I Never Expected You

by Stefanie Jenkins

  Still in his embrace, I whisper in a shaky voice, “What is happening between us?”

  He exhales a breath in a way that makes me feel like he has been holding it in for a while. Is it possible he has been feeling this too?

  “I don’t know, Hails. I can’t explain it. All I know is that I can’t get you out of my head. Let me take you out.”

  I push up off his chest, our faces just a breath away from each other. I no longer notice that we’re stuck at the top of the Ferris wheel overlooking the city. It’s just Zach I see and feel. If a light breeze came through, our lips would be touching.

  “Okay,” I whisper against his lips.

  Holy shit, is this happening? Before I can press my lips against his, the cart starts to move, and instead of the excitement pushing me forward, I fall backward, but Zach’s hand stops me from getting too far away from him. His fingers lace in mine, and I notice how perfectly my hand fits into his.

  We are doing this—his smile is as genuine as mine. I just agreed to go on a date with Zach. You would think that would scare me, and I would be nervous, but it’s quite the opposite. I’m no longer scared of the heights, or should I say, the drop.

  Zach was right when he said he had me. I just have to hope that he won’t let me fall without being there to catch me.

  This night could not have been more of a disaster. Fuck, I just wanted to show her the perfect date. First, my Jeep wouldn’t start earlier, requiring Kyler to give me a jump start. I stopped to pick up a bouquet of daisies, her favorite flower, and of course, they were out, so I had to get her red roses. How cliché? She had loved them anyway, but I wanted to prove to her that I knew the little things like her favorite flower. Now, the restaurant has lost my damn reservations. I’m not sure this night can be salvaged. Maybe we were just doomed from the beginning.

  Standing outside of the fancy restaurant, I continue to look down at my shuffling feet, feeling extremely fidgety. Right now, I’m lost in my thoughts, trying to come up with a plan B. Of course, I don’t have a plan B—who has a plan B for a date?

  Haylee approaches me, drawing me out of my thoughts as I feel her body heat against mine.

  “I’m sorry tonight is a complete disaster. I…I…”

  “Are you okay?” Haylee asks as she steps in closer to me, placing her hand over my cheek.

  I lean into her touch, closing my eyes to remember this feeling, knowing that after tonight, all hope for a second date is probably lost.

  “I’m sorry, I’m nervous. I just wanted tonight to be perfect.” I know she is used to seeing me as Mr. Cool, with my shit all together. Right now, I feel anything but.

  “What? Why are you nervous? It’s just me.” She removes her hand from my cheek, and I already miss her touch, but then she reaches down and grabs my hand.

  Her touch brings me ease. How is that even possible?

  I look down at my feet once more before I lift my eyes to meet hers. “That’s exactly why I’m nervous, Hails.” I interlock our fingers in our already joined hands. They fit perfectly together. “You’re you, and I’m me. I know that you had trouble saying walrus until you were twelve, calling it a ‘walwus,’ or that you know that I wet the bed till I was seven. Shit, how about the fact that we all used to take baths together?”

  “Well, I didn’t know that fact about you, but I do now.”

  Fuck, I did it again. I have never felt more vulnerable than I do right now, but I see a smile come across her face before she breaks out in a fit of giggles.

  “Do you still have that blanket in the back of the Jeep?”

  “Of course. Why?” What does a blanket have anything to do with salvaging our date?

  “As you said, we’ve known each other our whole lives, so you know that I am super easy to please with a cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate shake. So, what do you say…” Haylee looks behind her to the burger joint a few doors down. “…we get ourselves some food to go and go back to the Jeep, get that blanket, and head to the park for a late-night picnic by the fountain? I know you went through all this effort to make tonight perfect, but I didn’t need a fancy dinner for that. I just need you.”

