When Gracie is humiliated after following her best friend's brother to college and finds he's moved on without her, she grows closer to his rival--the captain of his basketball team--the infamous Kalen Rush, and suddenly Gracie wonders just what len...
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It was in the middle of my first day back on campus after I'd taken a few days off that I'd really noticed it—noticed him.
His eyes would follow me across the lunch hall, his stare penetrating as I attempted to mind my own business and joke around with Franny or Colby who hadn't left my side since I'd been back.
I didn't take long off, but just enough time that it was noticeable from my professors and who were completely understanding once I described the situation.
It was him who made things complicated, however.
Every crane of my neck, every prickling of my skin as I felt his eyes on me, every toe-curling sensation crawling up my back—Kalen was there.
He was everywhere—staring me down in the class with Mr. Rhodes, a smirk curling the edges of his lips as my eyes found his.
He was in the background of every conversation I had with Colby, lurking and waiting for something I couldn't put a name to.
It was only when I was alone in the library that I felt I could finally reach my reprieve.
Walking amongst the stacks as I searched for a comfortable place to settle in for the rest of the night until the library closed, I shuffled my books closer to my chest and tried not to feel guilty about the fact that I'd had to ditch Colby and Franny in an attempt to finally get some time to myself.
Breathing in the scent of new and gently used books that permeated the otherwise still air, I chose my spot in front of a window just as sprinkles of rain began to slither down the windowpane while the sun sought refuge behind the charcoal clouds outside.
Popping in my headphones, it didn't take long before I was lost in one of my essays and then on to the next, opening emails from Mr. Rhodes and coordinating with my internship that I'd only attended once at the museum before the debacle with my father occurred, letting them know that I'd be back in later that night.
I was so lost in my work, however, that I didn't realize when the prickling began to descend upon my scalp.
The sensation intensified as I closed out my emails and began fishing out one of my books from my bag that I liked to read for fun in between assignments, and while I ignored it, the feeling only grew deeper, as if unsatisfied that it was being looked over.
A whisper of a touch ghosted across the skin of my neck and I jumped, a squeak escaping from my mouth that I couldn't hear because of the deafening level at which I listened to my music.
Ripping my headphones from my ears, it was then that I was greeted with a harrowing sight: Kalen Rush was standing directly behind me, his hands braced on either side of my chair with a sickeningly handsome, devious smile on his plush lips that I'd had pressed against my own not too long ago.
