Sunflower

Chapter 3

*This chapter contains mild s****l references*

Lucy

"Wow, I did not expect that to happen," Chris says breathlessly, rolling off of me and laying on his back.

I stare up at the ceiling, trying to catch my own breath. I don't typically sleep with guys the night I meet them. Actually, I've never done this before. I just couldn't resist him. He's so sexy. So funny and sweet. And I'm so drunk.

"You pushed me into an empty bedroom and started taking my clothes off," I smirk, looking over at him.

He looks at me, smirking back. "Because you were basically humping me while we were dancing."

"I'm sorry," I mumble, covering my face with my hands. "I'm not usually like this, I swear."

"I'm not complaining," he chuckles, moving my hands away from my face.

He meets my eyes and smiles, making my heart flutter. He leans forward to kiss me, but my phone starts ringing, nearly scaring both of us to death.

I sit up and take my phone off the nightstand to see Andrew's name. "Hello?"

"Hey Lulu...we're about to get out of here. Where are you?" he asks, his voice thick with the help of the alcohol.

"Oh, um...I'll meet you at the car."

"Wait, are you-"

I quickly end the call before he has a chance to ask anymore questions. I know he will later, but at least Chris won't be around for it.

"Is Andrew a friend of yours? Or...is he..."

I look over at Chris, furrowing my brows. "He's just a friend. We were best friends back in high school. We were both cheerleaders."

He nods, sitting up next to me. "So is he...into...guys?"

"You think just because he was a male cheerleader that he is into guys?"

"No. I'm sorry, that' not how I meant that at all. It's just...I always see him hanging around with you and Annie Vinson."

"You know Annie?" I ask.

He nods. "We have a couple of classes together. And I'm not trying to make assumptions about your friend. I'm just...asking."

"Why? Are you interested?" I smirk.

"He's not exactly my type," he smirks back.

"Oh yeah? And what is your type?"

His eyes meet mine again and this time, I'm certain my heart may explode. Why am I letting him get to me like this? I'm obviously just some party hook up that he won't even remember tomorrow. No reason to fall in love.

"I'm into intelligent women who know what they want. You know...driven...focused...independent...the kind that make you want to be a better man."

I'm surprised by his answer and I can't hide it. He's describing me, right? I'm all of those things. I graduated high school at the top of my class. I currently have the highest GPA in the Special Education Department at Penn State. And you don't achieve those kinds of goals without being driven, focused and independent. But then again, he doesn't know anything about me other than what I look like naked. He couldn't possibly be describing me.

My phone rings again, startling me out of my thoughts. Since it's Andrew, I quickly get up and start retrieving my clothes from the floor.

"Andy, I'm coming, I swear!" I say as soon as I answer his call.

"Where are you? I've been looking all over the place."

"I'm...I'm uh..."

"Getting nasty with the hot guy you were basically humping-"

"I'm on my way to the car now," I say quickly, cutting him off.

I end the call and get my clothes on as fast as I can. I'm still tipsy, a little nervous and all hyped up on emotions. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do now. Do I tell Chris goodbye? Thank you for the amazing s*x, see you around?

After I'm dressed, I blow out the nervous breath I've been holding. I look over at Chris who I'm pretty sure has been watching me in amusement all this time. "So, um...I'll see you around," I say before darting for the door.

I hurry downstairs and out the front door without looking back. That was bad. I know it was bad. And now all I can do is run from it.

"I knew you had s*x," Andrew smirks, leaned up against Annie's car with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What? What are you talking about?" I ask, sounding fake to my own ears.

"Don't lie to me, Lu. I told you, you have the guilty s*x face," he says, motioning to my face. "Every single time."

I scoff, but Annie walks up before I can answer him. She throws an arm over my shoulder, swaying us back and forth.

"I love this girl right here!" she slurs. "Come here!"

She grabs my face and kisses me on the lips. It's not unusual, especially when she's drunk, but something about it feels weird this time. Probably because I was just doing stuff with the mouth she just kissed.

And she can tell right away.

"Who the hell is this guy that got our Lulu out of her panties so easily?" she laughs.

"Chris Myers," Andrew answers on my behalf. "He's a senior undergrad and a friend of Cole's. He's highly sought after from what I hear, but our Lucy took him down on the first try. I'm a proud big brother."

"How do you know all this?" I ask him.

He shrugs. "Cole told me. You know I couldn't let you go off to bone someone and not get every last detail of his life. For...you know, in case I have to kill him later."

"I was wondering where you were! I thought you left me!" Annie whines, hanging on my back like a baby monkey.

"You were wondering, huh?" Andrew smirks at her. "I'm surprised you had time to worry about Lucy with your tongue shoved down Sam's throat."

"Sam, huh?" I smirk at her.

"You know I have a thing for nerds!" Annie whines. "They're so cute and innocent! But...it was a one time thing. I'll never see him again."

-----

"Good morning, Miss Sunday. Did you have a good weekend?" Mrs. Stephenson, the librarian, asks when I walk into the campus library.

For a woman in her fifties, she seems to know a lot about how the mind of a college i***t works. She's not your average, run of the mill librarian. She's kind of hot, especially to the guys here who like older women. I would say she's a less attractive Jennifer Anniston, which is still a major compliment.

Her knowing smirk makes me feel like she can see right through me- like everything I did this past weekend is streaming on a video that's plastered to my forehead.

"Are you okay?" she asks, making me realize I've just been staring at her.

