Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91363 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91363 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Matt was a god. Not my God, but a god.
“Look at you, Gabriella Jacobson,” he said as I booked it down the stairs, straight into his brawny arms for a hug. “All grown up.”
Yes!
I wanted him to see me as all grown up. A woman. His woman.
When he released me, I felt the heat of Mercury in my face. Why did he have to be so handsome?
“You’ve done some growing too. Ya big jock.” I squeezed his bicep.
Matt laughed, and I realized how silly I sounded calling him a jock. Other people, like Olivia, sounded cool saying things like that, but I felt silly.
“Four years of baseball training will do that,” he said.
I clasped my hands behind my back to prevent them from squeezing anything else. “I heard you got injured and you’re done. I’m really sorry.”
“Yeah, it was a labral tear. I didn’t see my career ending in college, but …” he shrugged.
“But law school.”
“Yeah.” Matt chuckled.
“Well, we never know what God has planned.” I berated myself for bringing up God. It was habit, but I didn’t want Matt to only think of me as his preacher’s youngest daughter or the little sister of his high school sweetheart, who obliterated his heart. Every cell in my body wanted Matt to see me as his destiny.
“Yeah, God’s full of surprises.” He nodded slowly, eyeing me.
Like really eyeing me.
“I appreciate you taking the time to show me around campus. I feel like I know the way to my classes, but that’s about it. Ya know? Where are the best places to eat or get photocopies? Ice cream. Stuff like that.”
“For sure. Well, the dining hall is not at the top of the list for food, but if you have a food plan, you should grab what you can from there.” He offered his arm, and I nearly died from my heart bursting with excitement.
How chivalrous.
I hooked mine around his (like I’d do on our wedding day), and we walked around campus. Matt knew all the buildings and a lot of the history behind them too; he had always been smart. After showing me the hot spots for food, entertainment, and photocopies, we grabbed cans of pop and bags of chips near the campus bookstore and found a bench to watch the squirrels.
“Do you like your roommate?” he asked, popping a ranch-flavored chip into his mouth.
“Yeah, so far. Her name’s Olivia. She’s from Ohio, just outside of Akron, and she wants to be a lawyer too.”
And she wanted to do weird sex positions with my best friend, but Matt didn’t need to know that.
“My mom said you had a friend from school who’s here as well.” Matt tossed a chip toward the squirrel near our bench.
I sipped my Sprite, then nodded. “Ben. He wants to be a conductor.”
“Boyfriend?”
“Nope. Just a friend. You’ve met Ben, but you probably don’t remember. It’s been years.”
“Yeah, I think I remember him. He sounds like Sarah, a music lover.”
I wondered if he’d mention my sister’s name. It had been over four years since their breakup.
“Sarah’s more …” I twisted my lips, searching for the right word as a group of students walked past us, leaving a trail of cigarette smoke in their wake.
I coughed and Matt laughed. His older brother used to smoke, but I hated cigarette smoke.
“Sarah likes country and pop music. Ben salivates over Beethoven. They’re not at all alike.” I waved my hand at the residual smoke.
“Well, who doesn’t get a hard-on from Beethoven?”
I tried to act unaffected by hearing Matt say the word “hard-on,” but it was difficult. My dad’s godly voice was always in my ear, so my laugh was a forced tee-hee.
“What about you? Do you have a girlfriend?” I asked, unsure if my heart was ready for the answer.
He squeezed his empty pop can until it crushed and tossed it into the bin a few feet away. “I’m not sure.”
I laughed. “How can you not know if you have one?” My brain short-circuited into a dreamy monologue:
“Oh, Gabriella, the reason I don’t know is because I haven’t asked you to be my girlfriend yet. For four years, I’ve thought nonstop about you. And now you’re here like a dream. Say you’ll be mine.”
Who needed drugs? Nothing had me tripping like my infatuation with Matthew Cory.
“There’s this girl I’ve been seeing, but she’s thinking of transferring to UCLA because her parents just divorced, and that’s where her mom’s moving. I guess her mom is having a hard time. I’m not excited about a long-distance relationship, and neither is she. So I feel like we’re coming to a slow end if she transfers at the semester.”
“Do you love her?” The words were out before I gave my common sense a second to ponder them.
Matt grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. “I mean, I would have said yes a month ago. We’ve been dating for over a year. And I’m bummed that she’s leaving, but I’m not brokenhearted. So maybe that’s the answer. She thinks baseball is my greatest love, so I’ve clearly done a terrible job of making her feel special.”