Page 17 of Shane
“Courtesy of The Suns,” the same bartender interrupts us, sliding yet three more tequila shots onto the counter.
When I turn to look back over at the crowd, Shane has his arm playfully hooked around one of his teammates, but his eyes are completely on me.
“Holy hell, is that him?” Minka demands to know.
“Whoa, he’s beautiful,” Pepper comments as well.
“And he’s trying to get you drunk too?” Minka laughs as she picks one up. “That is even more impressive, freshman. Here's to new experiences and a fine-ass hockey player who wants to get in your panties.”
“You should definitely let him,” Pepper adds.
I say nothing else about it as they clink their glasses against each other’s and then throw back their shots. Their laughter fills the air around us, mixing with the familiar sounds of the bar: shuffling feet on worn-out wooden floors, raucous conversations blending into an indistinct hum, and high-octane music floating above it all.
Later, we visit several bars along the crawl, and it feels as if Shane is watching me at every stop, not in a weird way, but in a way that makes me feelseenin a way that no guy has ever looked at me before.
“Are you going to put dude out of his misery and finally give him your phone number?” Minka asks, and I’m amazed at how well her little body seems to metabolize tequila.
“He didn’t ask for it,” I tell them. By this point in the evening, several of Pepper’s other friends have joined us too.
“Yeah, but he so clearly wants it. He can’t keep his eyes off you.”
A few days ago I would have said that you’d never catch me accepting drinks and chatting it up with a stranger. Yet tonight, I find myself in the middle of a stare-off with someone I wouldn’t mind getting to know a little better. And just maybe it’s something to look forward to.
I pick up my last shot of the night and hold it up to them. "To new experiences," I echo before tipping the glass back and letting the liquid burn a trail down my throat, reminding me of the heat I felt between my legs when Shane’s lips grazed mine.
Maybe the next four years are going to be a lot more intriguing than I thought.
kennedy
“Is this seat taken?”
The tall guy inquiring looks familiar but I’m not sure from where.
“I have no idea,” I say.
“Well, now it is.” He smiles.
Today I’m starting my freshman seminar class. It’s a relatively large class compared to my other ones and they’re holding it in the smaller auditorium in the Sol Pueblo building.
I notice that there are students already bonded in small cliques buzzing on about the things that college students talk about..primarily partying.
Pepper and Minka are sophomores and wouldn’t be in this class. Since I don’t know anyone else, I take a seat in one of the back rows to avoid having to make small talk with any strangers until someone takes the seat next to me.
“I’m Lorenzo,” the guy introduces himself.
“Hi.”
“Have we met before?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You don’t live in The Pink?”
One of the main freshman dorms on campus is an adobe-styled, pink-hued building that students have aptly nicknamed The Pink.
“No, not me.”
He shuffles in his seat, probably uncomfortable because his frame is too big for the average-sized chair.