Chapter 12 Avalon
twelve
Avalon
Was Zeke waiting for me?
I was in the library, and a bunch of girls couldn’t stop talking about how Zeke was standing in the middle of campus, almost as if he were waiting for someone. And then the second he sees me, he tries to chase me down?
Zeke doesn’t do girlfriends. And I don’t do boyfriends. We talked about this. Why on Earth would Zeke be trying to find me?
Most guys get the memo when I kick them out of my place, but I never had that moment with Zeke. I hoped sneaking out of his house without saying anything would leave the same impression.
Apparently, I was wrong. Apparently, telling Zeke before we hooked up that I don’t do commitments wasn’t enough. Even though he started that conversation. He was worried I’d get connected. But now he’s the one chasing me down?
“Avalon Stewart.” The voice travels up the stairs, and a body follows. The same body that’s walked past me for the last few weeks on the way to his seat, except now it’s stopping at the end of my row.
“Jaxon Holmes.” I glance up at him. “Can I help you?”
“Have fun at the party?” I can’t figure out if it’s a jab because he knows I hooked up with his friend or a genuine question.
“It was… fine.”
“Fine,” he repeats. “Not your scene?”
“Not really.”
And then he just stares at me like I’m supposed to continue the conversation that he started.
My eyes narrow, “You gonna stand there the whole class or?”
“Oh, right. I’m just trying to figure something out.”
“And standing there’s gonna help you do that?”
“I’m trying to figure out if you’re playing hard to get with Zeke or genuinely not interested.”
He does know.
“And that’s your business, why?”
He laughs. “Sorry, it’s just kind of funny.”
“What is?”
“A girl not chasing after Zeke,” he continues. “It’s like he doesn’t understand a girl not chasing after him.”
“Not my fault he thinks he’s some hotshot.”
“No.” He shakes his head. “Zeke’s not like that. I mean, he is, but that’s not what I mean. It’s refreshing for him.”
“Glad I could be of service. But if it’s so refreshing, he wouldn’t try to track me down. He seems to want to get the last word in, if you know what I mean.”
“I don’t.” And then he stares at me again.
“You said it yourself. Zeke’s confused by the fact that I haven’t tracked him down like one of the other girls who thought they could change his mind about relationships. He wants to let me down; he hates that I let him down.”
In all fairness, I wish I could sleep with Zeke again. Not even Zeke, necessarily, I just wish I could have sex like that again. I understand why girls have spoken pretty highly of Zeke before, and I didn’t even know who they were talking about when they did, but now I do. And they’re right.
The last few guys I slept with led to very long sessions with my vibrator afterward.
Meaning they were unnecessary to the equation.
But with Zeke, not only did I reach the point I’ve been craving to reach with another human being, but in a way I haven’t before.
I felt it in my body. Like the orgasm consumed me whole.
If I could get that again, I’d take it in a heartbeat. I just don’t want to have it again with Zeke. Because that’s how you get attached. And when you get attached, people can hurt you. People can leave.
“Pretty sure he lets every girl down before he even hooks up with them,” Jaxon continues. “Did he not have the no commitments talk with you?”
“He did.”
“Then what’s the confusion?”
“He was waiting for me.”
“He was.” Jaxon smiles, pulls something out of his back pocket, and sets it on the desk next to my notebook.
My phone.
With everything that happened this weekend, I didn’t even realize it was missing. I stare at my phone and then look at Jaxon.
“He was trying to return that.” He takes his seat behind me.
I turn to him, and he’s sitting there, the smile still plastered on his face. I don’t know whose misery he’s enjoying more: mine or Zeke’s.
He seems to be getting a kick out of both.
Hi.”
Zeke stands on the other side of his front door, his eyes scanning over me. He seems just as confused as I am. I don’t even know what I’m doing here. I left campus and ended up on his doorstep.
“Hi,” I reply, crossing my arms, trying to avoid staring at his bare chest. He stands up straighter, letting the door open instead of clinging to it like his life depended on it.
“Not that I mind, but what are you doing here?” He scratches the back of his neck. “If it concerns OCHEM, Jaxon isn’t here.”
“I’m not looking for him.” I pull my phone out of my back pocket, holding it up between us, and smile. “I just wanted to apologize.”
Now, he crosses his arms.
“I’m sorry I ran away from you this morning.”
“Ah, so you did see me.”
“I did.”
“Well, no need to apologize.”
