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had some hot, single girlfriend I’d refer him to. He’d have to be more direct if he wanted an answer, I’d never been adept at reading between the lines. Either way, it was a no.
    However, as I was about to ask Paul for further clarification, William stood up and made no qualms about heading straight for us.
    “What have you got in mind?” I asked Paul, letting him drop his mouth to my ear.
    “Well I was thinking—”
    William pried me from Paul, mid-sentence.
    He face looked more upset than angry. “Just so you know,” he said through closed teeth. “Fancy fireworks ignited for the sole purpose of making someone jealous don’t count as sparks.”
    I sucked in a breath, feeling like I was caught-up in a black-and-white movie where the leading lady is being pursued by two handsome, roguish-types. However, in my movie, I wouldn’t have the man the leading lady wanted striding away from her like mine was now.
    Paul came up behind me. “Who’s that guy?”
    “Just ignore him,” I said, not able to turn my eyes away from his retreating figure.
    A good twenty paces away, he spun around. “You wish you could,” he shouted over the hullabaloo of the crowd, his arms shrugging as if saying, you had your chance, see ya.
    He melted into the mass of bodies leaving the auditorium, but I kept my eyes on the exact spot I’d lost sight of him, wishing I could make him reappear so I could rewind to the exact moment I left his side on the bench. 
    “What a chump. Just forget about him,” Paul said, squeezing my shoulder muscles. “I’m going to go get showered up.” He headed for the men’s locker room, smiling back at me. “Will you wait for me?”
    I barely managed a nod.

The last drove of fans had left a few minutes ago while I stayed behind, sitting in the seat I’d occupied earlier. I wasn’t waiting, but contemplating—trying to sort out my next move. I’d told Paul I’d wait for him for a date but not a fiber of me was in it, and the troubling part—aside from not being interested in Paul Lowe, a demigod in the eyes of OSU’s female populace—was that I knew he was what I should like.
    I should like the college guy who was a hero in the local community and defined all-American boy. But I’d learned long ago that what I should like, what I should do, just never seemed to work out for me. Like the world never had an easy, bumpless road planned for me. Up-to-date, it had been pocketed with sink holes and tombstones.
    Who was I kidding? Certainly not myself. What I wanted had run away in the opposite direction. What was I still doing here?
    And knowing that he was likely no good for me, that I’d suffer more heartache than any one girl should, I left the gym without a single look over my shoulder.
    William throwing my words in my face had taken hold like a foreign bacteria. What was the use in pretending when I knew what I wanted? When, maybe somewhere all along, I’d always known what I’d wanted but it only became obvious to me when it appeared in the form of a man I met one week ago who had a knack for infuriating and confounding me.
    The cool night air whipped me as soon as I opened the door. I zipped my hoodie jacket up as far as it would go, thankful I’d remembered it. It was a breezy, chilly night—the kind that had one checking over their shoulder. Winter clung to the air, that sterile, suffocating smell that blanketed any scent of spring in the breeze.
    Back home, I would have been in shorts and a tee, but here, even in my jeans and jacket, I wished I’d brought an extra layer of insulation. What a difference moving one state away could make. I hugged my arms around me and decided I’d jog back to my dorm. I’d get there quicker, stay warmer, and I hadn’t worn my trusty sneakers for nothing.
    “Hey, beautiful.”
    The address was out-of-context, but since there was no one else around, I stopped. More like froze, as a male figure drifted out in front of me, as if he’d materialized