Hope for Her (Hope #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Griffin, would you please see me before you leave."
    What the fuck?
    I headed down the aisle. I hoped the professor’s welcome lecture ended before she exited the room.
    "Mr. Griffin, I wanted to welcome you to FSU. I met your father once; he is a great man."
    "Uh, thanks."
    "Listen, if you need any help catching up, please let me know. I'll make sure you have every opportunity to do well in my class."
    She headed out the door, and this tool rattled on about a class I could pass in my sleep.
    "My office is always open," he continued.
    "Great. I appreciate it, but I have to go." I headed out the door, running into the people coming in for the next class.
    I ran out the building and scanned the area. I panicked for a minute until I spotted her halfway to the Student union. I took off in a jog, which turned into a sprint when I realized she was heading to the dorms. If she cleared the building, I would lose her.
    She turned the corner, but must have stopped because as soon as I rounded the corner, I ran smack dab into her and knocked her on her perfect ass. I tried to catch her before she fell.
    "Jeez, what the heck," she said.
    Her use of the word heck rather than some choice cuss word made me smile.
    I leaned over grabbing her arm to help her up, but she pulled her arm away.
    "What the fuck?"
    I guess she can spit a cuss word depending on her motivation. I liked that, too.
    "I'm sorry. Are you okay?" I held out my hand for her to take it, but she stood up on her own, ignoring my hand.
    "I'm fine," she said. She bent over and picked up her backpack.
    I stood watching, my eyes fixated on her amazing ass.
    "What do you want?" Carrington stood back up and stomped her foot like a child.
    Not in the sweet tone I imagined. She narrowed her eyes and she appeared flush. I needed to say something to ease the tension.
    "This is going to sound weird, especially since I nearly ran you over, but," here goes, "eventually, I would really like to be your boyfriend."
    A tiny hint of a smile escaped the side of her mouth, and I stopped holding my breath.
    Yes, the line worked.
    "But, for now, can I buy you a coffee?" 
    She hesitated before speaking. Her eyes searched my face. I tried my best to seem like a regular guy.
    "How do you know I don't have a boyfriend?"
    Oh, shit.
    "Well, do you?"
    "No," she said as she looked down and pushed her hair behind her ear.
    Oh, by the way, I was right. Her ears were perfect.
    "Cool, how about that coffee?" I headed to the student union praying she would follow me.
    When I reached the door, I opened it and stepped to the side and my heart stopped in anticipation. It didn't start again until she walked through. I shuffled to catch up as she headed over to the coffee shop.
    She ordered a medium latte, and I order a large coffee, black.
    She picked one of the small square tables near the windows. I sat down across from her.
    "Carrington Butler, that's a beautiful name." I groaned inside. So much for no cheesy lines. My mind went blank.
    "Thank you."
    "I saw you the other day, outside Bellamy."
    "Yeah," she said and took a sip of her coffee.
    "You don't talk much, do you?" I asked.
    "What do you want to talk about?"
    "I don't know." A muscle in my neck started to twitch.
    "Okay, why don't you tell me why you're following me?" she said.
    "I-"
    "Or maybe you want to talk about why you keep dropping weak lines on me?"
    "That wasn't a weak line. It was a perfect line."
    "No it wasn't."
    I couldn't tell if she was messing with me or not.
    "I've used it before," I said. I went from nervous to annoyed, picking a fight with her on such a stupid ass topic.
    "Oh, yeah, and I thought I was special. How did the line work out for you last time?"
    "Are you always this bitchy or do I bring it out of you?"
    "Maybe I/m always this bitchy, would that make a difference?"
    "No, I still want you," I said. I detected a slight grin; she tried to stop it. I wanted to lean over and kiss that spot on her face, coaxing the smile out of