Falling Hard

by Shelly Bell

  When she returned, we finalized Kelley’s assignment, and she was actually pleased with my portion of the essay. Her overly shocked expression should have offended me about my well-written analytical paper on business organizations, but it didn’t. I wasn’t the type that studied much. I think that bugged her when I told her, but it was true. I just read the assignment and did the work, and got by with a decent grade. This past week, studying with her by my side, had made me concentrate a little more. But it hadn’t stopped me from giving her shit about her reaction.

  “What the hell . . . you’re supposed to be helping me, not undercutting me if I do better than expected.”

  “True.” She nodded. “I’m just really impressed by you and actually really annoyed that . . .” She paused. It was as though she was staring at something far away, and her expression was blank. Motionless.

  “What’s annoying?” I pushed, trying to bring her attention back to me. Nothing. I waited a second or two and waved my hand in front of her face. Still nothing. Not a blink or a nod, nothing. All of a sudden, it was like the light switched back on in her eyes and she picked up the conversation right where we’d left off. I was stunned.

  “ . . . you don’t study. Can you imagine how much better your grades would be if you actually . . . ?”

  I couldn’t take it. I cut her off in mid-speech. “What just happened, Cat?”

  She looked at me with a puzzled expression. “What do you mean?”

  “You zoned out for like a good thirty seconds, right in the middle of speaking.”

  Her eyes got all big and glassy with that same deer in the headlights look. She shook her head, biting down on her lip. “Umm, I, ah . . . just . . . ah . . . got distracted with someone at the service desk. I thought they needed help, but I saw Kevin taking care of them.” She pointed behind me. Bullshit. She was lying through her teeth. “Anyway, I think we’re done for today.”

  She began to put her things away in her bag and I placed my hand over hers. “Cat, you just lied to me. Do you know what a bad liar you are?” Her hand trembled beneath mine.

  “You don’t know what you’re taking about.” She jerked her hand away, finished tossing her stuff in her bag, and left without a word or a backward glance.

  Chapter 15

  Cat

  I didn’t even say goodbye to Kevin. I just walked into the coatroom, bundled up, and ran for my life. The tears burned my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe it had happened to me in front of Blake. Of all people, why Blake? And this was the second time I’d spaced out in two weeks. First, it had happened in Kelley’s class, and now in front of Blake. My mom would flip out if she knew. It had been hell getting her to agree to a school four hours from home. She’d tried to trump my decision, and since she was a paralegal, she’d even had papers drawn to have power of attorney over me. Thank god my dad talked her out of it before she took them to court.

  But something was definitely going on with me. The doctor had said the medicine would stop the episodes. But they were definitely starting again, and if my mother found out, she would take me out of school. As my mind raced a million miles a minute, I reached the end of campus and the Pont d’Amour, which separated the campus from the town over the empty river. My fingers were numb, my lips quivered, and the tears were frozen on my cheeks. I tightened my scarf and pulled my coat sleeves over my hands, angry with myself for still not getting new gloves. I hadn’t felt the icy air at first because my tears had been keeping me warm. Now that my tears were gone, every intake of air stung my chest. I climbed the bridge slowly, because even in the dim light of the lampposts, I could see the ice glistening on the gray stone. Something about this bridge always made the anguish disappear. I wasn’t sure if it was the serene view of the iced-over trees and the snow that filled the banks, or the three quaint black lampposts, one in the center and one on either side of the bridge. I remembered that night on the balcony with Blake, facing this very bridge. My body heated from the memory of his mouth on my body and the way he’d called my name when he’d released. The sting of yearning seized my chest.

  The rumbling of a car coming caught my attention and I moved closer to the arch of the bridge to stay out of its way. A Jeep Grand Cherokee stopped next to me, the window rolled down.

  “Get in, Cat.” Blake’s rough tone sliced in my ears. I would know his voice anywhere, even though I couldn’t see his face. My pulse quickened. I didn’t want to see him or explain what had happened. I just wanted to ignore it because of our new, easy-going friendship. But I couldn’t, not after what he saw. Not with what he could possibly see in the future hanging over my head.

