Meet Him at the Altar

“Incoming!” A loud shout came from over my shoulder as something collided with my back, and then a muffled curse as the slap of tennis shoes against concrete sounded out behind me.

“Are you all right?” The older guy on the bench closed his book and dropped it on the weathered wood as he headed in my direction.

He glared at the person behind me, and then his eyes flashed back to mine.

A soccer ball rolled to a stop a few feet away, and I watched as a blond guy with stubble leaned down to pick it up as a hand closed on my shoulder.

“I’m so sorry. Shit. Are you all right?” Looking backward, I was met by a solid, sweaty chest with a speckling of auburn hair that led down into a pair of athletic shorts.

“Talk about shitty aim, Cor. Or were you trying to get the attention of the hottest girl in our group?” the blond laughed as he walked over toward us.

“What? No. Fuck…,” the shirtless one cursed, the last word muttered under his breath. He crouched down slightly so he could make eye contact with me. He was tall. Very, very tall.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No. Uh, it just startled me. I’m fine,” I assured.

He blew out a breath and smiled at me, a dimple forming on his cheek.

I had to admit, he’d stunned me, but not with the soccer ball to the back. He had close-cropped brownish auburn hair with a little cowlick at the front that made it stick up.

His deep blue eyes were framed with auburn-tipped lashes that highlighted the almond shape of his eyes. His face, neck, and chest were covered with freckles, interspersed with smooth pale skin.

“Cory, put your shirt back on, and quit acting like a jackass,” the older guy scolded him with an eye roll.

“Yeah, Cory. No one wants to be blinded by your pale whiteness,” the shorter blond one teased.

“Fuck off, Jon. You’re just jealous,” Cory scoffed as he flipped off his friend.

“Of what? Your inability to aim your kicks?” Jon taunted with a grin.

“Guys. Knock it off and take it somewhere else,” the older one sighed, looking annoyed with both of them.

They both stepped back and started pushing at each other. The taller one, Cory, pulled a shirt out of the back waistband of his dark athletic shorts and snapped it toward his friend.

“You sure you’re okay?” Turning back toward the older guy, I shook my head and focused on his face.

“Yeah, sorry. That was…”

“Two immature idiots living up to their reputation?” He rolled his eyes.

Nervous laughter bubbled up as he smiled at me.

He wasn’t pretty-boy handsome like the other two, but he had a definite boy-next-door thing going on with the glasses and the messy hair.

“Are you in my group?” he asked curiously.

“You’re lettuce guy?”

Fuck. Oh god. Seriously?

“Yup. Heard that one before.” He nodded. “Please, god, just don’t make jokes about putting me in your mouth and spitting me out. That one is a little much.”

My eyes widened as my cheeks heated up.

“Sorry, that was probably inappropriate,” Cale quickly apologized.

“Uh…” I was at a loss for words.

“So, what’s your name? I’m guessing Krista or Kim.”

“Cause that’s not creepy.” I frowned. “Did they send pictures of us or something?”

“No.” He shook his head with an amused smile. “There are two girls with names that start with K, and I noticed your necklace.”

I looked down at the initial necklace sitting just above the neckline of my tank top. “Nice observational skills.”

“Hazard of the trade.” He shrugged. “I’m studying psychology. I’m supposed to be able to read people.”

“Noted,” I told him with a nod.

“Sooo…”

“Yes?” I asked as he looked at me expectantly.

“Which one?” he questioned.

A loud shout drew my attention to the two guys roughhousing with the soccer ball.

“What? Uh. I guess the taller one.”

He laughed and turned back toward me. “Your name. Which one are you? Krista or Kim?”

“Oh, right…,” I trailed off. I was all over the place today. “Krista. I’m Krista Greene.”

“Nice to meet you.” He smiled. “I’m Cale Roberts. Junior. Resident adviser in the men’s tower, fifth floor. Psychology major.”

“Freshman, obviously.” I returned his smile nervously. “Fourth-floor women’s tower. Fine arts major.”

“We’re still waiting on a few more people. So you can hang out around here till we’re ready to do our first team-building exercise.”

I glanced around and saw a small group of girls sitting up against a tree, and then the two guys in the field were still kicking around the soccer ball.

“I’d just stay away from those two. They’re going to be a handful.” He nodded toward the guys, and I watched as the taller one pulled the blond one’s shirt over his face and smacked his stomach.

“Seems like it.” I nodded.

“You can join me on the bench if you’d like,” he offered. “I promise I don’t bite.”

“Uh…” I glanced over at the three girls with their heads drawn together.

One of them looked over at me and rolled her eyes before she turned back to the other two. It looked like that clique wasn’t seeking any new members. “Yeah, thanks.”

He walked back to the bench and sat on one end while I awkwardly pulled my shorts down and sat on the opposite one.

Cale retrieved his forgotten book and cracked it open, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye before he resumed reading.

Feeling more than a little awkward, I pulled out my phone and began scrolling through my texts, seeing one from my new roommate and one from Davis.

Allison sent back a string of emojis, including fire, a head of lettuce, and several laughing faces.

