UNEDITED
After violating campus rules and committing student misconduct, twenty-three-year-old Warren Ashford is deep trouble and at risk of losing his volleyball scholarship -- the one thing he truly values other than his bad boy reputation, and hi...
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Warren
Nova is lousy at lying.
By the way she's staring at my mouth, I can tell she's thinking about kissing me.
It's something I've noticed in the past couple of weeks. Minus Canada Day, she's been surprisingly open with me. Or maybe I'm just getting better at reading her. We have spent a fair amount of time together, and I can't say I'm not a fan of this sudden closeness. Despite the fact that whenever I spend time with Nova it becomes harder to consider what's going to happen when summer ends, I enjoy being with her.
I still wish time would slow the hell down, though. It's moving too fast, at an alarmingly irregular pace.
I'm going to miss my roommate more than anyone could possibly comprehend.
I've been thinking about what Hazel said, yet every time I try to ask Nova out, all I feel is disappointment. Asking her out would make things formal, which feels wrong to me. She's going to be in a different dorm room when fall arrives. So how is that fair to either of us?
Our lives have been different since the moment we met, and I should have known that we could never be more than friends.
"Is the water going to be cold?" Nova asks.
Discarding my depressing thoughts for the time being, I shrug. "Depends on what you consider to be cold."
Her eyes widen, and she begins to try to worm her way out of my arms. "Warren," she says, "put me down. Right now. I can't stand cold water."
I contemplate her words. "I'll pass – you need to cross swimming in the ocean off of your bucket list. Oh, and the sand is hot. I wouldn't want you to burn your feet."
Surprisingly, maybe due to the fact that I'm stronger than her, Nova stops struggling and sighs. "Damn it. You could have gotten a scholarship for anything, yet it had to be volleyball. It had to be a sport."
"Are you saying I'm in good shape?" I smirk.
"Shut up," she mutters.
I grin. Stupidly.
As it turns out, the water is cold, but not nearly as cold as the lake was. I, however, barely notice the temperature because all I can focus on is how hot Nova is in her black bikini. Yeah, I'm ogling and maybe I'm fantasizing about what slathering her back with sunscreen would be like once we get out of the water, but where's the harm in that?
Damn, she's gorgeous.
And, thank God the water is cold or else I would be in one embarrassing predicament.
Once I'm waist-deep, I stop and take my time to look at her. Whatever energy she had focused on getting out of my grip is now focused on the water. I watch as she runs her hand through it.