  The peace the bridge seeped into my skin and I relaxed. “No,” I said evenly and turned away to stare out over the empty river. The engine rumbled and he parked the Jeep on the side of the bridge. He got out of the car and slammed the door. I attempted to face forward, but I couldn’t keep from watching him storm toward me. He looked so fierce and strong. Gorgeous. In the dim light, I couldn’t peel my eyes off his broad shoulders, his powerful legs, and the determination in his stride.

  “Dammit, Cat. I’ve been looking all over for you.”

  “Well, you found me.” I tried to look away from him again, but couldn’t. His stare was so intense, I was captivated. Motionless. I couldn’t look away.

  “I was worried.” His voice was softer now. Still sexy as all hell, but instead of a growl, it was sensual. Genuine.

  “Why?” The voice that came from me was foreign.

  He closed the space between us and wrapped his arm around my waist, pressing me against him. My stomach did that flip-flop thing and my heart was beating overtime. The warmth of his breath was on my lips and chin, and a tremor ran down my spine. Closer still he moved until our foreheads touched. I closed my eyes and bathed in the warmth of his body heat. I was trembling with anticipation when his lips finally touched mine. He kissed me slowly. Passionately. My legs weakened. His hands were pressed against my hips and cupped my ass. I reached both my arms around his neck, drawing him even closer to me. In a moment, my feet were off the ground and dangling as he lifted me closer to him. His arms were wrapped around me in a firm bear hug. I melted into him. When he released my lips, we were both panting for air, but he still managed to speak. “That’s why I was worried.”

  His arms were still wrapped around me like a cozy blanket. This time, I shied away from his stare. My body ached with an alien desire. I didn’t understand the emotions that ran though my heart and body, but I sure as hell didn’t want him to let go. In the back of my mind, I knew this . . . Blake and I . . . could only lead to disaster, but in that moment I didn’t care. Maybe the peacefulness of the bridge had something to do with my state of mind. Whatever it was, I wished it could last forever.

  “Cat.” His tone was laced with a question. A question I read loud and clear. When our eyes met again, I was once again transfixed. I didn’t have the words to answer him, so I answered by kissing him. I didn’t know where this boldness was coming from, but I drew his mouth over mine. I tasted the mint on his breath and savored the spicy-shower-fresh-manly scent that made me sigh every time he was near. When my lungs almost exploded for air, I released him.

  He brushed my cheek softly with his hand. “Let’s get you out of the cold.”

  I just nodded, still trying to process what was happening between us. I was lost for words.

  Chapter 16

  Blake

  When I got Cat into the Jeep, I breathed a sigh of relief. Even though we were out in the boonies, it wasn’t safe for her to be out alone at night, especially so far from campus. I’d looked everywhere after she stormed out of the library, but with no luck. I’d called the library and talked to Kevin, and he told me she liked to come to the bridge when she wanted to be alone. I sped there like a mad man, but something happened to me when I reached it. Even though I didn’t regret kissing her, weird emotions took ahold of me. I couldn’t wait another second. I’d needed to
feel her lips and body pressed against mine.

  I glanced in her direction as she relaxed into the heated leather seat. I reached for her hands and they were damn near frostbitten. “Cat. What the hell? Where are your gloves?”

  “I still haven’t gotten any.”

  I rubbed her fingers between my hands and warmed them with my breath. “Lean into me.” She gave me a curious glance, but did what I asked. I placed her hands between my thighs.

  “Think you’re moving a bit fast?” She didn’t move her hands, but shot me a questioning look.

  “I’m just trying to warm your hands up. It’s too damn cold for you to be walking around without gloves.” I was too angry at her carelessness to find the act sexual. But when her little hands fidgeted, my cock twitched. “Don’t move.” I grumbled.

