Beautiful Sky

by Ashley Blake

  “I’m so glad I got you as a roommate. We’re going to have a great year.”

  She was a really sweet girl and I felt just as happy that we were paired up.

  “We sure are.” That was the last thing I remembered before drifting off to sleep.

  Chapter Four

  The next day a bunch of us checked out the campus to get a feel for where our classes would be, where the gym was and where the library was. We decided to go off campus for lunch and as we were walking back we saw a group of guys walking toward us. Katie linked her arm through mine and whispered in my ear.

  “Look who’s coming this way.”

  My stomach literally flipped as I saw talk, dark and gorgeous walking toward me. And he saw me too. Once again I was so totally mesmerized by his intense gaze that I was really thankful that Katie was linked to me. I don’t know that I would have been able to continue to put one foot in front of the other if she wasn’t next to me walking with me. The guys approached and we stopped to talk to them. Some people knew each other so they made introductions for everyone else and Jonathan walked right up to me, his eyes not letting go of mine.

  “Hey Skylar.”

  Yep, definitely a voice like butter.

  I smiled at him and tried to really hard to sound nonchalant. “Hey Jonathan. Where are you guys going?”

  “There’s some pizza place that is supposed to be incredible that’s not too far away, so we’re gonna go check that out. Where are you guys coming from?”

  “That same pizza place.” I giggled because I thought it was so funny that we all had the same idea.

  “Oh good, someone has tried it, so how was it?”

  “It was really good and there wasn’t one piece of pizza left on anyone’s plate.”

  “Awesome, can’t wait to try it.”

  I couldn’t help but feel excited about him even if he was way out of my league. I decided that I was going to enjoy the flirtation as long as it lasted. I was pretty sure it would be short lived as soon as he figured out I was here on scholarship, but I decided to live the fantasy for a while.

  Jonathan’s eyes were perusing my face and I started to feel really shy as his eyes studied mine with a sharp intensity. He was so good-looking it was hard to concentrate on anything else, so when I felt Katie tugging on my arm I had to tear my eyes away from his to see what she wanted.

  “We’re going back to campus now and those guys are going to go eat.”

  “Oh! Sorry, to keep you Jonathan, I’m sure you’re probably really hungry.”

  My words hung in the air for a few seconds as he held my gaze and a tiny smirk danced at the corner of his mouth. He leaned down and whispered in my ear so that only I could hear him. “I am, but not in the way that you think. I’ll see you later.”

  As he walked off with his friends, my cheeks instantly felt like they were on fire and my breathing became very shallow as I contemplated the meaning behind his words. I didn’t realize that I was walking down the sidewalk with a goofy grin on my face until I heard Katie’s words.

  “Somebody is really into you and it looks like you feel the same way. Are your cheeks okay?”

  My hands flew to my cheeks and I looked at her with eyes like saucers. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Well for starters they are the color of my shirt,” she looked at me as she tugged on her bright red V-neck, “and secondly you’ve had a huge grin on your face since Jonathan walked up to us; that’s what I mean. Sky, girlie, he is into you. I wish a guy would look at me like that!”

  I thought about what she said as we walked back to campus. I knew he was flirting with me but I couldn’t focus too much on that. I was convinced that he was the kind of guy who could have any girl, I was probably just his first distraction for the school year, and I was sure there would be many more girls after me especially after he found out how different I was from him. I couldn’t let myself get too caught up in him. He was so gorgeous and I doubted that I was the kind of girl he really wanted, someone who looked like Katie and had her family’s money was probably more his type. Jonathan Hunter was becoming a huge distraction for me and I had to get that under control because I felt my crush on him deepening every time I saw him.

  We made it back to campus and a bunch of us went to the student union to hang out and have some fun since we were still in the middle of Freshmen Week. We had a couple more days of freedom and I was playing pool a couple of hours later, and it was my turn to make a shot, when I felt someone come up behind me. Jonathan’s familiar deep voice whispered in my ear and the hairs on my arms stood on end as I felt his arms come around me as he adjusted the way I was holding the pool cue.

  “You might want to try it this way and then hit the ball with a light, but firm stroke.”

  I wanted to just melt into his arms and have him wrap them around me, holding me tight. I was so happy that he was there. I don’t know how I was able to make the shot because I could barely focus with him so close to me, but I got it in the hole.

  I turned to look at him and smiled when my eyes met his and I had to stop myself from letting out a huge sigh. You’re so gorgeous. “Thanks for the tip. You must be pretty good at this game, huh?” I tried so hard to hide the way my body was feeling, as I was sure my cheeks were the dead give away.

  His eyes held mine as he stood less than a foot away from me and then they traveled down to my mouth and lingered for a minute before going back up to my eyes.

  “I guess I’m okay. You take direction well Skylar, I like that.”

  I looked at him and cocked my head to the side, my long dark waves falling on my shoulder. “Only when I want to.”

