Page 3 of Catch My Fall (Catch)

Gracing me with a smile that I bet he’d spent hours perfecting, he said, "I’m sorry to bother you, but I forgot my pen. Do you have an extra I could borrow?"

What kind of student forgets their pen on the first day of class? Ibet he was too busy practicing his ‘Blue Steel’ face in the mirror to notice that today was important. Snapping to attention, I dug through my bag before turning back and handing him a pen.

"Sweet! You're a lifesaver."

Giving him a tight smile I nodded. "No problem. You can keep it."

When heopened his mouth to say something else, I turned my head away and started fiddling with my iPad. I didn’t want to get into any kind of conversation with him, and my body language definitely conveyed that message.

He wasinsanely hot, but my commitment to keeping a wall up around guys like him was firmly in place. The rest of the class passed without further discussion with Chocolate Eyes (yeah, I’d given him a nickname… shoot me!), not that it bothered me.

I did have to remind myself about twenty times NOT to look at him. Itreallyshouldn’t have required reminders.

* * *

There was a gap in my schedule after my Business Math class and I decided to use the time to hit up the cafeteria for a coffee and some food. I spent so much time trying to deal with my hair emergency this morning that I never ate anything and now I was starving.

It was just my luck that the cafeteria was so crowded that after paying for my yogurt, banana and coffee, I had to search for a seat. I was happy to find an empty table, but unfortunately it was right in the middle of the room. I went tense all over as I tried to muster up enough courage to make my way through the throng of people to the table. It’s not like I’m trying to be a social pariah for life, but I’m very unsettled around groups of people I don’t know. Realizing that there was no time like the present to immerse myself in the crowd, I took a deep breath and headed for the empty seat. It was a two top table and it felt like I hit the jackpot having it all to myself.

Just as I started to eat my banana I saw someone wearing a pair of jeanswalk up and stop next to me. Looking up, I found myself staring into the chocolate eyes of the hot guy I’d been sitting next to in Business Math.

Giving me asmile, he gestured to the seat across from me. “Anyone sitting here?”

My first reaction washow lame. I was not going to take it well if he started throwing out pick-up vibes. I answered his question with a tight shake of my head as I prayed that he wasn’t going to be a nuisance. Placing my hand over my coffee, I pulled it toward me so that it wasn’t near what was about to become his side of the table. He drew the chair back and sat in the empty seat and, just like that, my solitary table had been co-opted by Chocolate Eyes, which was the very last thing I wanted or needed.

Once he was comfortable in his chair, he graced me with another one of his million-dollar, panty-melting smiles. “Thanks for letting me sit here. That’s twice that you’ve saved my ass today. I owe you one… or two. How about you let me know when you want to collect on that.”

Christ, he really must think he’s God’s gift to women. With a shrug of my shoulder, I answered, “You don’t owe me a thing—it was a pen, and the table is in a public place.”

After thatI went back to eating my banana and ignoring him. We didn’t know each other, and I didn’t want to get to know him, so there was no need for idle chitchat. I was sure he could find any number of girls to hang onto his every word—I just won’t be one of them. I could feel that his eyes were on me and I did my best to ignore it. I was doing a pretty good job until he spoke again.

“Hey.”

Taking a frustrated breath, I met his gaze. He seemed uncomfortable and I could tell that he wasn’t used to girls not hanging on his every word.

“Yeah?”

“Do I offend you somehow? I showered this morning and brushed my teeth, so I know it’s not that I’m killing your nose with some wicked body odor or a bad case of ass breath. But the way you’re acting tells me you think I’m some kind of super-creeper.”

My mouth dropped in shock at his words. “Um, I’m shy. Sorry.”

He stared at me for a minute in silence and it almost felt like he was searching for something in my face.

“You’re new here. Freshman?”

“Uh, yeah. Is it that obvious?”

That earned a chuckle from him. “I’ve never seen you before and I would have remem—um, yeah, sorry. I wasn’t trying to be rude.” Sticking out his hand he said, “I’m Tristan Chamberlain.”

He’d backed me into a corner, and I had no choice but to accept his hand. My skin tingled when he touched me, and for a minute I forgot what I was supposed to be saying to him. The silence went on for a beat too long as I stared into those beautifulchocolate eyes.

Clearing his throat,he pulled his hand back. “Let’s try this again. I’m Tristan and I’m a sophomore. What’s your name?”

Jesus, Maryand Joseph, how lame could I be? I could actually feel my cheeks turning beet red as my heartbeat sped up to doubletime.

“Sorry!My name is Mia Reeves… and I, um, didn’t get enough sleep last night. Clearly I need to drink a lot more coffee, because I’m out of it. I swear that I’m not normally a space cadet.”

He nodded like he understood and didn’t punctuate it with a look that indicated he thought I was an airhead, which made me feel better.

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