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.

The text from Davis was a GIF of a monkey on a skateboard. He must have been bored.

I opened a game and played a few levels before I noticed that more people had joined us and Cale was missing from the other side of the bench.

“All right, group three. It’s time to pair up and get to know each other. Pick someone you don’t already know and get a sheet of questions to answer,” Cale announced.

We all looked awkwardly around the group, but I felt myself blushing when Cory winked at me from across the group. He took two steps toward me before I felt a nudge on my elbow.

“Do you need a partner?” I looked over at the guy next to me. He was taller than I was, probably around six feet tall. He had short, neatly combed flame-red hair and fair skin.

“Sure, I’m Krista.” I nodded. Looking back across the group, I saw a petite blonde with shorts even shorter than mine, laughing at Cory with her hand on his chest.

He met my eyes over her shoulder and shrugged before he turned his attention back to her.

“Trevor.” My new partner introduced himself with his hand outstretched. “Biology major. You?”

“Fine arts.” I smiled as I shook his warm hand and looked up into dark hazel eyes. He had long, pretty eyelashes. Why did the guys always get fantastic eyelashes?

“Nice.” He grinned with a nod. “I can’t draw a straight line.”

“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” I told him as I leaned in with my voice lowered.

He flashed me a conspiratorial smile.

“Neither can I.”

His smile brightened, revealing bright white teeth, but then very seriously looked down at our list. “Reason why you’re here…”

“Uh, my parents made me.” He shrugged. “I technically already have enough credits to have finished my first semester, but they said I needed to try to enjoy my college experience.”

“Sounds pretty reasonable. I just wanted to get settled in early and maybe make some friends. My roommate was going to be here, so…”

I hated answering all these lame questions too, but I guess that’s why we were here.

“What part of the college experience are you looking forward to?” he read off. “You want to go first with this one?”

A shriek from across the field drew our attention, and we saw the two guys from earlier, both with giggling girls clinging to their backs, running across the field.

“Looks like someone else has decided these questions are lame,” he chuckled as we took in the display.

“They kind of are,” I shrugged. I understood the need to do the getting-to-know-you activities, but they were still lame.

“Okay. Real talk. My classes this semester are all electives. My dad thought that way I’d have less chance of fucking up while I got used to college,” he said in a low voice.

He leaned in my direction. “I’m also being pressured into joining his old fraternity, because I’m a legacy.”

“I’m not even sure what I’m going to do after graduation. My dad said my major was a joke.”

“I bet some of the people in this group won’t even make it to graduation…” He nodded over to where the tall guy was trying to bench-press his partner. I’d dodged a bullet with that one.

We talked for a few more minutes about which classes we were enrolled in. Surprisingly, we shared one Intro to Art History lecture.

Trevor seemed nice. Although he was a little too serious, he was easy to talk to.

“All right, guys,” Cale said as he walked around to stand in front of the group. “Let’s go ahead and start walking toward the Hall of Music.

“There’s a presentation to kick off this week for all the different students attending.”

Trevor stood and held his hand out to me, helping me up from the ground. His hand was warm, and I found myself studying his face as his fingers lingered on mine after I was upright.

“Thanks.”

“No problem,” he responded as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and lingered next to me while the group started to follow Cale.

Our group got split into two rows once we were inside, but with the angle of the seats, I had a tough time seeing the stage around the head of the very tall person who was right in front of me.

“Do you want to switch seats?” Trevor whispered as he leaned in toward me.

I watched as the bizarre mating ritual that had started in the field continued. The petite blonde girl was whispering into his ear as he slung his arm along the back of her chair.

“No, I’m okay. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” I shook my head.

“Seriously, I don’t mind,” he insisted.

“It’s fine, Trevor.”

“Yeah, Trevor. It’s fine,” Cory said in a mocking voice. “Maybe she likes staring at the back of my head.” He’d turned around in his seat and caught me staring, arching an eyebrow in my direction.

“Well, it is pretty large,” I responded in a sarcastic voice. “Kind of hard to miss.”

“Apparently you’ve been checking out other things.” The cocky jerk had the nerve to wink at me.

“Um, no…” I blushed as the girl next to him tittered and pulled him to face her.

“He’s an ass,” Trevor growled at my side in a disgusted voice.

“Trevor, she doesn’t need to know you’ve been staring at my ass.” Cory smirked back toward us before he faced forward and hunched down in his seat.

“Just ignore him,” Trevor whispered as he slumped down in his seat a little. “Guys like him are all talk.”

The lights overhead dimmed, and I tried to focus on the stage to watch the presentation on the large screen.

It was the typical “here is what our school has to offer” video that had graced the websites of all the universities that I’d applied to.

I found my mind drifting to wondering what else this week would have in store for us all. So far it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

Thank god my roommate had been as cool in person as she’d been in the emails and texts we’d sent back and forth.

It didn’t look like I’d be making many female friends in my group. They all seemed to be attached to the tiny blonde who was shooting me dirty looks over Stretch Armstrong’s arm.

I didn’t need or want friends like that anyway.