17. Felix
FELIX
I wake up lying flat on my back with my phone vibrating in my jeans pocket.
Dahlia is curled up beside me. We must have fallen asleep talking.
The last thing I remember is her going downstairs to get her phone and then proceeding to ask me the twenty or so questions she’d compiled.
Things like what I did for fun on nights I didn’t party (PlayStation or hang with the guys) and why Bethany and I had broken up (she wanted more than I could give with football and school).
I felt bad not being completely honest on the last one, but it’s the root of it anyway.
She wanted the face of the football team, the guy heading to the NFL, but not the guy busting his ass to make it happen or the guy underneath all that.
She never made a list of questions to ask me about myself.
She hardly asked me anything, at all. Ever.
Nah, Bethany never tried to get to know me.
That should have been my first red flag, but honestly, I’m so used to people only caring about football that I didn’t see it right away.
Carefully, trying not to jostle her awake, I slide my hand into my pocket to get my phone and then silence it.
Dahlia’s eyes are still closed, dark lashes fan out over her fair skin.
Her perfect pink lips are parted slightly.
My already hard dick twitches at the sight of her, all gorgeous and sweet.
She never did change last night, and the black dress is bunched up higher on her hips, giving me an eyeful of upper thigh.
I have the same overwhelming desire to kiss her as I did the other night.
It’s a problem of my own making, I realize.
I asked her to be my fake girlfriend, even though I really want her.
But I’m not gonna lead her on. She’s not just some girl I can hook up with and walk away.
Dahlia could never be that girl. Even so, last night was…
nice. Just hanging with her, talking and laughing.
I roll away from her slowly and get to my feet, then pull on my shoes and send a quick text to Teddy to ask him to bring my bag to the gym for weight training this morning.
She still isn’t awake, and I feel bad about leaving without saying something, but I know she doesn’t have to be up for a couple hours still, so I give her one last look and then slip out of her room.
“You missed a hell of a party last night,” Lucas says. “I’ve never seen so many people at an after hours party.”
“What’d you do last night and where’d you end up crashing?” Teddy is full of questions this morning. He’s like this now that he’s dating my sister. She asks him, he asks me, and I am too tired to dodge.
“I hung out with Dahlia last night and I stayed at her place.”
Teddy and Lucas stare at me, matching curious expressions on their faces.
“What?” I close my locker and push past them for the weight room. It’s just down the hall from the locker room. The beat of the music is louder with every step.
“Wait, wait, wait.” Lucas jogs to keep up with me. “I need way, way more information.”
“That’s all you’re getting.”
“What happened to ‘it’s new and not that serious’?” Teddy asks from my other side. Damn these guys are chatty this morning.
“It’s not,” I say, as we get close to the weight room. “It was late, so I crashed there.”
Coach has a special kind of torture waiting for us this morning.
Occasionally he likes to mix things up and it always sucks a giant, hairy cock.
Today, instead of lifting heavy in our usual routine, he throws a high intensity interval workout in for funsies.
No one has fun. Except maybe him. Jump rope and burpees in between every set of bench press and squats.
Fuuuuck. The only positive is the guys are too winded to keep questioning me about Dahlia.
The rest of my day doesn’t really improve. I fall asleep in my European Modernism class and then run into Bethany in University Hall on my way to get a coffee to stay awake for my next class. I was able to avoid her before she tried to talk to me, but seeing her still just strikes a nerve.
One more class, practice, a mandatory team study hour, a shower, and a glorious nap later, I’m ready to go out. A thrum of something I can’t quite pinpoint hums just below the surface. Annoyance or frustration. I can’t put my finger on it, but I need a night to really cut loose.
The baseball team is having a party tonight. The party is at Lambda Chi since their off-campus house was condemned last year. A lot of the baseball guys are a part of that fraternity.
“Twenty bucks for a cup or ten if you agree to participate in the other festivities.” A young guy, a freshman by the looks of him, recites like he’s done it a hundred times already tonight.
