Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Same Night, New Plan
The cold air bites at my exposed skin. It was so hot and crowded inside that I almost forgot it’s almost winter, and this mini dress isn’t providing any protection.
My adrenaline is pumping, though. By some miracle, I make it to my quad without twisting an ankle in these heels.
That’s when I spot Cal nearing Tasker Hall.
“Cal!” I shout, but he either doesn’t hear me or is ignoring me. “Please, wait up!” I call out, trying again. This time, he stops but doesn’t turn around. I catch up to him, though.
“It was a stupid idea. I’m sorry, Cal,” I admit breathlessly.
His shoulders droop, his body sagging. With an annoyed exhale, he finally turns to look at me. I surprise us both by flinging myself into his chest. Without pause, his arms wrap around me, and he pulls me closer in his embrace.
Cal rubs his cheek against the top of my head and I sigh with relief.
We stay like this for a minute, him rocking me gently.
I’m not sure I’ve ever felt this safe and at ease with anyone else before and I’m shook.
Why did it take me this long to realize that my gut has never once warned me against Cal? Only my muddled brain and dumb pride.
Eventually, Cal lets go, easing me away. “So, was Trey that bad of a kisser?”
“I wouldn’t know,” I say, and Cal’s eyes snap to mine as if he’s trying to detect a lie in my green depths. I nod for emphasis. “I don’t need to kiss him, or anyone else, to know that I’d rather be kissing you.”
He smiles, and it’s not one of his smirks but a genuine smile that I don’t see often. It lights up his already handsome face to the point that it’s not fair. As pathetic as this sounds, I literally would be happy to just hang on his neck and stare at him for hours.
“It took you long enough,” Cal says, cocky smirk back in place. “I knew way before tonight,” he boasts.
“If we’re being honest, so did I. I don’t know what I was trying to prove.”
Cal bobs his head, still smiling, but he doesn’t comment further. “After you,” he says, holding open the door to Tasker Hall and motioning for me to enter first. We walk side by side to our rooms in silence, my mind reeling with what to say next.
Cal stops in front of my door, and the surge of emotions flooding me, along with his sudden quietness, has my belly twisting with nervous anxiety. What do we do now?
I grab my new set of keys and gingerly slip them into the replacement lock. It opens with ease, and I throw a smile over my shoulder at Cal.
He’s smiling, too, and my stomach does another bellyflop. “Good night, April,” he says, leaning in and placing a quick kiss on my cheek. “You look gorgeous tonight, by the way.”
Stunned, my mouth drops open as I watch Cal disappear into his own room, closing the door behind him. I stare at the empty hallway for a second or two before escaping inside my dorm room.
WTF? I look gorgeous but I only get a kiss on the cheek? What was I expecting, though? Just because I didn’t kiss someone else tonight doesn’t mean Cal and I are suddenly going out or something.
Crap, I better not be wrong about Cal for the second time.
I mean, this better not have been some thrill of the chase sort of thing.
My turmoil disappears when it dawns on me that I just used Cal’s last name, “chase.” I’m going to have to tell him that one.
But when? Did I go and fuck this all up? And what even is this?
I shake away my irksome insecurities and recall the way he’d just held me outside.
That does the trick and I kick off my painful stilettos.
One goes soaring over my desk to hit the windowsill and the other flies toward the closet, which was where I was aiming for to begin with, but I guess my aim is as bad as my decisions.
A melodious knock on our connecting door startles me out of my head trash and I run toward it on aching feet. “Who’s there?” I tease, clearing my throat.
“Pyramus,” replies Cal. “Can I come in?”
Eager to see him again, I want to scream yes, but I pause remembering. “But … but Roland locked the door.”
“Or did he?” Cal responds, and I’m totally confused when I see the doorknob twist and ease open to reveal a grinning Cal filling the open doorway.
“But how?” I sputter.
“I simply explained our star-crossed-lovers situation to Roland and he sympathized.”
“Hmm,” I mutter suspiciously. “For some reason, the salty handyman I met the other week didn’t strike me as the romantic type.”
“He was after I slipped him a hundy,” Cal says, laughing.
“Plus, I reasoned that there was never an official work order or anything showing that this door was ever unlocked in the first place just your front lock was replaced, so no one would ever have to know if it should stay open. He fixed it, though, so you can press the lock on your side whenever you want to.”
