MAKE IT COUNT excerpt:
Kat gathered her books and stuffed them into her plaid Burberry messenger
bag, then headed toward the front doors, smoothie from the library snack shop
in hand. Head bent, fiddling with the clasp of her bag, she stumbled into a
wall of human on the pavement outside.
“Oh, I’m sorry—” Her voice dropped out when she realized the solid flesh
belonged to Alec, Max’s best friend.
She’d only met him once or twice before he’d moved in with Max this
semester and every time, he cocked his eyebrow with a half frown like he knew
something she didn’t. Which he actually did, since he had brainy superpowers.
Smarter than a speeding Einstein. Able to leap over C-minus students like her
in a single bound.
She didn’t trust people that smart. And she didn’t trust a guy who didn’t
ogle her ass or leer at her boobs like every other member of the straight male
species on the planet.
Right now, that raised-eyebrow frown pinned her where she stood. His pale
green eyes behind thick black frames roamed over her shoulder to the library
and then back to her. With his pin-stripe button-down, dark jeans with Converse
shoes and hair styled in a short, messy pompadour, he looked like a nerdy
Elvis.
His frown morphed into a smile when he spotted the smoothie in her hand,
and she definitely didn’t notice his full lips. “You know, you don’t
have to venture into the forbidden zone just to get a smoothie.”
Oooh. The jerk. She glanced around surreptitiously, then leaned in
and spoke in a low voice. “Just play it cool. Don’t let it slip someone like me
snuck in the library.” She gripped his forearm and whispered. “Password today
is rosebud.”
His face blanked and he looked at her like he’d never seen her before.
Kat debated whether or not that was an improvement over his other look.
But then those intelligent eyes narrowed and a smirk curled his lips. “I
know. We nerds get an e-mail every morning.”
See? He always needed the last word. She propped a hand on her hip and
leaned in. “Well, sounds like you have a mole. Might want to look into that.”
He opened his mouth but she cut him off. “Just looking out for you guys.
Anyway, see ya around!”
Before he could shoot back a snarky comeback, Kat skirted around him and
bounded down the stairs. She chalked that up as Kat 1, Alec 0.
Author Bio:
MEGAN ERICKSON grew up in a family that averages 5’3” on a good day and
started writing to create characters who could reach the top kitchen shelf.
She’s got a couple of tattoos, has a thing for gladiators and has been
called a crazy cat lady. After working as a journalist for years, she decided
she liked creating her own endings better and switched back to fiction.
She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids and two cats. And
no, she still can’t reach the stupid top shelf.
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