“Festivities?” I ask as I pull out my wallet.
“Kissing booth,” he says.
I feel both brows rise. “Seriously?”
Lucas snorts. “I’m totally in.”
The kid looks back to me.
“No way.”
He continues on, unphased, “Tickets for the booth are one dollar or six for five. There’s another table inside if you change your mind.”
“I’m good,” I say.
We pay and head inside. Both of us with a pink cup for the keg and Lucas with a wristband and a time slot to work the kissing booth.
“Six kisses for five dollars?” I smirk at Lucas. “You’re the cheapest date ever.”
“But think of how much action I’m going to get tonight.” He straightens. “I need to find someone with a breath mint or some gum.”
“You’re crazy, man,” I tell him as we fill up our cups.
The kissing booth is hard to miss. It’s dead center of the party.
There are two people sitting on stools—a guy on one side and a girl on the other.
A line of people snakes around the yard with people already waiting.
And everyone else is gathered around to watch.
It’s like these people don’t know they can just kiss for free. Or go home and watch porn.
“Hey, not everyone has a Dahlia. You’re lucky. Uncomplicated but still all the benefits. Plus, she’s cool as hell.”
That thrumming under my skin intensifies.
“Oh, speaking of, there she is.” He nods his head, and I follow his line of sight to see her walking in with Jane.
Her eyes are glued on the kissing booth.
I quickly glance to the people currently kissing and chuckle.
Most people have done a closed mouth sort of lingering peck.
Lips smashed together for three to five seconds.
But one couple is really going at it. They’re full on making out, and when I look back at Dahlia, her eyes are wide, and her cheeks are flushed.
“You think she took a time slot?” Lucas asks with a taunting smile.
“Fuck off,” I toss over my shoulder as I head toward her.
“Hey, you guys made it,” I say when I get to them. I’m relieved to see that Dahlia isn’t wearing a wristband and I don’t see any tickets in her hand. Jane, on the other hand, has one ticket pinched between her thumb and pointer finger.
“Just one?” I ask Jane as I take Dahlia’s free hand and interlace our fingers.
“One is all I need tonight. I have my eye on this guy that lives here and rumor has it all the Lambda Chi guys had to take a slot.” Jane makes a noise that’s something between a squeal and giggle. “I’m going to see if I can find him.”
With a wave, she’s gone and I’m alone with Dahlia.
“Drink?” I tip my head toward the keg.
“Definitely,” she says, tearing her gaze away from the kissing booth. Her cheeks are flushed.
As more people arrive, the main attraction loses some of its focus.
A game of beer pong starts up, then the dance area starts to fill with people.
Dahlia and I walk over to where some of the guys are hanging out.
From our position, we can’t make out much of the kissing booth, but occasionally, there are hoots and hollers, indicating someone is really going at it up there.
We’re standing in a circle with my buddies, she’s leaning into me and I’m holding her hand. I can’t resist running my thumb along her delicate fingers. It’s such an innocent touch, but nothing I do with her feels harmless.
She’s wearing another dress tonight—this one a light purple that hugs her curves and dips low in the front. I’d bet money that it’s another item out of Jane’s closet. It doesn’t seem like something Dahlia would have picked out. Don’t get me wrong, she’s still wearing the shit out of it.
She seems more at ease the more time we spend together. A week or two ago and she never would have leaned against me so casually. I have a perfect view down the front of her dress and I’m struggling to be a gentleman.
I’m not paying attention to the conversation, but when everyone starts laughing, I snap out of it. Dahlia looks up at me. Somewhere along the way, she stopped being as shy about making eye contact, too. I like having her attention.
Her sweet smile is a drug. Holding my gaze, she sweeps her hair off her shoulder. The movement pushes out her tits and one strap of her dress falls.
I have a theory. She’s trying to kill me.
I lean down and press a soft kiss just above her collarbone. Her skin dots with goosebumps. I tell myself I’m doing it to sell the fake girlfriend thing, but as badly as I want to keep going, I know that isn’t completely true.