  I then slowly walked away to get a soda from the vending machine, glancing at him with a flirtatious twinkle in my eye. I knew he would follow me and as I stood in front of the vending machine an awareness of his body heat seeped into all of my pores as I pretended to be deep in thought about which drink I was going to buy.

  His body pressed lightly against mine as he leaned over my shoulder and whispered in my ear.

  “You drive me crazy, you know that?”

  I turned my head slightly to the side and whispered so that only he could hear me.

  “I hope so.”

  “Come with me for a minute.” Although he whispered, his words were gruff and left no room for question and I dutifully followed him into a secluded alcove down the hall from everyone else. He turned into a dark corner and pulled me to him. My heart was beating a million miles a minute, my breath catching in my throat as I looked up into his gorgeous eyes.

  “You’re so sexy Skylar.”

  His eyes roamed over my body and I could feel my body flush with desire. He entwined his fingers in my hair and his eyes perused my face and settled on my lips. He leaned down, bringing my face to his, and gave me a soft peck at first and then his lips were searching and eager as I opened my mouth and our tongues slid over each other. Jonathan pulled me even closer and I could feel his hard length as a soft moan escaped my lips, my hardened nipples straining through my bra. His touch became more rough as his hands slid down my body to my hips and then around to my plump backside. He pulled my hips into his as he kissed me deeper, his scruff lightly scraping my face. His scent was intoxicating and I wanted to just melt into him as his tongue explored my mouth. His hands tightened in my hair and he suddenly pulled away from me and looked at me, desire burning in his eyes.

  “I want to taste every inch of you Skylar, but it’s not time for that yet. We better get back to the others before people start to talk.”

  I wanted him right then and there, and then I silently scolded myself. You just met this guy and you’re willing to jump into bed with him already? If he wasn’t so damned sexy it would be a lot easier for me.

  Jonathan adjusted himself and smoothed his hair as I composed myself. Luckily no one saw us and as we walked back to the student union, I kept asking myself if what happened had really just happened. Jonathan lightly touched
my hip and gave me a quick wink before joining his buddies at the foosball table. Katie saw us walk in together and her eyes were as big as saucers as she made a beeline for me.

  “So, where did you guys run off to? I couldn’t find you for quite a while.”

  I looked at her, blinking my lashes innocently. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, we were around the whole time.”

  Katie narrowed her eyes at me while a tiny smirk curved the corner of her mouth. “Okay, I get it, you don’t want to tell. I’ll let it go for now, but if anything big happens between you two I better be the first person you tell!”

  I giggled at her and promised she would be the first.

  We decided to play air hockey and I was kicking her butt when I heard a loud obnoxious cackle permeate the air. I turned to see who was attached to the atrocious laugh and I could feel my blood begin to boil when I saw what looked like a straight up porn star with enormous fake boobs hanging all over Jonathan. I looked at Jonathan’s face and I could see that he didn’t look annoyed and that pissed me off. He actually looked like he was enjoying the attention. Is that his type? Does he have a girlfriend? Why did he kiss me if he has a girlfriend? Are all guys cheaters? I turned to look at Katie with a look of disgust on my face and gestured with my head in their direction.

  “Who is boobs McGee over there?” I tried really hard for the question to sound matter of fact and I hoped that I had been able to pull that off.

  Her tits were enormous and she was totally busting out of her tank top.

  Katie rolled her eyes at the girl who was making a complete spectacle of herself, practically throwing herself at Jonathan, and turned to me with raised eyebrows. I could tell that she was annoyed.

  “That’s Barbi with an i.”

  I burst out laughing and Katie had a look of mock seriousness on her face. “No, really, she told us that it was very important that we understand that her name is not spelled the same way as the doll and it is spelled with an i. So whatever you do don’t forget, it’s Barbi with an i. Oh, and she let us all know that she is originally from Beverly Hills.”

  “Oh my gosh, we’re going to have to put up with that all year? Really? I know I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I’m having a really hard time believing that that has any type of brain. So how did she get into our university?”

  “Funny, you’re not the first person to ask that, Amanda asked the same thing. Apparently her daddy’s money purchased an entire wing in the library and a building for the English department. So basically her family’s money bought her way in.”

  “Who’s her father?”

  Katie shrugged her shoulders. “No clue.”

  I scowled when I realized that she wasn't going to go away. The more I looked at them laughing with each other, the more upset I could feel myself becoming. Was this guy trying to play me? Maybe Jonathan was just a player, he certainly had the looks for it, but I had no interest in being part of his little game. Been there, done that, and I wasn’t doing it again. I looked over at them again and he was smiling at whatever it was she was whispering in his ear, and if she were any closer to him it would be hard to tell where her body stopped and his started. I felt a pang in my stomach. How could I have been so stupid?

  I realized that I was getting way ahead of myself so I had to pull back a bit, regroup, and remember that I had only known this guy for two days. I didn’t like it but, he was perfectly free to hang out or whatever with any girl if he wanted to, but if bimbo was his girlfriend I wanted nothing to do with him. I must have been staring in their direction for a long time because when I snapped out of my state of pissed offedness, I noticed that Jonathan was staring at me with a curious, yet intense, stare. I quickly turned away because I didn’t want him to see that I was watching him, but not before I saw Barbi plant a kiss on his cheek.

