A little pang of jealousy hits me, but I push it aside and head downstairs to meet Adam. Excited energy floats in the air. Blue and yellow banners hang on the front of the dorms welcoming us to the new school year.

Students are already out in droves heading off to classes, backpacks strapped to their shoulders, coffees in hand. They walk mostly in groups to their destinations; those who don’t have earbuds in or stare down at their phones.

The Valley campus is truly beautiful. When we dropped Adam off before his freshman year and I got a look at the campus for the first time, I knew that it’s where I wanted to go to college too. The buildings are mostly old and historic looking, green grass makes it feel a little less like the desert, and there’s a huge fountain in the middle of campus.

“Ginny,” Adam calls out, catching me by surprise while I’m lost people watching.

“Hey.” I turn to see him and his friend and teammate Rhett with him.

“You remember Rauthruss?” Adam asks and runs a hand through his still-damp hair. Even wet it looks better than mine.

Rhett grins and steps forward with his hands shoved in his pockets. “Hey, Ginny. Good to see you again. Welcome to Valley.”

Rhett Rauthruss is a giant man-boy. He’s tall and built. His legs are like tree trunks. Seriously, his thighs could crush my head. But he’s got this baby face and pouty mouth that keeps him from looking too intimidating. He’s also got a really great Minnesota accent that I absolutely love.

He and Adam have been teammates and roommates since their freshmen year, so I’ve met him a few times over the years and he came home with Adam once last semester for a weekend.

“Hey, Rhett, good to see you too.”

He grins a little shyly.

“Are we ready?” Adam asks. “I’m starving.”

My dorm doesn’t have its own dining hall, so we cross the street to Freddy Dorm to eat. I follow Adam and Rhett inside, and we fall into the long line of people entering the dining hall, scanning their student ID cards as they go.

The smell of burned toast hangs in the air as we shuffle inside the busy dining room. Rhett heads off at a near jog for food, but Adam hangs back with me. “Grab food and then meet us at the big table in the right corner. You can’t miss us.”

With that, he rushes off too.

I do a lap while I check out the food options. Five or six different stations are set up with varying breakfast foods ranging from yogurt to omelets and everything in between.