When Lucas gets back from his slot at the kissing booth, he’s all smiles. “Did you guys see the line of girls for me?”
“I expected everyone to scatter, if I’m being honest,” Brogan says. “But I guess there’s no limit to what people will do for charity.”
“Pshha.” Lucas side-eyes him. “I’m sexy as hell and kiss like a dream. Ask any one of them.”
The guys and I all laugh.
“I’m serious,” Lucas protests.
“Sure, man,” Brogan says. “Whatever you say.”
Lucas looks to me for help. “Tell them.”
“How would I know?” I ask, still chuckling.
The laughter from our buddies gets louder.
“We live together. You’ve seen me with girls. Or rather, heard. We share a wall. You must have heard.” He nods his head like this is proof that he’s an amazing kisser.
“Dude, I have not been listening to you have sex through the walls.”
His jaw drops. “I hear you all the time. Or I used to.”
“Well, this got super weird.” Archer chuckles.
“I can’t believe you won’t vouch for me.” Lucas crosses his arms over his chest and looks between me and Dahlia. “Well, let’s see how it’s done then. Show me how the legendary Felix Walters does it.”
“What?”
“Kiss her. Let’s see how it’s done.”
Immediately, Dahlia’s face takes on a pretty pink blush.
“Fuck you. We’re not making out so you can watch.”
“When has that ever stopped you?” Lucas scoffs.
He’s not dropping this.
“You’re a great kisser, man. That’s what the girls all scream from the other side of the wall. Happy now?” I grit out.
“No, no. Let’s see the master work,” Lucas says.
Someone starts chanting, “kiss, kiss, kiss” and soon, they’re all joining in.
“I hate all of you.” I turn, angling my body so I’m facing Dahlia, then step forward.
“Sorry about this,” I whisper as I lean down and touch my lips to her cheek, just above the corner of her mouth. It’s a ghost of a kiss, so soft I’m not entirely sure she could have even felt it. But damn, I felt it.
Their response is immediate. “Boo!” and “I kiss my grandma like that.”
“Aww, come on,” Brogan says. “Kiss your girl for real.”
“It’s okay,” she says quietly, giving me the go-ahead. She tilts her head up to me in invitation. It’d be so easy to swipe my lips over hers. I’m faintly aware of the guys, still staring at us and chanting, “Kiss, kiss, kiss.”
I’ve thought about kissing her no less than a hundred times in the past thirty seconds alone, but I’m not going to steal her first kiss to prove a point to my buddies.
I step away from her and flip them off. “Sorry, boys. I’m not a show pony.”
An uncomfortable moment passes as the guys quiet, then look between me and Dahlia. When I dare to glance in her direction, I immediately wish I hadn’t. The pink in her cheeks has intensified. I embarrassed her, but she doesn’t want her first kiss to happen like this.
“I need to use the bathroom,” she says quietly, wearing a fake smile.
I drain the rest of the beer in my cup in one swallow. I try to keep my demeanor cool and casual, but as soon as she’s gone, Brogan asks, “What the hell was that about?”
“Nothing. I’m just not kissing on command.”
“Then why not kiss her because you want to?” Genuine confusion is plastered all over his face. “Did something happen? Or are you just not into her anymore?”
“Nothing happened and of course I’m into her. Dahlia’s amazing.”
“Yeah, well, you might want to tell her that because she looked like you publicly refused to kiss her. Oh wait…”
Fuck. I glance toward the door. As soon as she gets back, I need to talk to her. Hell, I never thought I’d be finding excuses not to kiss a chick. Especially one I’d sell my lucky jock strap to really kiss.
The longer she’s gone, the more anxious I am to talk to her. Seconds and minutes feel like an eternity. I’m about to go find her, when Lucas says, “No fucking way.”
My head snaps to him. He points toward the kissing booth and then elbows me. “Maybe you’re not such a good kisser after all, Walters. Your girl decided to get a little extra.”
And there she is, halfway up the line, clutching a ticket in her fingers, head held high and determined.