The girls on the team, mainly our captain Bri, are dead set on shunning her, but I like Chloe. She’s rooming with Emily, Bri, and me, and so far everything I’ve seen from her has been genuine. She hasn’t given me any reason to dislike her, and she works harder at practice than anyone. I appreciate a good work ethic.

So, tonight is about letting the rest of the team get a glimpse of the real Chloe. Tanner Shaw wasn’t on the agenda, but I can’t say I’m disappointed I finally got to meet him.

When I saw him in our shared communications class, I thought that was going to be my opening, but he hasn’t so much as glanced my way until tonight. Dresses for the win again.

“Be right back,” Tanner whispers in my ear. His warm breath sends a new host of goose bumps racing over my skin.

I take a seat, half-listening to the conversation around me as I watch Tanner navigate around the party. He’s stopped every couple of steps by someone calling to him—guys and girls. The hot pink trunks he’s wearing make me smile. They’ve got little alligators all over them. Not a lot of guys would dare try to pull off hot pink, but he does and pulling them off he is. I love that he doesn’t take himself too seriously.

His body is lean and muscular. He has a great back and his ass… a real work of art. He leans over, giving me a really good view of said artwork, and I sigh. Emily shoots me a weird look.

I attempt to make my staring a little less obvious as I continue to watch Tanner grab his T-shirt from a chair and pull it on. He glances back at me and a slow smile pulls at his lips.

As he walks through the party, across the large back yard, I can’t take my eyes off him. And his gaze only diverts from me when someone speaks to him. I’ve never had this sort of instant chemistry with someone. Or instant as soon as he noticed me.

I mean, I’ve been into the guy for more than a year, ever since I stepped onto the Valley U campus and first saw him. He’d been at The Hideout, a local restaurant and bar, with a group of basketball players. That was the first time, and since then, it feels like he’s everywhere I turn. My body is highly tuned to Tanner Shaw.

When he reaches our group, he goes around my chair and drops into the small space behind me. His shoulder rests against my back and I lean into him.

“What’d I miss?”

“Oh, uh…” I can’t very well admit I haven’t been listening. “Not much. Nice trunks, by the way.”

He looks down. “You like? My sister picked these out.”