Matchplay by Dakota Madison Read Free Book Online Page B

particular plan for what I want to do. I have a list of several elite graduate programs to which I will be applying and then after I earn a doctorate, I would like to do a museum internship for my post-doc. Then I plan to teach and research at a university.”
    “Wow . I’m impressed. You really have given it a lot of thought.”
    I glanced over at the keg and saw that Aaron and his two groupies were still standing there drinking and laughing. The girls were practically throwing themselves at him and he seemed to be enjoying every minute of it. When he caught me looking at him and our eyes met, I saw a flash of something dark behind his rock star façade. Was it pain? Was he not really enjoying all of the attention from the beautiful blondes as it appeared? The look was only there for a moment and then it disappeared when the blonde at his left whispered something in his ear, which made him grin, but Aaron was still staring at me. The scene both disgusted and confused me. When he winked at me and gave me a sly smile, I felt sick to my stomach. Did he actually think he could flirt with me while two girls were hanging off him? I revolted .
    “Can we go into the other room?” I asked. “It’s getting stuffy in here.”
    “Sure .” Josh looked around. “Or do you want to go outside? You can see the stars in the backyard and it’s a beautiful night?’
    The stars sounded really good. The only problem was that we had to walk past Aaron and his girls to get out the back door.
    “Let’s go outside,” I said. “If you don’t mind leading the way.”
    “My pleasure,” Josh said as he placed his empty beer cup on the counter.
    I made sure that Josh was on the side that would be closest to Aaron as we passed. It didn’t stop Aaron from staring at me as we walked by him. The blondes seemed oblivious to the attention he was giving me and I made sure I had the most vile and disgusted look on my face as we passed.  For a moment, he looked like I had slapped him but he quickly covered it up.  
    When we got outside, Josh asked. “Do you know that guy?”
    “What guy?” I replied even though I knew exactly, who he meant.
    “The guy from The Clubhouse with the blondes hanging all over him.”
    I shrugged. “Sort of.”
    Josh looked very concerned. “Is there something going on between the two of you?”
    I gave a chuckle as if it was the most absurd question in the world. “Why would you ask that?”
    “Just the way he looked at you. Even though he had two girls on his arms, it was like he didn’t even care. He was just staring at you.”
    I tried to minimize what Josh was saying. “We’re just partners in my art history class. We were assigned to work on a project together. That’s all.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Of course,” I said but I wasn’t sure at all.
    Olivia and Marney were deeply involved in a game of beer pong when I was ready to leave, so Josh agreed to walk me back to the dorm.
    He was a perfect gentleman and as we approached the door to the building he said, “I’d like to see you again.”
    “Okay,” I agreed and he smiled.
    “Would you like to go to dinner and a movie?” he asked.
    “That sounds great. Do you want my number?”
    He nodded and we exchanged cell phone numbers.
    “Good night.” He watched as I unlocked the door with my key card. When he saw that I was safely inside, he turned and walked away.
    When I got into my room, I thought about how the events of the evening had played out. Josh was so kind and sweet but I still couldn’t get my mind off of Aaron. What kind of game was he playing? And why was it so obvious to Josh that something was going on between us? If there was something going on, I wanted to know what it was.
    When I got notification of a text message, I expected it to be from Josh. Imagine my surprise when I saw it was from Aaron.
    Aaron: Can we talk?
    Me: How did you get my number?
    Aaron: I have my ways.
    Me: What do you want to talk about?
    Aaron: Us.
    Me: