Chapter 11 – Reese #3
Chewed on? For the first time, I noticed the marks on his neck. There were several red spots that looked almost painful, and my face flushed so hot I thought I would pass out.
I brought my hands up to my face and groaned. What was wrong with me?
“I am so, so sorry, Dakota,” I said through my fingers.
“I’m not,” he said, getting off the bed.
I let my hands fall to my side and stared at him in bewilderment.
He just shrugged. “I’m not sorry, and you don’t have to be either. Honestly, I liked it. But I gotta know…” He shoved his hands in his pockets and took a step closer to me, his gaze intense and locked on mine. “What were you dreaming about?”
“Nothing,” I said quickly, but my stupid face was burning and I knew the horrendous blush was giving everything away.
His lips twitched as he took another step. “You said that way too fast. Was it me? Are you embarrassed? You don’t have to be.” He moved closer and closer, and all I could do was stand there and watch him.
Unpredictable to the point that he should be predictable now. Of course Dakota would love getting mauled by a sleeping person. Why wouldn’t he?
The dean wanted me to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary, but I was coming to understand that there was nothing—nothing at all—that was ordinary about Dakota Voss.
And I liked that.
I liked his unpredictability. I liked that he was constantly surprising me in ways no one ever had. I liked how he was so transparent with what was happening in his head that I never really had to guess. He offered his inner workings to me at every opportunity.
And I liked that.
I was terrified that I liked that. I couldn’t like that.
But…
Dakota ran his hand through his hair and sighed.
His eyes held mine for a long, long time, slowly moving back and forth.
I didn’t know what he was looking for, but I guessed he found it when he nodded and lowered his gaze.
“Look, I’m pretty hungry so I’m gonna go grab some food. I’ll give you some time to yourself.”
As he walked to the door, I willed myself to call out to him, to tell him not to leave, that we weren’t done talking, that I was sorry and appalled and feeling way off-kilter because I was a goddamn mess and he just took it all in stride, as if I wasn’t falling apart right in front of him.
The door shut softly behind him, and I stood in the middle of the room for a long time before heading into the bathroom to take a shower.
At least he wasn’t here to see me cry again.
When Dakota returned half an hour later, I was sitting on my bed, feet planted on the floor, twisting the stem of the flower between my fingers and trying to make sense of everything.
I was utterly failing.
But as soon as Dakota stepped through the door, a tense, anticipatory thrill flooded me. His eyes immediately locked onto mine, lowered to the flower, then raised slowly back to mine again as he started to smile.
“Do you like it?” he asked, shutting the door behind him. He was holding a plastic bag, which he set on his bed to rifle through.
“Why did you give me a flower?” I asked.
“Because it reminded me of you. It’s a tiger lily. Smells like you, too.”
His blunt words drew a hot flush across the entirety of my face. He always just…said exactly what he was thinking.
His straightforwardness was unsettling me in the strangest way.
When he turned around and held out something small wrapped in paper, I grabbed it just so I had something else to focus on.
It was a sandwich. I glanced up at him to find him staring at me, dark eyes devouring my face with an intensity that made my heart pound.
“Stop staring at me,” I mumbled, setting the flower on my pillow and unwrapping the sandwich. I tore the paper into pieces instead of eating it, though.
“You don’t like turkey? Maybe you’re so cranky because you’re not eating enough.”
Cranky? Was I really that…cranky?
“Turkey’s fine,” I said.
I felt so awkward around him right now. Uncomfortable in my own skin but for different reasons than usual.
He’d somehow slipped past my first line of defense, and I didn’t have the heart to kick him out.
Dakota started eating across from me, so I did the same. There was nothing but the sound of occasional loud laughter or shouts from students below as we ate.
When I was done, I looked up at Dakota, who was sitting on his bed and leaning against the wall, one leg drawn up as he watched me.
For a few long moments, we just stared at each other. Then I asked, “Can you show me where the laundry room is?”
Even after two months, I still had no fucking clue where it was. I’d been taking my clothes to a laundromat in town because I was too much of a chicken to ask Dakota again.
But now…
The smile that slowly stretched across his face was filled with so much delighted satisfaction that it sent a flurry of butterflies through my stomach.
He was beautiful, in every sense of the word. Strange and endearing and…beautiful.
“I’d love to,” he said, grinning as he slid to his feet.
Yeah, I bet he would.