“I know,” I continue. Which leads me back to wondering why I’m here. “I guess I ran because I thought you were gonna try to seduce me. Like you wanted to sleep together again and not—”
“I was.”
“What?”
“I mean, yeah, I was trying to find you to return your phone, but that was more of a stepping stone to get you to talk to me so I could convince you to sleep with me again.”
“Oh.”
“I totally would’ve respected you saying no. I just knew you wouldn’t talk to me again without a reason, you know, strings and all, so returning your phone was that reason.”
“Wouldn’t sleeping together again be strings?”
“No.” He leans forward, shoving his hands in his pockets. “The way I see it, we would’ve had sex again had we not fallen asleep or if you hadn’t run out of my house before I woke up.”
“Is that so?” I take a step forward. “Did you ever think I ran out of your house to avoid sleeping with you again?”
“I did,” he begins. “And trust me, my friends also mentioned that, so I put a lot of thought into it.”
“And?”
“Well,” he takes a step forward, “if they’re right that the night didn’t live up to your expectations, I need a do-over.” He loops his fingers through the front belt hooks on my jeans, leaving very little space between our bodies.
I bite my bottom lip to stop myself from telling him he met my expectations. That he exceeded them in every way possible. But right now, the ball’s in my court, and if I let him know he’s getting to me, he’d win.
“And if you don’t need a do-over, what’s your reason then?”
“I’d really like to fuck you again.” He grins. “Plain and simple.”
“And after?”
“What?”
“What happens after? We move on with our lives like we already should’ve?”
“Yeah,” he says. “One more time, and if you don’t find yourself wanting more, I’ll leave you alone.”
“You think awfully high of yourself.”
“I like to think I’m just a very confident person.”
“No strings. Just one more time, and then you walk away.”
“I walk away.”
“No more waiting for me on campus?”
He laughs, “Trust me, I’ll never do that again.”
I need this. It saves me the trouble of trying to track someone down. Plus, I know it’ll be good; I won’t have to wonder if I wasted my time for the sex to be mediocre.
I’m tense. I can feel it in my bones, but sleeping with Zeke will loosen me up. It did more than that this weekend.
“Plus,” he whispers, pressing his lips against my ear, “think of how much better the sex will be now that our bodies are acquainted. Now that I know the spots that make you squirm. Now that I know the noises you make when I kiss the sensitive skin below your ear.”
I close my eyes, his words sending chills down my spine. He steps away, leaving my body cold from his lack of warmth.
“But you know, take your time. Think about it.”
I want to wipe that smug look off his face. He got me. He knows he has me, and I’ve lost my advantage. He knows I’m gonna say yes.
“Last time,” I say sternly. I don’t know if I’m trying to convince him of this or myself. But I know the last thing I need right now is a relationship. Even if the sex is really, really good.
“Then we better make it count.” He winks, and without warning, he pulls me into his house, slams the door behind us, and throws me over his shoulder.
“Zeke!” I slap his back, kicking my legs to try and get him to put me down. “What are you doing?”
“Bringing you to my room.”
“We’re doing this now?”
“When did you think we were gonna do this?”
“It’s the middle of the day.”
“You’ve never had sex in the middle of the day?” He stops halfway up the stairs. “Even more of a reason to do this now. You don’t know what you’re missing out on until you’ve had sex in the middle of the day.”
“What if someone comes home?”
He carries me to his room, and once we get there, he tosses me onto his bed. It’s giving me a sense of Déjà vu.
“Nothing they aren’t used to.” He shrugs.
“Zeke!”
“They won’t be home for at least another two hours.” I don’t know if he’s just saying that or being honest. “I swear.”
I stare at the closed door and then look back toward the very bare and very sexy tattooed body standing in front of me. It’s like Zeke reads me without me having to say a word, dropping my bag by his door and walking toward me like a man on a mission.
He pushes me back onto his bed, and his mouth makes a beeline for the spot below my ear he was just talking about. I can’t help but laugh.
“Oh, so it’s funny now?”
“No.” I try to hold back my laughter. “It’s not. It’s sexy, very sexy, I just—”
He cuts me off by sinking his teeth into that same spot, but not in the same way he did it the other night; this time, it’s almost playful. But I still let out a small yelp.
“That’s what I thought,” he replies, but he has a smile of his own as he pushes off the bed to stand at the end. “Do you need help taking off your sweatshirt? Because it’s feeling a little unfair here.”