I blink a couple of times and quickly pull myself together. "I did have a good weekend. I hope you did as well," I reply.

She gives me one last smirk before turning and walking away, disappearing it the rows and rows of books. Damn. I wish I could rock a pant suit as well as she does. My body is in its prime and yet my curves don't even begin to compete with hers.

"Good morning," a deep voice says from behind me, nearly scaring me to death.

I turn around and gasp when I realize it's Chris. Whose calls and texts I've been ignoring since the night of the party.

"Good morning. Do you always stalk people so early?" I ask, pretending his unexpected visit doesn't have any affect on me.

Even though it really, really does.

He chuckles, though I can tell he's kind of hurt that I would say something like that. He's so good looking, I bet he never gets rejected. He has no idea he's wasting his time with me. I'm not a fun conquest. I'm just a girl who can't behave when a little alcohol comes into play.

"Well, apparently, you gave me the wrong number at the party," he says, sitting down on top of my desk as soon as I sit down in my chair.

I look at him like he's a fly in my latte.

He quickly stands, holding his hands up in surrender. "Sorry."

"I didn't give you the wrong number. I've just been ignoring you."

"Ignoring me? What, are we fifteen now?" he chuckles.

I scoff, but don't respond. Mostly because I can't think of a good comeback. So instead, I fire up my laptop and start going through my schedule for the day.

"If you're not interested, all you have to do is say so," he says, causing me to look up at him.

He's so beautiful, oh my God. It's so hard to resist him. But I know how guys like him are. They move on from one girl to the next like it's no big deal. They're incapable of feeling emotions other than horny.

"I'm not interested," I say, though the playful smirk I try to hold back makes it seem as if I'm only teasing him.

"Liar," he smirks.

"I'm sure you're shocked. A girl doesn't want to talk to you and it's probably the first time."

"No," he scoffs. "I've been turned down before. I'm not as arrogant as you make it sound. I just really thought you were into me."

"I ignored you for three days."

"Yeah, but before that, you ripped my clothes off and sucked my-"

"OKAY, thank you for coming!" I say, jumping to my feet and shoving a stack of papers into his hands when I see Mrs. Stephenson coming.

Chris gives me a weird look before he finally turns and walks away, carrying the stack of check in reports that I most definitely need to do my job.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Mrs. Stephenson asks, stopping in front of my desk. "You look a little flustered."

She looks off in the direction Chris just left in before looking back at me. "Is it that guy? He's kind of cute, yeah?"

"Yeah," I reply uncomfortably, clearing my throat. "He's cute. Just not my type."

"Because he looks like a Greek God and you're not into that?"

I chuckle at her choice of words. "I guess you could say that. Guys like him are usually too in love with themselves to bother with caring for anyone else."

"So what? Are you waiting around for some dorky guy to come along and woo you with his intelligence? Because believe me, sweetie, those are the kinds you really have to look out for. My ex-husband was a chemical engineer, one of the most brilliant men I'd ever met. I fell in love with his sense of wonder and his little quirks. He wasn't attractive, but I didn't mind that. I felt he was genuine. Boy was I wrong. I came home from work to find him in our bed with a lab assistant who was nearly twenty years younger than me."

"Wow...that's terrible..."

"Yeah..." she trails off as if she's deep in thought, but then she finally perks up. "If I could do it all over again, I would've went for the hot guy."

I smile. "I guess it's hard to trust anyone these days."

"You're right. There are a lot of bad eggs out there. But you'll never know when you've found a good one until you give them a chance. Not every good looking guy has an agenda." She winks at me before walking away, leaving me deep in thought.

I like Chris. Before we hooked up in a heated, drunken lust, we had a real conversation. He was funny and sincere. He seemed to be really interested in me, and not just physically.

Finally, I stand up and hurry out of the library and into the empty hallway, hoping Chris hasn't made it too far with my check in papers.

I look around spot him heading for the exit. "Chris!" I call out, running after him.

He stops and turns around. He smiles when he sees me coming.

"I'm sorry, my boss was coming and I was afraid you were about to say something super embarrassing," I say, all out of breath by the time I reach him.

"Well, I was," he shrugs, smiling adorably.

I can't help but smile back. "Those papers I gave you...I actually need them."

He looks down at the papers, his smile fading. "Oh. Here you go."

He hands me the papers and presses his lips together, as if he wants to say something, but doesn't know how to approach me anymore.

"Thank you," I reply, almost ready to just turn and walk away.

It's too much pressure. Too much work. I can't do this. I don't have what it takes.

"Listen, I know it may seem a bit...much...to show up at your job and..." he trails off and scratches the back of his neck nervously. "But...I thought we had a really great time together the other night. If you're not interested in me, that's fine. I was just hoping you would give me the chance to get to know you better."

I'm speechless. Breathless. Still conflicted, yet ready to cave at the same time.

"Let's hang out. No parties, no drinking, just us- doing normal, sober things," he suggests.

"Like what?" I smile.

"I don't know, what do you like to do?"

"I like a lot of things," I answer lamely, making him laugh.

"Then how about I surprise you. Let me take you out on Friday. We can even go out with friends, if that would make you feel better. I just want to get to know you."

Those warm, brown eyes are so beautiful and captivating. I don't have time for a relationship, but standing here right now, I can't seem to find a single reason to say no to him. I feel like I would regret it for the rest of my life if I did.

"Sounds good," I finally reply.

He smiles, making my heart race even faster than it already is. "So next time I call, how about you answer."

I chuckle bashfully. "I promise, I'll answer next time."