Breathless #2 (The Breathless Romance Series - Book #2) by Claire Adams Read Free Book Online Page A

“Middle Eastern Night,” with falafel, hummus, kabobs and
more. I had very little confidence in the authenticity, but at least it
couldn’t be all bad.
    We loaded up our plates, taking things from different
stations around the serving area; I joked about Johnny loading up his plate
with protein and made sure that I got at least a little bit of salad on my
plate. There were different themed desserts as well: roasted figs, rose ice
cream, and thin orange blossom honey pancakes, among other things. I was glad
to see that Johnny was just as comfortable with Georgia as he had ever been—it
made me feel even better about everything, about the fact that I was falling
for him fast. If he hadn’t been able to at least make conversation with
Georgia, or if he’d snubbed her or was mad that I’d brought her along, I would
have felt weird about dating him.
    We finally found a place to sit with our trays; I
joked to Johnny about my self-imposed quest to taste every one of the juices
the dining hall offered and then after that to experiment with as many
combinations as were possible. I noticed as we moved through the line and then
through the dining area to find a table where we could all sit that a lot of
the girls were still looking at me with disappointed—some of them even
rampantly jealous—glances, their lips pressed together in pouts or frowns that
disappeared if they thought Johnny was looking at them. I didn’t exactly like
the fact that so many people wanted to date the guy I was seeing, but I decided
to ignore them; after all, it wasn’t their business. Johnny liked me, at least
for now, and I wasn’t going to get all insecure and let them win.
    We talked about our classes, and Georgia told Johnny
about some of the clubs she was interested in checking out; I talked about
getting to class late, glancing at Johnny with a little grin. Johnny teased me
about my mosquito bites and said that I might as well just walk around in a
bikini since it was still warm enough, so that he could dab me with calamine
lotion whenever I needed it. “Oh god,” I said, laughing. “Then I’d be that
weird spotted freshman girl. No thanks.”
    I started to relax, but even as we ate, I could still
remember my mom’s insistence that I ask Johnny to come down and visit for dinner.
I glanced at Georgia and she gave me a little, tiny nod. “Hey, so, Johnny,” I
said anxiously, putting my plate aside; I hoped that I would still have room
for dessert afterward. “So I talked to my mom earlier—she called me while I was
in class and I couldn’t put it off forever.” I explained about the phone call a
little bit, how I mentioned I was kind of seeing someone and wanted to not come
home so I could—hopefully—see Johnny again.
    “Well yeah, I’d hope you’d rather spend the weekend
hanging out with me than with your parents,” he said with a laugh. I took a
deep breath and decided to go all in.
    “So, Mom said that I should invite you to come for
dinner with us. It’s no big deal—it’s not like a serious thing—but I guess she
was trying to keep me from having an excuse not to go home.” My heart was
pounding in my chest. Johnny grinned.
    “Of course I’ll go to dinner. I’d love to!” I couldn’t
believe my luck; Johnny had to be the sweetest guy I had ever met in my entire
life.
    “It’s not—like—something where I’m trying to like…” I
stumbled over my words. “I didn’t even say you were my boyfriend or anything
just that we’d had a couple of dates.” Johnny laughed again and reached across
the table, ruffling my hair.
    “Well, when you tell them that I’ll be coming to dinner
you can tell them that I am your boyfriend.” I grinned, and then remembered;
these were my parents. It was going to be at the country club.
    “It is going to be at their stupid country club,” I
pointed out. “The food’s not bad, but the place is pretty lame, and it’s going
to be all stuffy and everyone dressed up and