Dearest Series Boxed Set by Lex Martin Read Free Book Online

ginger.
    “Okay, this isn’t bad.”
    Gavin’s lips tug up further.
    His hair is still damp from a shower, and he smells like soap. The morning stubble on his face gives his boyish smile an edge. I find myself thinking about rubbing that face against me to feel the roughness against my skin.
    Oh, fuck, I need to get away from him.
    I turn and start down the stairs again, and I hear his steps behind me.
    Did he go home, shower and come back? I know he only lives a block away at the dorms, but still. He went through too much trouble.
    “Did, uh, did you really carry me home from the club?” I ask, pausing to see his response.
    He looks away a second before he shrugs. “Maybe.”
    Shit. I don’t know what to do with him. He’s all kinds of sexy and sweet, and I desperately want to pull away and hide before we can ever get close. He didn’t even try to grope me last night, I think, and I was barely wearing anything in Jenna’s sluttacular dress.
    I start to turn, and he touches my arm to stop me.
    “I have a proposal, Clem.” He sounds all businesslike, which makes me wonder what his major is. I really don’t know that much about him except that he carries dumb drunk girls home and doesn’t have roaming hands.
    I tilt my head, curious about this proposal.
    Gavin tucks his hands in the pockets of his black hoodie. “How about we go climbing on Friday at the gym and maybe grab a bite after? But just as friends because I know you don’t date.”
    I almost laugh at the tone of his voice. He might be saying just friends , but that’s not how he’s looking at me right now.
    “How do you know I climb?” BU has one of the best fitness facilities in the country, complete with one badass climbing wall that I do a couple of times a week.
    He smiles again as his eyes pass over my body, sending another shiver down my back.
    “You’re in amazing shape, and I’d venture to say that’s where you got those killer abs.”
    My face flushes at the memory of exactly how he saw my abs this morning, and my defenses flare up.
    This is too much. He’s too much. I’m going to get hurt.
    But I don’t want to be rude. I know I’m not myself when I’m thinking about letting a guy down easily.
    “Can I think about it?”
    He seems unfazed and nods.
    “Sure, call me when you decide,” he says as he starts walking back up to my apartment.
    “I don’t have your number,” I blurt out.
    Wait. Why would I point that out?
    “Yeah, you do. Check your phone,” he says with a grin as he disappears up the stairs.

    * * *
    G avin Murphy programmed his number into my phone. I’m sitting at work, wondering if I should be totally flattered or freaked.
    I reach for my cell and text him before I take a second to consider whether I should be communicating with him at all.
    Me: How did you know that I’d want your number? A little presumptuous, no?
    He texts me back a minute later: How could you not? I’m a great snuggler, remember? And I didn’t grope you in bed even though I really wanted to.
    Me: Doesn’t mean you’re not a perv.
    Gavin: I’m most definitely a perv, baby.
    I laugh, shaking my head as the evening crew walks in. One of the guys says, “Hey, Clem, that’s quite a smile. Someone is in a good mood today.”
    I shake off my stupid grin and stare down the little sophomore, whose face falls.
    “You’re late.”

- 5 -
    W hen my professor talks about sex, she sounds like she’s purring, but since she’s French, I attribute her quasi-animalistic tones to her European roots.
    “You must dig deep,” Professor Marceaux says as she paces the front of the classroom. “You must get to the core of what makes relationships bloom, what makes them falter, what destroys them.”
    Cheating. Cheating destroys relationships. Blow jobs from other girls also fall under this category. I blink, and I see an image of Daren, the one that’s haunted me for years, where his face is contorted in a mixture of pleasure and pain from