Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 121095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Shoot.
With my heart rate increasing, I read the short bio next to Luca Maguire’s name. He is a freshman like me, but he’s a full year older at nineteen. Surely his parents started him in kindergarten on the later side to give him a leg up in sports throughout his school years. I’m not surprised, given Luca’s pedigree. My parents did the same with my two older brothers, and it worked out spectacularly well, considering they’re both linebackers in the NFL now.
“Good morning, ladies,” a smooth male voice says.
Holy shit.
I jerk my gaze up from the dimpled, smiling face of Luca Maguire on my laptop and discover the same dimpled, smiling face staring down at me from mere feet away.
“Good morning to you!” Daisy replies brightly as I try not to choke on my own tongue. Can Luca see his grinning photo on my computer screen? Given our positioning, that shouldn’t be possible, but based on the cocky grin he’s shooting me, one that’s making me feel like this boy knows all my secrets, I’m irrationally worried there’s some kind of reflection behind me. A window or mirror that’s giving me away.
Barely able to breathe, I slam my laptop shut and glance behind me, and thankfully there’s nothing there but a beige wall.
As I turn back around, Luca asks, “Can I take this?” He motions to the empty chair at our small table, and embarrassment washes over me to find out he didn’t come over here to flirt with Daisy and me, like I thought, but only to drag an empty chair to a table with his friends.
“It’s all yours,” Daisy chirps, batting her eyelashes.
“Thanks. I’m so hungry, I could eat a Hoosier.” With that, Roman freaking Maguire’s smoking-hot younger brother plops his piled-high plate of food onto our small table and slides his muscular ass into the chair next to mine. “Thanks for letting me crash your party, ladies. I’m Luca, by the way.”
I exchange a flabbergasted look with Daisy. Plainly, she didn’t expect this incredible specimen of a man to sit down at our table any more than I did.
“Hi, Luca. I’m Daisy and this is Chelsea.”
“Hey, Daisy.” Luca’s dark eyes shift to me. “Chelsea. It’s great to meet you both.” To my shock, he continues staring only at me when he speaks again, even though it’s Daisy who’s brazenly flirting with him. “So, what brings you to the world-renowned resort town of Bloomington, Indiana?” An embarrassing snort escapes me at Luca’s silly joke, and he snickers at the comical sound. With twinkling brown eyes, he sets his forearm onto the small bit of space between us at the table and leans toward me. “I hope you don’t mind me saying this, Chelsea, but you have really pretty eyes. The bluest I’ve ever seen. Wow.”
I blush crimson. “No, I-I don’t mind you saying that. At all. Thank you.” I realize after a beat, I should probably compliment his dark eyes in return, since they’re warm and soulful in a way that’s extremely alluring. But I just can’t bring myself to compliment a Maguire, even after he’s complimented me.
As a general matter, Ohio State’s heated, to-the-death rivalry with Michigan has always been legendary—like a religion. In fact, most people agree it’s the biggest and most contentious rivalry in all of college football. But thanks to Roman Maguire’s recent one-two punch in back-to-back seasons, my entire hometown of die-hard Buckeyes despises not only Michigan these days, but Roman “Satan” Maguire, too. And, of course, my family is particularly committed to the hatred, given that my father is Ohio State’s head coach and my oldest brother played linebacker during both embarrassing losses to Satan and his minions.
In the thick silence, Luca bites his lower lip and flashes me a flirtatious look that makes the small channel of air between our bodies feel supercharged all of a sudden, causing me to blush.
“And that’s my cue to leave,” Daisy says with a laugh. Plainly, she’s clocked the sudden shift in energy between Luca and me.
“No, it’s okay,” I blurt.
“I want to do some prep before the competition, anyway.” She closes her laptop and pops out of her seat with a wicked smirk. “Take your time, Chelsea. We’ve got plenty of time before we need to go. I’ll be in the room.” She says her goodbyes to our guest, shoots me a wink that says, “Go for it, tiger,” and off she goes with a swish of her hips and her computer bag on her shoulder.
As Daisy leaves, Luca asks, “What’s the competition she mentioned? Cheerleading? Dance? You look like a dancer.”
Man, I’d love to jump right in and trash-talk his big brother. And then, if he’s still standing and willing to talk to me, find out as much as possible about the Cornhuskers’ defensive scheme, since Ohio State will be playing them later in the season.