the covers up over my head, and waited for sleep to claim me. My phone vibrated a few times on my nightstand, so I reached my hand out blindly to grab the thing. I assumed it was Grace telling me what she’d found out about Avery. It wouldn’t have been the first time we texted from one room in the house to another.

Instead of my roommate, though, it was my sister Hannah.

How did it go today? I’ve been wanting to message you all day but figured you’d tell me when you were ready. Now, my anxiety is through the roof, so I need to know.

I smiled at the emoji she used after the message because I could picture the way she got herself all worked up over everything. I had forgotten that I’d told her the date of the review board, and of course she probably wrote it down in her calendar because she was hyper-organized like that.

Not too bad, but not great. Can we chat tomorrow? I’m already in bed, and it’s been a day. You know? Stop worrying, though. It will all work out.

A few minutes passed while I waited for her to respond, and finally, my phone vibrated again.

Okay. I’ll call you tomorrow, and you can tell me about it. Love you, Clemmie.

Love you too, Hannibal. Thank you for thinking about me. XOXO

I fell asleep moments after sending that message and didn’t stir all night. My mind and body were so fried, I didn’t even wake up to pee. I kept assuring everyone that everything would somehow work out.

But I wasn’t sure I believed it myself.

Chapter Seven

Luke

“Congratulations!” rang through the sectioned-off area of the bar as my team members celebrated, holding their glasses toward the space where I stood.

I’d just finished making a toast in their honor. Bestowing accolades in public was a great motivator for continued effort and success.

We’d landed the big account Liam had been working on, and it meant huge revenue for our firm. Liam and I would be the heroes—for a short time at least, until the next big campaign came around.

The bar was bursting at the seams with people of all ages and walks of life. We had reserved a handful of tables earlier in the day to ensure we could all sit together and make this outing our official celebration.

I’d already covered two rounds of drinks for everyone, so when the shots started coming our way from the bar, I knew I needed to check in with our waitress to be sure they weren’t on my tab. I’d seen these people drink at company functions before, and if I didn’t regain possession of my credit card, they’d likely max the thing out.

Excusing myself after a second toast, I fought my way through the crowd toward the bar.

The place had to be close to capacity. Just navigating from our tables to the enormous modern glass bar at the center of the room took forever. The music was loud and throbbing, and many of the patrons were on the dance floor bumping and grinding to the bass-heavy song.

After getting the bartender’s attention, I closed my tab and asked for a water.

“Do I know you?” a very sexy brunette said, smiling my way.

“I don’t think so,” I shouted. I would’ve definitely remembered her. She was stunning, and her expression was kind.

She looked skeptical. “Are you sure? Do you ever hang out at Saphire downtown?”

“No, I don’t think I’ve been there,” I said, enjoying the way she kept brushing her breasts along my arm. “I’m Luke.” I offered my hand.

“Hi. Lauren.”

“Nice to meet you, Lauren,” I said and slowly shook her hand.

Out of the corner of my eye, another woman caught my attention. Her long blond hair was well past the middle of her back, and she was about five inches taller than all the girls she was dancing with.

My heart rate accelerated with excitement. Was that her? The girl I’d been privately obsessing over? If it wasn’t her, it could be her twin. I hadn’t heard from her in close to two weeks of getting nothing in return to my messages, so I decided to drop the idea of her while my dignity was still intact.

When I refocused my attention on Lauren, she looked like she must have asked me something and was waiting for a reply.

I gave her an awkward smile. “Sorry. What did you say?”

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