Chapter 32 Boy Is Back
Thirty-Two
Boy Is Back
It wasn’t until Tuesday night that I finally saw Dallas in the dining hall. His back was to me as he ate dinner with some guys from his floor.
Before that moment, I’d been fine, maybe a little nervous about going to watch the trial, but fine. After I’d noticed him, even the noise echoing off the high ceiling made me cringe.
He’d come back, and hadn’t told me.
I should be okay with that. We weren’t an item.
There was no understanding between us. So I tried to stay positive while sitting with Priya, Emma, and some of the girls from my floor, but it was hard.
When I’d last seen him, something had felt off between us.
A tectonic shift in plates. I hoped they were back in alignment.
I bussed my tray, and just as I was setting it on top of all the others, a hand snaked around my waist and pulled me close. Dallas. He smelled like spring, like planting ornamental grasses in a rain garden.
“Hey, hot stuff.” His breath tickled my ear. His chin brushed my shoulder.
And just like that, poof. I was back to good. I sort of hated myself for it. It shouldn’t be so easy for me to change my feelings about him. But I couldn’t help it. I’d missed him. I wanted to be with him.
“How was your weekend?” I tried to stop my smile from stretching too far.
“Good.” We walked out of the cafeteria together. “Great actually. I qualified for the semifinals.”
“Awesome. Congratulations.” Oh, how I wished I’d been with him instead of sulking here.
“I didn’t get any further than that, but it was a blast, that’s for sure. Met some other athletes in the sport. What did you do this weekend?”
“I went to a movie with my mom.”
“Cool.”
I supposed it was best that he hadn’t invited me along, but at the same time, I’d give practically anything to have been there to see him get as far as he had in the competition. Ugh. This wasn’t good. I was falling hard. And I didn’t like how it was making me feel. Lonely. Desperate.
“I didn’t make it to classes yesterday.” He changed the subject.
“Yeah, I know. Your usual seat was empty.”
“Did you take notes in chemistry?”
“Of course.” When it came to school, taking detailed notes was the one thing I was good at.
“Could we go grab them and make copies in my room on my printer?”
His room? Yes, please. “Sure.”
We grabbed my chemistry binder first and then we trekked to his floor.
He stood over his printer, and I sat on the futon.
I could watch him all day and never get bored.
He had jeans on with a long-sleeve T-shirt.
His ass filled out his pockets perfectly, and his shoulders had just the right amount of definition.
The cute dimple at the corner of his mouth sucked in as he gave his full concentration to the task at hand.
It was funny how this worked. How much I wanted to have sex with him right this second. I needed to do something about it. Make my intentions known. Maybe I should drape my naked body across his couch—that might give him a hint.
The copier made scanning noises as he turned to me. “So are you ready for the test?”
My face heated. Good thing he couldn’t read minds, because mine had been on his groin rather than his brain. “I studied over the weekend, and Jay got his hands on some old tests, so I think I’m in pretty good shape. Are you?”
“I think so.”
“So you’ve been studying?”
“Nah.”
Seriously? So this was what it meant to be on the dean’s list. He never had to study, because he already knew how to solve all the problems.
Sigh.
I wished I were that smart.
He finished up and gave me back my binder. “I need to go down and get a load of laundry. You want to come?”
“Sure thing. On the washer or the dryer?”
He narrowed his eyes and then opened them wide.
“Yes, thank you very much, I would like to come, soft and wet, please.” I tried to stop myself from giggling.
That deep grin of his appeared on his face, the kind that made me want to jump into his lap.
He started toward me, but then stopped. “Hold it—give me a couple minutes to get my laundry and I’ll be right back.”
I sat back on his futon while he headed for the door, but then over his shoulder, he said, “There’s beer in the refrigerator if you want one.”
Beer. Definitely not what I wanted right now. I wanted him.
I took off my clothes, left them in a pile on the ground, and slipped into his bed. The smell of him surrounded me, and I lay there, breathing him in.
I’d been worried about us, but now I thought we were fine. And we’d be even better after some time alone together.
He came back with his basket, saw me in the bed, and dropped it in his closet. With every step he took toward me, he lost an article of clothing until there was nothing left on his body and he was naked. He crawled in, and I wrapped myself around him, his skin hot against mine.
We lay like that for a while. Doing nothing but listening to each other breathe, feeling the thudding of our hearts against each other.
He picked up my hand and caressed my fingers, tracing every line, rubbing every crevice.
He put one of my fingers in his mouth and sucked on it.
I was getting as gooey as a roasted marshmallow.
He brushed innocent kisses against my temples, and I buried my head in his neck.
“I missed you,” he whispered.
A rainbow lit up my heart. “Me too,” I whispered back.
I’d never felt like this before. So attached to a person that pieces of me were melding with pieces of him. I wouldn’t think about the future, not even a little.
The next morning, after a mediocre night of sleep, I rolled out of Dallas’s bed and dressed. I didn’t like the chill after soaking in the heat of his body.
I didn’t want to leave him.
He slept on, and I stared down at him, my chest swelling with a scary amount of adoration. I kissed him, and then almost said it out loud. I almost told him that I loved him. But I stopped myself. He might actually be awake, and my declaration would be too soon, too much.
I exited his room and shut the door softly behind me. I felt lightheaded, and I inhaled a sharp breath.
That was unexpected. Love was not on the agenda. My heart had turned as fragile as one of the glass figurines in my mom’s curio cabinet.
Calm down, I told myself. Calm down. People have fallen in love before.
Just not me.