  If “bimbo” was his type, then he had no business even looking in my direction. I know it wasn’t nice to think about her in that way but I had to make myself feel better somehow. It was almost dinnertime so Katie and I decided to head over to the cafeteria, and we were walking out of the student union when Jonathan grabbed my arm as I was on my way out of the student union.

  “Leaving so soon?” My skin felt on fire under his touch.

  I shot him a cool glance and looked down at my arm where his hand held me, and then back up at him and raised my eyebrows. He held my gaze as defiance brewed in his eyes and he held a firm grip. I was pretty good at the stern glance and I couldn’t recall a time when it didn’t work, until now.

  “You’re not speaking to me Skylar?”

  I could see Katie staring at us taking it all in and I began to squirm because I felt really uncomfortable and I knew she would be interrogating me about him later.

  I continued to give him a cool stare as I answered him. “It looked like you had no problem finding someone to speak to you earlier Jonathan. It’s really not a good look for you to have a bimbo hanging all over you. You should tell your trampy girlfriend that it is un-lady like to throw herself at a guy, it’s so déclassé.” The words rolled off of my tongue before I could stop them.

  I could see a spark of fire flash across his eyes as he held my gaze for what felt like an eternity, and then he leaned down to whisper in my ear. “I thought you were different Skylar, apparently I was wrong.” With that, he released his grip on my arm and walked away.

  I instantly felt horrible about what I had just said. Wait, why am I feeling bad? He’s trying to cheat on his girlfriend with me! The whole thing was not cool and I felt myself getting more and more pissed. He was not going to kiss me in private one minute and then have his girlfriend hang all over him in public! I wanted no part of any of that. I turned to see Katie’s look of amazement and I thought, cue the interrogation.

  “Oh my gosh Sky, what just happened between you two was so sexy! He is definitely hot for you girl, you guys have this super hot chemistry. What did he whisper in your ear?”

  “Katie, he is not hot for me, I think he’s trying to have his cake and eat it too. That girl is his girlfriend! Didn’t you see them together? She was hanging all over him and he seemed to like it. I didn’t see him objecting, did you?”

  Katie turned her nose up in disgust. “Oh please! You think a guy like Jonathan would have that as his girlfriend?” She rolled her eyes. “Not in a million years.”

  “Katie, I saw them together and he looked pretty happy with her. Ugh, guys suck!” I waved my hand in the air to change the subject. “Enough about him, I’m starving! Let’s go eat dinner.”

  Thankfully Katie dropped it because I really wasn’t ready to share how much I already liked him. Jonathan Hunter was nothing like any guy I had ever met and I could feel myself starting to fall hard. It was the craziest thing, I had just met him and I could not stop thinking about him, but I would have to because he was taken. Maybe Seth cheating on me threw off my jerk radar. I was going to have to just push Jonathan out of my mind. Yeah, Sky, good luck with that. If only the memory of his kiss and his touch would stop flooding my mind. I couldn’t wait for classes to start so that I could throw myself into my schoolwork and forget that I had ever met a gorgeous guy named Jonathan Hunter.

  Chapter Five

  I was so excited when Monday morning came because I’d had a really hard Sunday trying to get Jonathan out of my mind. I was ready to start new and diving into school was the perfect solution. I had a few classes with Katie and Jenn that week and thankfully my schedule seemed to coincide with Jonathan’s because I did not see him for three whole days.

  On Wednesday, when I went back to my room after my last class, I checked my email and I had a message from the Dean. When I opened it, I felt a pit in my stomach as I read the message:

  Ms. Miller, your individual appointment with your Resident Advisor is scheduled for Thursday at 4:00 in the 1st floor meeting room of your dormitory.

  I had completely forgotten about that meeting and I was dreading seeing him alone. I was
sure he was upset with me and I knew that I was definitely upset with him. He was a cheater and I didn’t like that. He needed to focus all of his attention on that bimbo girlfriend of his instead letting his eyes wander in my direction. I deleted the email because I didn’t want any reminders of Jonathan around. I just wanted to get the meeting over with.

  I grabbed my backpack and headed to the cafeteria to meet a few of the girls for dinner. After dinner I went to the library, found a quiet spot, pulled out my laptop and immersed myself in my books. At around 11:30 I found myself reading the same paragraph three times and I felt my eyelids getting heavy so I packed up my stuff and left. As I made my way toward the quad, I ran right into Jonathan as he was also walking toward the quad.

  Under the bright lights of the walking path, I could see his eyes light up and then quickly go blank as he saw me. Oh great. I was not in the mood to see him just yet. He walked up beside me and started walking with me without even asking if it was okay. I hated to admit it but I felt safer with him by my side, but I would never let him know that.