50 Sexcapades [Erotica Compilation] novel Chapter 42

"S'cuse me! Pardon me! Out of my way please!" I hollered at anyone in my path, as I scurried up the cobblestone path that led to the journalism department's building. I smiled all cute at the security guard and he let me go straight to the gate, surpassing the check-in completely.

I sighed, as the elevator trudged along slowly from floor to floor until I reached 6. Checking my watch for the 5th time in two minutes I saw I only had a smidge of time until I was supposed to be on air welcoming my entire college campus to a brand new day. I can't believe Colin made me late...Colin was my current "friend with benefits" but he was totally pushing the boundary on that term lately. He slept over last night for like the 3rd time this week and would barely let me get out of bed this morning!

I would have to set him straight..no one made Missy Reed late- for anything!

"Hello everyone!" I sang as the elevator doors opened and I found my morning crew standing there waiting for me. I was handed my non-fat latte and chia seed muffin as my makeup girl came over and applied a light bronzer to my cheeks and some rouge on my lips.

"Where's Patrick?" I asked, looking around for my co-anchor. We'd been doing the morning news together at the University for the past year and a half and had developed an amazing friendship from it. We were practically the same people- loud, peppy, glamorous, and expensive.

"Oh Missy, I know we should have warned you about this earlier but Patrick had a minor boating accident at Martha's Vineyard last weekend and is expected to be out for at least a month."

"What?! Why wasn't I informed about this sooner? Who will be my co-anchor then, damn it!"

My crew looked uneasy and a little scared.

"His name is Gage Parker. He's in the booth already if you'd like to go meet him?"

Gage Parker. Gage Parker...why did that name ring a bell?

"You know what, there's no time for introductions I have a show to do!" I stormed into the booth and saw a guy sitting there with his back to me. He had a headphone set on and was playing with some control dials.

I cleared my throat and he spun around. Oh shit. I knew who this Gage Parker was! He was a well-liked guy but a total freaking player and had even cheated on two of my friends in the past. Why the hell would this 'tough guy' want to do the morning show?

I sat down in a huff, prepping my materials. "Well good morning to you too, princess," Gage said, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

I looked into his smiling blue eyes, which were tinged with red. "I'm surprised you know what time of day it even is, seeing that you're already high," I said, pointing between his eyes. He chuckled and shook his head, giving me a one-over as I gave the thumbs up for our camera guy to turn on the teleprompter.

"It's nice to meet you too," he replied.

"Just don't embarrass me on-air alright?" I gave him one last cutting glance and folded my hands, pasting a big smile on my face as we counted down.

"Gooood morning Middlebrook University! I'm your host for the morning show, Missy Reed-

"And I'm your co-host, Gage Parker," he said, saluting the camera.

The morning show went surprisingly well as the two of us alternated reading our cues from the teleprompter. We wrapped up university news, upcoming events, arts & drama, tech news, and finished off with sports before taking a few students calls from our advice column. Gage definitely surprised me. He was energetic and charismatic. His dialogue flowed well with mine and it seemed as though we had...chemistry?! I brushed it off as being just some on-screen thing. Because off, he annoyed the hell out of me.

We wrapped up the entire segment with an inspirational quote and wished the university a productive rest of the day.

"See you tomorrow!" we said, waving at the camera until it turned off.

Gage pushed his chair back and stretched out his arms. "That was kinda neat," he said, standing up. I got a whiff of his delicious smell and tried not to blush. He may have been a commonly known arrogant prick, but he was damn fine.

We stood in a weird awkward silence for a few moments until thankfully one of the crew members, Sam, came in. "Missy, you've gotta see this. The ratings for the morning show were at an all-time high this morning! Do you know what this means? More funding for our production costs" Sam cheered, rocking happily from side to side.

"Gee, I wonder how that happened all of a sudden?" Gage said, shoving his hands in his pockets. He had a smug smile on his face and I didn't know whether I wanted to slap him or kiss him.

"Don't get cocky. Ratings are usually high around the beginning of the semester."

"Yea but she said all-time high, princess."

I smiled and shrugged my shoulders, happy with the news but trying not to feed his ego.