  She must’ve realized the effect she had on me, or fuck, she could have felt my response to her since my hardening body laid only centimeters away from her delicate hands. Her smile suggested embarrassment, and her eyes didn’t meet mine. Her head was tilted to face me because of the awkward angle I had placed her in when I’d taken her hands between my thighs.

  Keeping her hands locked between my knees, I pulled her face to mine and teased her lips. Kissing her, I tasted the sweet cinnamon flavor of her mouth. I wondered if I released her hands if she would pleasure me . . . stroke those delicate hands down the length of me or wrap those perfect lips around my cock. Not this time. I was going to get this girl somewhere I could lay her down and explore every inch of her skin.

  When I released her, she was panting for air and I finally took her hands from between my thighs. I noticed her glancing at my erection. “They should be warm now.”

  “Thanks,” she murmured.

  I wrapped her in my free arm and caressed the exposed skin underneath her coat with my fingertips. She cuddled into me with her hand resting on my stomach, but as soon as the car began to move, she stilled in my arms.

  “Blake, what just happened?”

  She’d noticed the intensity between us on the bridge too. It was strange. Nothing happened that I hadn’t wanted. I’d wanted this from the moment I met her. Not to mention that damn bet I’d placed. But when I’d found her, the need to kiss her, to touch her, was something I couldn’t stop in that moment. I’d just chalked it up to being worried because I couldn’t find her.

  “Do you regret moving me to boyfriend status?”

  “Boyfriend? We’re still classmates.”

  “Classmates? We just made out for the second time.” My hand roamed over her flat stomach and lingered just above the waist of her jeans.

  “Classmates kiss.” Her voice trembled. She wasn’t fooling me. She was into me, so why the hell was she denying it?

  “Yeah? What else do classmates do?”

  “Well . . .” She caressed my cock over my jeans. “They have dinner. I’m starving.”

  I laughed and kissed her forehead. “Billy’s or Eggs ‘n’ Oinks?”

  “Billy’s. I’m in the mood for a cheeseburger.”

  “I love a girl with an appetite.”

  “I love food.” The sound of her carefree laugh was music to my ears. It was the first time she’d completely let her guard down with me since the party. She wasn’t drunk or filled with attitude, and I was finally meeting the real Cat. The moment between us was flawless, and I hesitated to ask why she’d ran out of the library or what happened to her during those thirty seconds she’d zoned out. I decided to leave the subject alone for the moment, knowing this fiery girl in my arms would push me away. And I wasn’t ready to let her go.

  Instead, I used the steering wheel stereo buttons to raise the volume of the radio. The sound of John Legend’s soulful voice boomed from the speakers with All of Me.

  She lifted her head and her gaze studied me. “John Legend?”

  “Yeah, you don’t like him?” I didn’t want to tell her that this song reminded me of her. Especially the ‘smart mouth’ part.

  “I love John Legend, but I would have totally thought you were a Big Sean kind of guy.”

  “There you go, assuming again.”

  “Sorry, I guess I do keep doing that.”

  “Yeah, you do. It’s really hurtful and I don’t appreciate it,” I blurted.

  She attempted to pull away from me, but I only tightened my grip as I changed the track from the steering wheel controller. Big Sean’s voice blared from the speakers with the lyrics to I Don’t Fuck With You and I couldn’t hold back my laugher anymore.

  “Hey!” she half screamed and half laughed. “I knew it!”

  “Your assumption was only half true.” I grinned. “I like them both.”

  “Me, too.” She relaxed again in my arms.

  “See. You have more in common with your new boyfriend than you thought.” I tickled her back. She shivered in my arms.

  “With my classmate, you mean?” She grinned at me.

  I parked the Jeep in front of Billy’s Blues and BBQ and was finally able to lock both arms around her waist. I stared down at her. Her eyes held my gaze for a moment and then she shied away. “Cat, you can call me classmate, boyfriend, or even asshole, as long as you keep kissing me and nobody else.” I whispered.

