Page 10 of Seven is Swell

I look up from my phone and am taken aback for a minute by the angelic face in front of me. Purple eyes, broad shoulders, flawless dark skin, and a smile that should feel blinding but instead has me wanting to smile with him. “That’s me.”

“I’m Spencer,” he says, extending a hand. “I’m on his team.”

Ah. A football player. That explains the ridiculous shoulder span. “Delaney,” I offer back, taking his hand.

He sits on the little table in front of me, a bit twitchy. “Hey, so I just wanted to apologize for the whole ball incident thing when you came to visit Adler. I really don’t know how the ball got so out of control. I’m glad you stopped it before it hit your friend, but I just, I feelreallybad.”

“Are you guy I thew the ball back at? The one that sounded like a giant rubber duck when it hit you?”

“My reputation precedes me, I see.”

I shake my head and fight a grin. That was stupid. “If I hadn’t stopped that, I’d probably be a lot more violent with you right now.”

“Well thank you for your admirable restraint. I take it you grew up playing with Adler? He’s told us about your guys’ dad, how he got him into the sport.”

“Oh, I have zero restraint, I promise. I’m just satisfied with the damage I already did for the threat to one of my mates.”

“Oh shit. Yeah, that makes it worse. Well, it sucks either way, but I’d be pretty pissed too if someone threw a ball at my mate.”

“You’re mated?” I ask, for some reason feeling quite some way about that.

“Uh, no, I just meant, I can imagine how it would feelifI had one and hypothetically, they were threatened by some stray ball flying at their face.”

“Uh-huh. You’ve got a good imagination, then?”

Damn he looks uncomfortable. I love it. Instead of responding to that, he blurts out, “I think my sister lives across the hall from you.”

“You know my family, you know where I live; Spencer, are you stalking me?”

His face flushes, and once again I find his discomfort hilarious. “No! It’s just hard not to take notice of a woman like you.” He looks around the coffee shop as if the entire female student body population can be summed up with the sample that’s currently inside of it. “I’d notice you anywhere,” he says a bit softer.

Okay, now he’s being kind of cute. “What are you studying?”

“The ol’ ‘what are you studying’ question, huh? I guess I deserve that.”

“What are you talking about?”

He rubs the back of his neck. “That’s like the most over-asked question in college. You can’t find out anything about a person with that. Especially because so many people enter a career field that has nothing to do with their program of study eventually.”

“Ookay…what do you like to ask to get to know somebody, then?”

He scoots just a little bit closer and squints at me. “What’s your favorite breakfast cereal?”

“I don’t really like cereal.”

He reels back. “Did not see that one coming.”

That’s what Jackson walks back into, handing me my coffee from a tray full of other drinks and a bag in his other hand with what looks like a half dozen pastries judging by the strain on the paper handles. “You good, babe?”

“You should apologize to him, since it was his face you almost broke,” I tell Spencer as I slurp some of my coffee.

Spencer stands and folds his arms across his chest, bowing his head slightly in respect. “I am. Sorry, that is. I don’t know how I lost control of that ball so badly. I was just telling Delaney how bad I’ve felt since it happened. I’ve been hoping to run into you actually,” Spencer says as he turns back to me. “You guys seem busy, so I’ll let you get on with your day. I, uh, have something for you though,” he says as he digs something out of his pocket. He hands me a piece of notebook paper that’s folded up into some sort of complex design and gives a terse wave before leaving the coffee shop.

I stand up and smile to myself because men that get awkward are delightful.

“Were you able to get ahold of Ash?” Jackson watches Spencer until he’s out of sight, and I watch Jackson because he’s pretty.

Then I have to force myself to focus on something else because I think I’m supposed to be at least a little productive now. “No. It’s kind of weird, right?”

---