Page 10 of Confusing Hearts

How did the girl have that effect on me? I had never been smitten by a female before. Sure, I had hooked up with plenty. Okay, more than I’d like to confess. But this was so different than that. Plus, she was really easy to talk to. I had already told her things I’d never told anyone, and I didn’t even know why. It was like she had me under some spell or something.

That must have been it. I was bewitched. She’d cast some sort of feline spell on me to cause such confusion and give signs of the mating bond. I thought it would be best to steer clear of her. Nothing good could come from me even dating a damn cat, and yet, I knew, I just knew, there was no way I could stay away from her. Tessa Lockhardt had stolen my heart and I didn’t even know how.

I had a few good friends taking photography this year, so to give myself some space, I left her side and went to say hello to my friends. From the corner of my eye I saw her panic, but more than that I could have sworn I actually felt her nerves. She was chewing on that damn lip again. God, it was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen and desire to replace her teeth with mine spiked again. It had been so hard trying to concentrate in class when she had done that.

“Hey, looks like we got a new classmate today, and she is hot,” Damon, one of my fraternity brothers, said. I fought back the urge to rip his throat out. Violent need to protect the girl had me seeing red.

“That’s Lockhardt. She’s on the volleyball team, and she is absolutely amazing!” Kaitlyn, another friend of mine, gushed. I had heard rumors of the new volleyball star, but I was having trouble reconciling it to the girl I had just spent the last two classes trying to get to know. “Hey, Lockhardt, come join us. We have room for one more, and I could definitely use some more estrogen up in this group.”

“Yes, please,” Damon said, as I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. He was my friend. He was my brother. I shouldn’t have to remind myself of such things, but at that moment, it was necessary.

“Hey,” she said almost shyly.

“Hey,” Kaitlyn said. “I’m Kaitlyn. This is Damon, Chase, and Neal.”

Neal, another one of my frat brothers and overall super cool dude, high fived her. “Hey, awesome spike on Windsor last weekend. You have a killer serve, too. Can’t wait to see how this season plays out. You guys are on fire!”

“Oh, uh, I. You see, that was . . .”

Tessa was cut off in mid-conversation by our teacher. He issued an outdoor assignment, and I was thankful there was no more talk of volleyball. For some reason it seemed to make her nervous and I didn’t like it.

We weren’t supposed to talk on the assignment. We could only take pictures and communicate by sharing them with others. It was a fun assignment that gave us all some good laughs.

I peered over Tessa’s shoulder as she scrolled through her pictures. She was really good. Better than me, if I was being honest. She had such a good eye and unique way of capturing just the right angles.

I heard her quick intake of breath at my nearness. I watched as her eyelids fluttered shut and she sucked in her lower lip. God, I wanted to kiss her so bad it hurt.

“Okay, class is dismissed, but remember, I want a portfolio of your pictures from today’s assignment uploaded before Wednesday’s class. I will be picking a few select ones to showcase in our next lesson,” Professor Jordan announced.

If I had known I would get to spend all morning with this incredible woman, I would have arranged to have lunch with her, too. I could kick my own ass for agreeing to meet up with Matt at One Eyed Jacks.

One Eyed Jacks was a popular eating hole just off campus. A lot of students rarely went into town, even though many shifters lived in the surrounding area. Jacks was owned by a wallaby shifter from Australia. It was mostly a bar, but they served good wings, too, and Matt was addicted to them.

Saying goodbye to Tessa was hard, a lot harder than it should have been. It wasn’t until after she had walked away that it dawned on me too late, that I should have got her phone number. I couldn’t stand the thought of not seeing her for an entire day. I briefly wondered if maybe we had more classes together after she had rearranged her schedule, but the odds of that were slim. My Tuesday/Thursday schedule consisted of Russian lit and ballroom dancing. I had quite the eclectic schedule.

I walked into Jacks and waved when I spotted Matt.

“Hey, just the two of us?” I asked him, looking around and expecting to see more of our brothers.

“Yeah, the pansies all bailed. Thanks for coming.”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Nah, nothing, just settling back into a new semester. Contemplating what I’m going to do in life when this place is over. The usual.”

“Still haven’t committed to a major?”

“Nope, though my options are quite limited at this point if I want to graduate on time.”

“Sounds like someone’s been talking with the counselors.”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “I need a good party to drink away real life.”

“Dude, that’s not the answer and you know it.”

Matt grinned back at me. “Yeah, but come on, it’s a hell of lot more fun! Hey, this weekend, let’s hang with the Theta girls. I’m over the panthers.”

Something in his expression made me think there was more to it.

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