One
Camden
Camden couldn’t believe her luck. She also couldn’t decide if her luck was good or bad.
She was leaning toward bad.
She climbed the stairs in the library, dragging her feet as she walked toward the study room in which Jackson Dove, starting quarterback and big man on campus, would be waiting for her. She felt sick just thinking about it.
Of all the things she thought would happen while she was in college, working with the quarterback in a class was not one of them.
The study rooms came into view and she slowed to a stop.
She knew she was acting crazy. She felt crazy too.
She didn’t know Jackson. She’d never had a class with him. She’d never talked to him before. The closest she’d ever gotten to him was when she was at the football games with the marching band.
She was one of the girls that hung out in the background and she was fine with that. Really. She didn’t want to be in the spotlight with people looking at her.
She was fine with her band nerd existence.
Except… now she probably wouldn’t be able to avoid some of it.
People flocked to Jackson. He simply existed and people wanted to be him and be around him.
She saw it the other day in class when they were exchanging information for their project and people came up. They ignored her, pushing her out of the way, even though she’d been there first.
It was a weird experience for her and one she couldn’t say was remotely pleasant.
She shook her head and blew out a long breath. Standing creepily outside the study rooms wouldn’t change anything that had happened.
So what? It was Jackson Dove, the most popular guy at King University. He was just a guy.
A guy that was rumored to be going pro after he graduated.
A guy that was rumored to be one of the nicest guys on campus.
A guy that was rumored to have done all sorts of things at the football parties.
She huffed out another breath. There was nothing special about him.
She forced herself to take a step, and then another one. She glanced in the rooms as she went by, taking in the groups that were working diligently.
When she reached their room, the last one on the row, she paused just out of view of the doorway.
Jackson was already there, his books on the table, a notebook open with a pen lying on a blank page.
That wasn’t what got her attention though.
It was the other person in the room.
Camden thought it was one of the head dancers, but she couldn't be certain. She only knew what the dancers looked like because they would sometimes practice with the band when they were getting ready for an upcoming halftime show.
Her palms started sweating as she watched Jackson and the girl. They weren’t doing anything x-rated or inappropriate, but Camden really didn’t want to go in there. Jackson looked relaxed, but the girl was practically sitting in his lap and was leaning into him. She shuddered to think of what they might start doing in a few minutes. That doubly made her want to turn and flee.
She needed to go in, though. She and Jackson had a project to work on and she didn’t want to have to spend more time than necessary working with him.
She threw her shoulders back and stepped into the room, flashing Jackson a brief smile before dropping her bag into a chair and unzipping it.
“Who are you?” the girl asked.
Camden glanced at her and saw that her eyes had narrowed as they scraped over Camden.
She tried not to glower as the girl looked her over, making her skin crawl. It was obvious this girl was staking her claim.
“Lisa, really?”
Lisa flicked her gaze to Jackson, and she visibly melted, which allowed Camden to breathe a sigh of relief.
“I just don’t know this girl and I don’t want some random person coming up to you and taking advantage.”
Jackson chuckled and Camden tried hard to not pay attention to what he was saying to Lisa, but it was hard considering they were all in a room together.
“Random person? I told you I was working with someone on a project. You think some random girl would come in here?”
“Well, no…”
“Exactly. Besides, you have no say in who I spend my time with.”
Camden’s eyes widened at Jackson’s words and she kept her gaze pinned to the things she was pulling out of her bag. She really didn’t want to be here for this conversation, which had now taken a very awkward turn.
Lisa huffed. “Really, Jackson?”
“Really, Lisa. We’re not dating.”
Camden glanced out of the corner of her eye toward the duo and studied their body language.
Jackson still looked relaxed as he leaned back in his chair while Lisa looked like she was ready to claw his eyes out.
Her shoulders were high and tight around her ears and her face was growing red in what she could only imagine was embarrassment. Camden was sure Lisa was going to blow a gasket any moment now, and she was debating abandoning her stuff there and going down to the coffee shop on the first floor to give them a minute to finish their conversation.
“You need to go,” Jackson said.
What he said wasn’t really the problem, though it wasn’t nice; it was how he said it that had the hair on the back of Camden’s neck standing on end.
His voice was devoid of emotion and there was a flatness to it that seemed to warn Lisa of what might happen next if she didn’t leave.
“I need to get to work with my partner.”
Lisa huffed and started muttering under her breath as she finally stood and left the room.
The heaviness of the air dissipated as soon as Lisa walked out and Camden tried not to sag with relief.
She wasn’t one for confrontation. She’d rather walk away and hope that the problem would go away than face it head on. But she didn’t think Lisa felt the same.
“Sorry about her,” Jackson said, pulling Camden’s attention to him.
Camden shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. You don’t need to apologize for her. I didn’t mind waiting.”
“You shouldn’t have to. We’re here to work together and she was encroaching on our time.”
Camden made a non-committal sound as she pulled out a chair and sat down. She looked at Jackson again and saw him smirking at her.
“What?”
“Why are you all the way over there?” he asked, gathering his things together and sliding a few chairs over so that there was only a chair between the two of them.
Her face heated. “No reason.”
Jackson chuckled, but said nothing.
“Okay, so our topic is…”
Jackson pulled the assignment sheet toward him and quickly read it aloud. Camden wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying. She was too busy looking at him and trying to calm herself down.
Jackson Dove was sitting close enough that she could touch him and she was trying not to freak out.
He had bright blue eyes that crinkled at the edges when he smiled. Sharp cheekbones accentuated a face that was handsome to look at. He had a nice and easy smile. In fact, she couldn’t recall a time when he wasn’t smiling.
He had dark hair that he kept a little long, the ends curling over his ears and the collar of his shirt.
He was hot in that all-American way. He looked like the boy next door.