  If I don’t kiss her now, I am definitely going to regret it, so for the first time tonight, I act instead of thinking. I place one hand on her hip and pull her close to me. This is her chance to tell me to stop if this isn’t what she wants. She has to feel this connection, though; it can’t just be me, right? I step in closer to her so that our bodies are almost touching. The other hand I use to cup her cheek. I lean down, our lips barely touching, a ghost of a kiss. I breathe her in. She smells of lavender and honey. Before I can fully plant my lips on hers, the reality of our surroundings comes to life as a taxi blasts his horn, causing us both to jump back. Well, so much for that—the moment is gone.

  I reach down and grab her hand.

  “Come on, baby girl, let’s go get you that shake,” I say followed by a wink.

  Her reaction to my nickname isn’t lost on me either. Her eyes gets brighter, and her smile goes wider.

  By the time we reach the park, the street lights are starting to come on, but luckily there are some events at the park, so it is still open. I grab the blanket out of the back of my Jeep and hand it off to Hails before reaching and grabbing our bag of food and two milkshakes. It takes us a few minutes to find the perfect spot. I set the food bags down and spread out the blanket before we both take a seat. In the Jeep, I took off my jacket and tie and rolled up my sleeves. I noticed the way Haylee was looking at my arms as I rolled my sleeves up, and clearly, she liked what she saw. I wonder if seeing my arms like this turns her on and makes her wet. Fuck, keep it PG, Jacobs!

  The conversation comes so easy with Haylee. What is it about this girl? I can’t exactly figure it out, but with all other girls, I was never interested in talking, just getting in their pants if I’m really honest. But with Haylee, at least once I pushed the nerves aside, we haven’t been able to shut up. This is nice, like really nice. I take Haylee all in as she takes a large bite of her cheeseburger in her fancy dress. She has never looked more beautiful than she does now.

  “Here.”

  I look up from my burger to see Haylee has dipped one of her fries into her shake and is ready to feed me. I lean in and take it from her, my lips grazing her skin. Holy shit, fast food has never been sexier than it is at this moment.

  “See, I don’t know what they taught you in your house, but in my house, you dip your french fries in the milkshake. They go together like peanut butter and jelly.”

  “Now you’re speaking my language, sweetheart.”

  She lets out a belly laugh. “Please don’t tell me that at twenty years old, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are still your favorite food.”

  “Hell yeah, they are!”

  Her laughter continues. “Now, that’s just the cutest thing ever.”

  “Do you think I’m cute, Miss Hanks?”

  She shakes her head with a big smile. “Nope! I said the fact that you still love PB and Js is cute. Not you.”

  I scowl at her in a devious way. “No, that’s not it. You think I’m cute.” This is the perfect moment to try that first kiss again. “Yep, you definitely think I’m cute. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of getting all pretty to go out with me.”

  She tilts her head to the side, probably trying to avoid getting smothered with the sexual tension surrounding us. “Did you just call me pretty?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t mean it.”

  Her smile fades. Mine doesn’t.

  I lean in and cup her cheek, running my thumb along her cheekbone. “You’re absolutely beautiful.”

  I go to move forward to meet her lips with my own and splat!

  What the fuck is that, and why is my hand all wet?

  Haylee snorts. She actually snorts with laughter. So consumed by Haylee, I hadn’t noticed the wrapper full of ketchup that we had been using between us, and I placed my hand right in th
e middle of it, getting ketchup everywhere. Real smooth, Zach! Real smooth!

  She presses her lips together, trying to hold back more laughter, but I can see it in her eyes, how much trouble she is having concealing it. Am I ever going to be able to kiss this girl? Is this some weird way of the universe telling me not to?

  After I clean the exploding ketchup off my hand, the conversation continues as we finish our meals. I rise to my feet first, gathering up the trash and running it over to the can before jogging back to help Haylee up. I reach out and take her hand. That instant spark is there again—the same one I felt in the cemetery.

  “Well, Cinderella, I better get you back to the dorms before you turn into a pumpkin.”

  She smiles and takes my hand as we head back to the Jeep.

  The ride back to the dorm is quiet but not awkward. I reach over to Haylee’s hand and link our fingers. This feels right. I don’t know if she doesn’t want this date to end as much as I don’t. If Haylee were any other girl, I would be asking to come back to her room, make her come so hard, and then leave, never calling her again.

