An Instant Attraction

Chapter 17

We arrive at Luke and Tyler's place, which is already in full-on party mode. This is a bigger party than I had expected. The entire team must be here, along with dates. As we walk inside together, Dex takes my hand again, which gets a few looks from people I still don't know. Dex seems to get a lot of head nods and slaps on the shoulder as we make our way through the crowd. Kristin and Courtney seem to narrow in on me as soon as we arrive. They instantly appear at my side, "We need to see you in the other room, you know, girl talk," Kristin says as they drag me away from Dex.

I'm pulled into a bathroom and I instantly feel trapped with our three bodies closed in the small room. "How did you two end up here together?" Kristin starts.

Before I can even get a word out, Courtney chimes in, "So, are you to like together?"

I take a deep breath trying to prepare my response. "We're just hanging out. There may have been some kissing last night, and he texted me today asking about coming to the party. We stopped and grabbed some food on our way here." I'm sure I'm turning fifty shades of red.

"Holy shit! I knew he wanted you just by the way he was looking at you," Kristin exclaims. Before we can go any further there's a knock on the door. The three of us jump in surprise.

"Occupied," Courtney says shrugging her shoulders.

"I know it's occupied Courtney, I saw you drag my date in there and I'd like her back," Dex's deep voice comes through the door.

"His date," Kristin mouths looking at me with wide eyes. She reaches over and turns the knob to open the door. Dex is standing fully in the doorway, blocking our path out. He looks at me with that amazing smile, dimples popping and says, "Well, if you ladies have gotten your fill of gossip, do you think Mia can come back out to enjoy the party instead of spending the night trapped in the bathroom." Dex is holding a beer bottle in one hand and a can of spiked seltzer in the other. He holds the seltzer out to me and I take it, as we make our way back out into the crowd.

Hip hop music seems to be thumping through the room. Dex stops to talk to a group of guys, his hand still clasped around mine. I notice as both Luke and Logan glance down at our hands, but neither says anything. I can see Kristin and Courtney laughing and dancing across the room, they look like they're having a great time.

"I'm going to go hang with the girls for a little bit," I smile up at Dex. He gives my hand a little squeeze before letting it go.

"I'll come find you in a bit, okay?" he questions. I give him a little nod and turn to walk across the room. As soon as I turn, I hear the guys instantly start to ask about what's going on between us, but I don't stick around to hear his answer.

I join Kristin and Courtney, raising my arms above my head and dancing with them. Soon there are a few other girls dancing along with us. I don't know them all, but I recognize Avery from the other party and I can see Cami sitting at the edge of the room on a couch. After a few songs I'm out of breath and starting to sweat. "I'm going to go sit with Cami," I have to practically shout in Kristin's ear so that she'll hear me.

She nods, "I'll come with you."

"Hey Cami," we both say as we approach and sit down. It seems a little quieter away from the speakers, so we don't have to yell just to have a conversation. As I sit, I actually take a minute to look around the house.

"This place is nice, but it seems big for just Luke and Tyler," I say.

"It's a team house," Kristin explains. "The guys try to split up by year, so a bunch of juniors live here. Luke, Tyler, Ryan, David, and Matt all live here. It's supposed to help them grow more as a team and create relationships with the teammates who are in the same class."

"So where do the other guys live?" I ask curious about where Dex lives and who he lives with.

"Well, the freshman all have to live in the dorms, but they're placed in rooms together. Sophomores and up are put in houses, like this one. There are a few houses on campus that they're split between. Dex actually lives a couple houses down with Logan, Chris, and Patrick," Kristin explains.

Cami chimes in, "So are you and Dex together now? I saw you walk in holding hands."

I shrug, not really sure how to answer. "We haven't really put a label on it, but we're hanging out and getting to know each other."

I don't even realize the guys approaching until they're all beside us. Logan sits beside Cami on the large couch and she scoots closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. Luke slides in between me and Kristin and she leans into him, planting a kiss on his cheek.

Dex sits on the arm of the couch, leaning over to my ear and asks, "You almost ready to go?" I nod yes and take his hand again, allowing him to lift me from the couch. "We're heading out," he tells the group.

"But you just got here," Kristin starts to whine. In reality I know we've been here for a couple hours already and she just doesn't want us to leave.

Dex's grin changes to something a little more devilish and he says, "Don't care, we've got better things to do."

The whole group seems to smile and laugh at hiscomment, which makes me instantly blush. He starts to lead me out and I hear Kristin's voice over the crowd andmusic, "Have fun and don't do anything I wouldn't do." I hear them all burst into laughter as Dexquickly makes a path through the crowd and we're back at his car withoutstopping.