Page 51 of One Bet

But didn’t. “It was that easy to get married, right?”

One Decade Ago

Most days I felt lucky that I answered the ad Sofia Marks hung in the student union for a roommate. Today was not one of those days. She was on her kick again. The Felicity had no life kick. No friends besides her kick. No fun little one-night stands with fraternity boys kick.

I couldn’t argue because I didn’t drink or smoke, and I was always home on school nights tucked into bed at a very respectable 11:30. And as chancellor of Glouster University, my dad couldn’t have been prouder, but Sofia made fun of these attributes like they were afflictions. And today I was with her. Today, I wanted the college experience. I wanted to act out. Sow a wild oat, for once in my life.

Sofia Marks was a vlog goddess with hundreds of thousands of followers who stuck around to find out her opinions and to see what pranks and stunts she might pull at any given time. She didn’t follow a schedule, didn’t have a category of topics she followed, and didn’t have any sort of filter as far as what opinions she expressed. But people loved her. Funny. Pretty. Intelligent. All the best adjectives fit her. Plus, she was blonde, built like a stripper, and had no lack of nightlife or party life or life in general. Our friendship and the fact we’d become so close defied all logic.

“I’m just saying,” and she’d been saying it for the last hour and a half, “that you spend so much time studying and trying to please your daddy that you have missed out on one of the great college experiences. It’s our senior year, Felicity, live a little, for once.”

I hardly thought of hooking up with a frat boy as one of the great college experiences, but what did I know? And today, she was preaching to the very bored, very enthusiastic choir. “All right, then. Let’s do this.”

“Ah, grasshopper. Nothing is as simple as I make it seem.” She’d already dressed me in jeans tight enough the world could see…my thoughts, and a shirt short enough my sheer lace bra threatened to play peek-a-boo if I so much as lifted my arm to my shoulder, and boots with a heel that could be used as a lethal weapon.

“We need to finesse this situation.” She held her phone out in front of her as if she was selfie-ing. “And today’s Kiss cam feature is my beautiful, and oh-so-charming best friend.”

She angled the phone toward me. “World, this is Felicity. Felicity, say hi to the world.”

I waved. “Hello, world.”

My enthusiasm, however, hit the skids and began to fade as it misted into a fine vapor. But I pasted on my best smile and crinkled my fingers at her camera like I was all in. Because if I didn’t, we’d end up reshooting this scene a couple hundred times until I cooperated. Until the butterflies in my belly turned to rabid bats and I passed out from the stress of this whole thing. How she got me to agree to this, I would never know.

“And the unsuspecting subject of today’s segment is…,” She let the camera pan the area then turned to me and smiled. “Oh, girl. Are you ever in luck today?”

She pinched the screen to zoom in on her target. “A genius with a jockstrap. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. Today’s subject is the much sought-after Finn Makenzie. Tall, handsome, born to delight the ladies with his adorable smile, his uber-sexy charm, and his super big…”

The pause was intentional and suggestive. She certainly knew how to lead her audience on. “…brain.”

She smiled that come-hither smile, and I knew the masses hithered.

“Ordinarily, I would have my bestie making the day of a Dungeons and Dragons half-vampire, but this is a woman who has denied herself the joys of college, the frat parties, the frat guys.” She winked big and exaggerated.

“She’s missed all the fun that can be found on a university campus. And since this is her last year at the illustrious school that can’t be named thanks to the fuddy-duddy board of chancellors here at one of Maine’s,” extra emphasis there, “most prestigious universities we’re going to fix that.”

Over the last few months, the university demanded she stop giving out her location because once or twice, she might have earned herself a stalker that showed up on campus. Turned out, internet fame was dangerous.

But so was walking up to a stranger and kissing him without warning or a word of approval before the unrequested and possibly unwanted with potential for rejection lip-smacking. Still, that was the plan for this afternoon.

And had the kissee to my kisser been anonymous, my stomach wouldn’t have had a thousand or so of the previously mentioned butterflies working together to beat their way to escape. And my head wouldn’t have been swimming with just the idea of walking across the lawn to be close enough to see him.

Finn sat about 20 yards away, on the rim of the fountain, sun shining on his golden hair making it look almost blonde with his eyes hidden behind a pair of aviator sunglasses. Oblivious. Reading. His focus on anything but me and Sofia.

She gave me a shove in the back, and I stumbled then turned to her. Oh yeah. She got the whole thing on camera. So, my only option for redemption was to hold my head high, march up to him, and lay a kiss on him that made his world spin while I remained obviously unaffected and stone-faced. “Here I go.”

I didn’t stutter step or trip. I didn’t fall into his lap. I didn’t do any more to embarrass myself than to stop in front of him and wait.

The deal was, I couldn’t speak. Had to just go in for the kiss and hope he wasn’t the kind of guy who swung first and asked questions later. Also had to hope there wasn’t some crazy girlfriend, Sofia would know if he had one, I hoped, waiting to stomp me a new ass crack.

As soon as I tugged him to his feet, I realized my mistake. I’d underestimated how his height coupled with my short stature would affect my ability to make this happen. I should have just leaned in and planted the kiss. Damn. Now it was going to look wonky on film. I would look like a novice. Like I’d never been kissed. Desperate. Needy. Inexperienced.

I had to save this moment. Had to make it look like I had some kind of clue. I channeled Sofia. She always knew exactly what to do. She would slide her palm up his chest to tangle in his hair. Then she’d nudge him down, close her eyes, and press her lips against his.

At least, that was what I did. And holy, holy, holy shit. His lips were soft as they caressed mine and his arms strong when he wrapped them around me and nestled my body as close to his as I could get without actually being inside his clothes with him. And this kiss lasted…forever and not nearly long enough. He used his tongue to trace the seam of my lips and whether I intended it or not, and I would take that information to my grave, my mouth opened, and his tongue slid against mine.

My knees went weak and warmth curled through me from my belly outward to my fingertips and my toes and the ends of my hair. There wasn’t a single part of me that didn’t want to rub against him while I purred like a satisfied kitten.

Nothing in my life had ever felt better. Nothing. Not a single thing. In my life. Ever. Probably never would.

He pulled back. “If that’s what being your study buddy is like, I’m going to need a copy of your class schedule so I can sign up for all your classes.”

I smiled. Still, by kiss cam rule, which incidentally I found appalling, not allowed to speak. Instead, I turned and walked away. Tripped three steps out. Landed on my chest, my chin, and my hands while my legs did some crazy scorpion thing and ended up with my feet somehow smacking the back of my head. I knew because the video of that fall was my first foray into internet fame when it went viral. Although it wouldn’t be my last.