  But Haylee isn’t any other girl; she’s my Haylee. Yep, I just called her mine. And right now, while walking her back to her dorm room, hand-in-hand, I keep stealing glances at her and see the smile written all over her face.

  When we reach the door, Haylee stands there, unsure of what to do next. We’ve had many moments tonight already where I went to kiss her, and somehow the universe has prevented it. Makes me wonder if maybe it was Emmett’s way from wherever he is, trying to be funny. I’m not wasting another moment. She goes to speak, perhaps to say good night, but I cut her off. I step forward and grip both cheeks, pulling her toward me. My lips crash onto hers.

  She hesitates for just a moment; I assume, like me, she can’t believe this is happening. She reaches up to the side of my neck before gripping the back of it. I kiss her with everything I have—everything I had been fighting the past few months. I wrap my hands around her waist, pulling her closer as I back her up against the door, ending in a slight thump as her back hits the door. When I lick her lips, seeking entrance, her lips part for me. The feel of her tongue against my own is incredible. Her mouth is warm and inviting, and by the tiny moans escaping her mouth, she is enjoying this just as much as I am. When I pull her lower lip between my teeth, her knees go weak, and she grips my shirt to stay balanced. Fuck, that is such a turn-on, knowing that I make her this way. I grind my hips against hers; there’s no way she can’t feel what she does to me.

  I regrettably break the kiss first, but I don’t think she wants me to take her right here against her dorm room door. I don’t even know if her roommate is home. I run my thumb against her bottom lip and lean in for one last kiss.

  “I’ll call you later?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  I’m not even sure if Haylee is on this planet at the moment. Her eyes are hooded, her cheeks flushed, and she’s panting.

  “Thank you.”

  She tilts her head, finally out of her daze, as if I’ve just said the wrong thing. “For what?”

  I step toward her and place her arms above her head with another thump against the door. I start with a kiss to her collarbone and then move my way up north.

  When I get to just below her ear, I whisper, “For showing me all that I’ve been missing.”

  I line our mouths up one last time and kiss her with enough passion that, even if this is our one and only date, she will remember this kiss the rest of her life.

  “Good night, baby girl.”

  Turning around with keys in hand, she glances back at me over her shoulder, and I am tempted just to fuck her senseless right here, but this is different with Haylee. Of course I want to be inside her, desperately—then maybe I can stop jerking off to the thought of her—but with Hails, I actually want to be with her and spend time with her outside of the bedroom. This girl very well may be the death of me.

  I turn and walk away with a quick wave as she enters her room.

  I am still floating on cloud nine from that kiss. I finally close the door to my dorm. Leaning my back against the door, I close my eyes and bring my fingers to my lips that just moments ago were against Zach’s. Oh my God, what a kiss it was. My thoughts take me back to the way his lips gently brushed mine, parting them with his tongue as they sought entrance, and I gladly gave it to him. I had heard the rumors back in high school of how good a kisser he was, but wow. Nothing had prepared me for that—the most perfect kiss of all time.

  I am entirely in my own world that I don’t even notice Cami standing right in front of me, eyebrows raised and arms crossed as if I were caught by my dad sneaking in past curfew.

  “Well…?”

  I try to hide my flushed cheeks and bruised lips, but I’m not sure how long she was standing by the door, and those doors are anything but thick.

  I walk over to my bed and take a seat so I can take off my shoes.

  “Come on, Hails, don’t be such a wankpuffin! Spill the details of you and Hottie McHotterson!”

  “First of all, where the hell do you come up with these words?”

  She shrugs. “I once slept with a British guy. He used all sorts of crazy words. I like that one the best. Well, that and tittybollocks.”

  I laugh and roll my eyes at her. Only she would use words like that. I decide now is as good as ever to cut her off before she shares even more of her sexual past.

  “And second of all, I don’t kiss and tell.” I emphasize the word kiss followed by a wink.