Cal demonstrates the new system, clearly proud of himself.
“Feel free to barge in on me anytime, preferably when I’m in bed or just out of the shower.
” He waggles his brows at me and I stare at him, determined not to smile, but I feel my resistance waning.
“Oh, and Roland wished me luck, by the way.”
“With what?”
Cal playfully lunges forward and grabs me.
He’s so quick that I don’t have time to react or even see it coming.
He turns us so my back is up against the connecting door, effectively closing it and pinning me to it with his body.
“Luck with getting my infuriating, smart, and sexy neighbor to finally give me a break and let me in.”
I push away a fraction of an inch so I can look up at him. “Congratulations! Is Van or Coop the lucky neighbor?”
Cal gives a warning growl and I bite my lip to keep from laughing, but when he smacks the side of my ass in reprimand, I can’t hold it in anymore. “Hey, love is love, you have my support,” I add between my muffled laughter.
“Did I mention this neighbor has a smart mouth, too? Speaking of mouths …”
Cal dips his head and captures my lips, delivering the sweetest kiss yet.
I can’t control the moan that escapes from deep inside me.
His kiss is what I want, and I meet him with all the feeling that is bubbling up from within me.
Deepening my assault on his sexy mouth, I dig my hand into his bicep, pulling him closer.
A sensual “mmm” releases from his throat and I tremble in response.
He brushes his lips to my ear and down the side of my neck, as if following the path of my shiver, all the while causing more in waves.
“You’re so freakin’ beautiful, do you know that?” he murmurs against my throat. “My jaw fell to the floor the first time I saw you charging into the hallway, ready to chew my head off, all pissed and pretty.”
“Mmm,” I mutter, running my hands up and down his back. I’m practically clawing at him for more. “I remember stopping in my tracks, too, when I got a glimpse of whom I was about to go head-to-head with.”
“Really?” His face leaves the crook of my neck so he can look at me. His dark eyes are blazing with a hunger aimed at me, and it’s thrilling.
I nod. “Although, you were right about the pissed part. I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to jump you or hit you with your own speakers.”
Cal chuckles under his breath. “I prefer the jumping me option,” he says, leaning in to delve back into my mouth with an intensity that has me gyrating my hips in time with his probing tongue.
Not missing a beat, he reaches down to grasp one of my legs, pulling it around his waist, giving me just what I need—closer, more intimate contact.
Between my gasps, he cups my breast, discovering it with his thumb, circling my raised nipple through my layer of clothing.
He gives the same teasing attention to my other breast, which sends a fire coursing through my veins with every touch, every stroke.
I feel bold and confident with him, and it’s an aphrodisiac high that I’ve never experienced before.
Wiggling, I slip the spaghetti straps off my shoulders and peel the fabric down, reveling my bared breasts.
Heat flares in his eyes when he sees that I’m not wearing a bra, and my nipples grow painfully harder as his gaze rakes over me.
His hand slowly cups my breast, and I mold myself even closer as he tests the weight and feel in his palm.
He squeezes gently before capturing the tip, circling it with his tongue before pulling it into his mouth.
The heat of his mouth, combined with the soft, suckling action, has wet need pooling at my core.
I have to suppress the impulse to squirm from the sensations he is causing.
Instead, I grip a wad of his hair as he moves on to my other breast, leaving my abandoned nipple to bud even tighter now without his touch and from the cool air fanning the heat he left behind.
Automatically, I arch my back, giving him better access, and let the back of my head rest against the door.
“You’re so passionate,” Cal mutters as he kisses and licks at the valley of my cleavage. “I want to explore all of you, yet can’t even seem to get past your torso. I told you, you’re a siren.”
“Then why am I the one under your spell?” I ask in wonder.
He squeezes me tight, plants a hard kiss on my lips, and shudders. “Probably because I’ve willed it so, wishing for you in my arms like this more times than I can count.”
I can’t decide if I want to weep, squeal, or sigh from his beautiful admission. “And now that you’ve got me?” I ask boldly, shocked at how provocative I sound, but Cal seems to bring it out in me. He makes me feel like I might just be a siren, or at least a latent sex kitten.
“Let me show you,” Cal says huskily. When he slides his hand under the hem of my dress, caressing the inner side of my thighs and moving into my panties for an even more intimate touch, I gasp with nervous need.
“Too soon?” he questions, out of breath.