I CHOKE ON MY OWN spit as Sophie gets out of the car. Her ass looks so damn hot in her skin tight spandex pants. I think their called yoga pants or some shit. I wait until she’s inside the building before I pull away so I can enjoy each retreating step she takes. It’s going to take every ounce of willpower in my reserves to keep my hands from smothering her body the second I’m with her tonight. She’s agreed to a date and I’m not about to screw it up.

After stopping in to see Momma June at the diner, I return to the house with a take-out bag filled with enough food to feed half the house. Thankfully, a few of my roommates are back from morning classes and grab the bag out of my hands before I’m entirely through the front door. As I sink my teeth into my own burger, my phone rings. “Talk to me,” I say around a mouth full.

“Hey, Kipton?”

“Yeah, who’s this?”

“It’s Drew, from Johnson Hall.”

“I know who you are and I know where to find you.” How could I forget about walking in on his naked ass? I drop my burger onto the paper wrapper, shuttering at the memory. Not much turns my stomach, but naked male ass cracks having sex with my sister are definitely are on the list.

“I didn’t think you’d forget. I got your number from Cara’s paperwork, I hope that’s okay. Anyway, I was hoping you could stop by the next time you come to see your sister. You know, so we could talk. Things got a little awkward the other night.” I give him props. He doesn’t sound the least bit nervous about approaching me even after I found him on top of my sister.

I’m curious about what he wants to discuss, so I take the bait. “Tonight should work. I’m picking up Sophie at eight. Does seven thirty work for you?”

“Yeah, man. It does.”

“See you then.” I’ll hear him out, but I’ll never be comfortable with the idea of him screwing my sister if that’s what he’s looking for. He’s lucky I’m a patient man.

After finishing my lunch I debate texting Sophie, but I don’t want to come on too strong too fast. Instead, I busy myself on the Internet, looking up the hours of The Perfect Petal flower shop. I have no idea if she’s a flower girl, but usually chicks appreciate the sentiment. Somehow I end up on an edible fruit arrangement page, but toss that idea out the window. With my next class looming, I decide to think about my options during class. Considering it has nothing to do with my major, I’m sure I’ll be bored out of my mind. I needed one more second level science requirement to graduate. Since I’m not into dissecting any creatures in biology or worrying about elements on the periodic table in chemistry that left me with the stars. How bad can astronomy be?

Looking around for an empty seat at one of the tables in the back of the room, I spot a blonde in the right corner, texting on her phone. Upon closer inspection, I discover this is by far the best class I’ve ever taken. The seat next to her has my name written all over it.

Sneaking up behind her, I cover her eyes with my hand. “Guess who?” I whisper.

Clawing at my hands, she spins around with fear written all over her face. She softens once she realizes it’s only me. “What are you doing in here?” she questions. Her eyes dart around the room as the other students stare at us. Let’em look.

I toss my book bag onto the table and sit down. “I’m here for class. Same as you.”

“You’re taking astronomy?”

“Yeah, why’s that so hard to believe?” I pull out my notebook and await her answer. This should be good.

“It isn’t, I guess. But I didn’t peg you for a star gazer.”

I lean closer to her. “We do have a date tonight you know. Under the stars.” She blushes and nervously looks down at the table. She leans over and digs into her book bag, for what I’m not sure. Her face is on fire and she doesn’t want me to see.

I wrap my fingers around her arm and pull her into an upright positon while using my foot to scoot her chair closer to mine. “Look at me, Sophie.”

She stares down at my foot controlling her movement. Although cautious, she finally looks at me without shying away.

“Don’t be nervous around me, okay? Be Sophie. Say whatever you want whenever you want. Can you do that?”

“I can try,” she responds while chewing on the end of her pen. I reach up to her nose and tap the end because I love the way she scrunches up her face each time I do it. If she wasn’t already adorable enough, this assures it.

We don’t get to discuss anything else with the professor taking his place in front of the whiteboard to begin class. The first thing he covers are lab partners. Luckily, it’s the person seated next to us. That worked out perfectly if I do say so myself.

The first hour of class passes quickly with little nudges and scribbled notes to Sophie on pieces of paper. A few times she had to cover her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing at the ridiculous conversation.

As a special treat, we’re moved to the planetarium to finish class. As we file into the seating area, Professor Bell describes what will be our world for the next semester. He rambles on saying something about being able to map out the entire sky by the end of the course. It sounds boring as hell, but I’ll do whatever he wants if it gets me sitting in the dark next to Sophie twice a week. Sign me up for extra credit too.

I’m entirely too comfortable in my reclined seat and could doze listening to the monotone voice from the recording going on and on about the Milky Way galaxy. From the corner of my eye, I notice Sophie pulling her knees to her chest while hugging her legs with her arms. She’s so tiny the seat could fit two of her. Folding into a tight ball of blond gorgeousness, I lean over so she can hear me. “Are you cold?” I make the mistake of looking down after asking and can almost see her ass cheek with the way her shorts are riding up. Jesus.

“It’s freezing in here!” She whispers back while running her hands over her arms to generate some warmth. Personally, the temperature is comfortable, but she’s not exactly carrying around any extra pounds to insulate her either.

I hate knowing she’s cold so I do the only thing I can to help her and take off my top T-shirt. I wore a plain white one underneath so I’m not naked in class or anything. Her eyes watch me the entire time, curious as to what I’m up to. When I lean over and drape the shirt across her legs, she gasps in surprise. “You can’t undress in the middle of the planetarium!”

“Are you still cold?”

She starts to speak but pauses before answering. “Well, no. Not anymore.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Thank you, Kipton. I wasn’t being ungrateful. I’m sorry.”

“Sophie, you don’t have an ungrateful bone in your sassy little body. Now make a wish.”

She tucks her hands under my shirt and gets comfortable again. “Why do I have to make a wish?”

“If you were paying attention you would see the shooting stars on the ceiling, beautiful girl.”

Giggling, she leans her head back to rest against her seat. She squeezes her eyes shut tight while making her wish. I can hope it has something to do with me because I only intend to step up my game. I’m drawn to her and I need to find out more. This class combined with our date tonight will hopefully work in my favor.

“Did you make a wish?” I whisper.

She nods her head. “Yep.”

“A good one?”

“I hope so.”

I lean in close to her ear. “I know so.” And I do. Because if it had anything to do with the two of us, it was a perfect wish. She cuddles under my shirt and blushes.

Class ends and we’re dismissed, but neither of us move to get up. Instead, we stay rooted in our seats watching the rest of the class file out of the room. “What are you thinking about over there?” I ask.