  BAM! A pillow is thrown in my direction and smacks me right in the face.

  “Ha! I knew it! You and Hottie McHotterson are so cute together.”

  “I don’t know what we are, together or not, but I had a really nice time tonight. Nothing seemed to go right,” I laugh, but it was sweet that he tried to make such an effort. “But it really was perfect. Also, can you stop calling him Hottie McHotterson? He has a name.”

  “Oh, I know he does. Zach. Zach.” Instead of saying it, she moans his name. “I’m sure I’ll be hearing a lot more of his name if that was any indication. Oh, and Hails, I won’t say it…”

  “Say what?” I continue to laugh because I know what she would say, that she was right all along. We don’t need anything else increasing her ego.

  Cami grabs her shower basket and heads to the door. She stops abruptly and turns back to me, smiling.

  “Just kidding. I told you so!”

  She quickly closes the door behind her as I throw the pillow in her direction and miss. I plop back on my bed and realize everything is so different now. For the first time in a long time, I am honestly happy, and that is all thanks to Zach.

  Zach: Thinking of you.

  Me: Thank you for tonight.

  Zach: The pleasure was all mine.

  Zach: I’m off to dream of your lips on mine again.

  Me: Me too.

  Zach: I know tonight didn’t go as planned, but can I take you out again?

  Me: It was perfect, and yes, I’d like that.

  Zach: Goodnight, babe. Sweet Dreams

  Me: Goodnight. <3

  Zach is currently walking me across campus to my next class after stopping in the campus coffee shop for an afternoon pick-me-up. It feels easy being with Zach, although it’s still fresh and new. We haven’t even had sex yet, which has to be a record for him. Even though I’ve known Zach my entire life, this side of him is totally new for me. I don’t even remember seeing this side of him with girls he “dated” in high school.

  As we cross the grassy path toward the English building, Zach freezes. His grip on my hand tightens, and as I look over to him, I see that his jaw is tense. My eyes follow to what has his attention to see that there is a busty blonde walking straight for us. She stops directly in front of us. Seriously? Put some clothes on, skank.

  “Hi, Zach.”

  “Hey, Becca.”

  “Haven’t seen you around in a while. I’ve missed you.”

>   “I’ve been around.”

  Okay, this is getting awkward. Time to cut in before she orgasms from eye-fucking him. Does she not see us holding hands right now?

  “Hi, I’m Haylee.” I extend my free hand to shake hers, but she looks down, staring at it before turning her attention back to Zach.

  Is this bitch serious?

  “Is there something you wanted?” My cat claws are beginning to come out.

  “Oh, please, sweetheart. You’re just the flavor of the week. He’s going to do the same thing to you as he did with all of us, so don’t get too attached.”

  I feel the tears threatening to spill out, but I refuse to let either of them see me cry. What if she’s right? I know he has a past. I don’t wait for him to agree with her, so I release Zach’s hand and walk on toward the building.

  “Buh-bye,” I hear the bitch say as I pass her.

  “Fuck, Becca, why are you such a bitch?” Zach raises his voice behind me. “Hails, wait up!”

  I choose to keep walking.

  “Haylee, stop.”

  I feel a tug on my arm and am pulled back to face Zach.

  “It’s cool. I need to get to class.”

  “Hey, don’t listen to her—to any of them. Those hookups were nothing. I slept with them because well—” He pauses. “—I was stupid and didn’t think I would ever find something like this.” He laces his fingers through mine and brings our conjoined hands to his mouth, pressing a soft kiss over my knuckles. “This. Is. Different. You. Are. Different.”

  “I know you have a past…”

  “No.” Zach presses a finger against my lips to keep me from continuing. “That’s what they all are—the past. They aren’t and could never be you. Do you hear me?”

  I whisper just loud enough for him to hear, “Yes.”

  His hand releases mine and grips the back of my neck, pulling me to his lips. I open willingly and welcome the warmth of his mouth. I fist my hands in his shirt as we pull away and press my forehead against his chest.