  Taking her lips between mine, she melted into me. Her lips quivered. I took my time and kissed her properly. Wrapping her ponytail around my hand, I gently tugged. With a little moan, she deepened the kiss and her fingers tangled in my hair. My hands moved to her thighs. I wanted to lift her perfect ass into my lap, but I stopped myself.

  Slowly I released her. “Let’s go eat.”

  Chapter 17

  Cat

  As we drove to my dorm, we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. We were necking like a couple of high school kids. Thank God for black tinted windows. The moment the Jeep parked, my jacket was tossed off, my shirt was lifted, my breasts released from my bra, and I was in his lap in the driver’s seat. The truth was, I didn’t want to stop. I was shameless. For the first time in my college career, I was acting normal, and completely crushing on the captain of the basketball team. His hands were magical. He eased the zipper of my jeans down and his fingers caressed my panties. I tried to remember if I had worn a pretty pair today, but as his fingers stroked me, I couldn’t form a thought.

  “Can I make you come, Cat?” he whispered in my ear.

  “Yes.” I whispered back.

  His erection poked my ass and I rocked against him. His fingers touched me in a way that made my whole body shake with desire. He kissed me, and my lips trembled against his. Waves of heat washed over me. My mind and body floated away with yearning and he nuzzled my lips until I rode my release.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered as he adjusted my bra and shirt.

  My heart sank. Did he already regret what happened? I was mortified. I attempted to escape his lap, but his hands firmly held my hips.

  Embarrassment and anger fueled me. “Let go, Blake,” I demanded.

  “What’s wrong?” He looked hurt.

  I softened slightly, but I still tried to get up with no luck. “Look, it’s fine. I get it. You don’t have to pretend.”

  “I’m not following. What do you think I’m pretending?”

  “You regret what happened. I understand. Just let me go and we can forget it.”

  “I don’t regret any second with you.” When he wouldn’t release me, I stopped trying to get up and avoided his eyes. “Look at me, Cat.” My name on his lips was heaven to my ears.

  I did what he asked. “Then why did you apologize?”

  “I was apologizing because you deserve more than a make-out session in my Jeep. I’m sorry because I’m so attracted to you that I can’t control myself.” I didn’t know what to say, my inexperience left me tongue-tied. “Say something, Cat.” he whispered.

  “It’s like that for me, too. I know we shouldn’t do anything because I’m your tutor and my life is too complicated to be in a relationship right now, but when you kissed me o
n the balcony . . . it was like you shattered the walls I had created around myself and it scared the hell out of me.”

  “How about we make a deal?” His hands slid up my sides and sent goose bumps down my spine.

  “Like a bet?”

  His eyes darkened. “More like a pact. From this moment on, no more questioning, thinking, or apologizing for the attraction between us. Let’s just own the moment.”

  “You sound like a greeting card.” I giggled.

  “What can I say? You bring out the poet in me.” He chuckled and his laugh was infectious.

  “Oh, you are so cheesy.” I covered my mouth to hide my laughter.

  He took me by the wrist and placed my arms behind my back. “Do you know how sexy you are when you laugh?”

  I was stilled by the intensity in his eyes. Then my Fitbit vibrated on my wrist to remind me of my nightly dose of medicine beneath his hand, killing the mood.

  “Why does your Fitbit go off so many times a day?”

  “Oh, just a reminder to take my vitamins.” I slid off his lap and returned to the passenger seat to gather my things and put on my coat.

  “Okay, Supergirl.”

  “Goodnight.” I said and quickly ran off to the dorms.

  Chapter 18

  Blake

  I made it to Roasted just in time to see Cat settle into a blue sofa with a large cup of coffee and a little paper bag. I watched her fumble with her things before I announced my arrival. Her hair was in its usual ponytail and she wore black-rimmed glasses. They looked incredibly sexy on her. She unzipped her jacket and I grinned when I saw the Batman logo across those tits I couldn’t get enough.

  “Today you’re Batgirl?” I asked when I placed my bag on the coffee table in front of her.