by Amy Daws
“Well,” I begin, not knowing where to start. “I’ve had a one-night stand before.”
“Yeah? You skank!” he snickers, and I shove him. He captures my hand in his and threads our fingers together. He presses a soft kiss to my fingers in silent encouragement.
“It was dumb and it was a football player…I’m a total cliché.” I screw my face up in disgust.
“A K-State player?”
I nod. He looks like he wants to know the name but doesn’t ask.
“Well, that’s not so bad,” he says.
I nod again, feeling instantly guilty for not telling him about Jake. But what’s there to tell, really? Unrequited love hardly makes for a juicy history. And then I’d have to tell him what happened just a few nights ago and the last thing I want to do is sully this beautiful start we have going.
“Should we go save Angela from Mark?” I ask, slapping Brody’s leg and smiling brightly.
“I guess,” he grumbles, and we head out to survey the damage.
“Hello love birds!” Angela says, as we return to the living room. She’s seated on the big sectional couch eating a plate of nachos.
I smile shyly, and then my emotions are shocked by the odd demeanor of Mark. Angela is on one end of the couch and Mark is on the opposite. But he’s not sitting on the seat. He’s sitting on the arm rest with his eyes firmly locked on Angela.
“What’s going on, Mark?” Brody asks, warily, walking into the kitchen and shooting a quizzical look at him.
“He’s been staring at me since you guys left. Seriously. He is weird as hell.”
Mark takes a chip off his plate that’s resting on his knees and chews it thoughtfully, all while continually staring at Angela.
“See something you like, Mark?” I ask casually, sitting between the two of them to break the awkward tension.
“Who is a beautiful eater? Answer: Sweet Snow White, with Raven Hair. They call her, Angela.” He says her name so reverently, I burst out laughing.
Angela’s hand freezes midair, and she instantly drops a chip. Her wide eyes turn scornful as she shoots daggers at Mark. She leans over and whispers in my ear, “Okay, he hasn’t said a word to me since you guys went into the other room. Now the first thing he says is that I’m a beautiful eater. Honestly, Fin, if Brody is this weird, I have serious fears for your taste in men.”
I giggle and sputter slightly, looking at Mark, who seems completely at ease staring at her. I think it’s kind of sweet, actually. Mark is the complete and total opposite of any guy Angela would normally go for. Maybe he’s the perfect match for her.
Brody pulls Mark into the kitchen. It appears he has some strong words with him, because Mark returns acting like the perfect gentleman. We all make idle chit-chat for the afternoon. Angela and Mark both seem interested in the game. I barely even notice who’s playing because I’m too busy laughing and cuddling with Brody. I try to just sit next to him, but he yanks me over onto his lap, so I laze with my legs draped over him.
It feels great. It feels defined. Brody likes me. A lot. There’s not even a question. I’m reciprocating that feeling to him as well. It blows my mind that this guy has been around me for three years and I’m just now getting to know him.
Angela and I finally decide we need to head back to our place to get some school work done. Brody all but begs me to stay and do homework with him, but I know I won’t get anything productive done, so I refuse. I’m going to have a hard enough time focusing on homework with him across the parking lot, let alone in the same room.
He walks me out his apartment door. When I begin to walk away without a kiss, he grabs my hand and pulls me into him roughly, scorching me with another hot and sexy kiss. Angela barks something obnoxious about getting a room, and takes off without me. He pulls away and my cheeks feel like they are on fire with need.
“So, can I see you tomorrow or something?” He pulls his fingers out of my hair and brings them down to my waist. He tugs my hips into him but continues looking downward.
“Yeah, sounds good.” I bite my lip in excitement and he finally looks up into my eyes. His expression looks serious and I see a moment of hesitation, like he wants to say something, but he doesn’t. I retreat into the safety of the parking lot and eventually my bedroom. I grin the whole time I try to study, feeling pretty excited that for once I’m actually excited for Monday morning to roll around.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I wake up Monday morning and instead of having instant thoughts of Jake, Brody’s denim eyes pop into my mind. I smile and stretch, feeling giddy at the prospect of seeing him. I brush my teeth and shove my feet into a pair of tennis shoes and head out to get my morning coffee. I briefly glance at Jake’s apartment out of habit. All seems quiet. I don’t give a shit anyway. I’m not letting Jake ruin my morning trip to Chaz’s. Chaz’s was my turf long before it was his.
“What up, Finley?” Alex says, as I stroll past him with a bright smile.
“Alex!” I cheer back at him. He looks up from his phone and furrows his brow at me, obviously unimpressed with my chipper morning attitude. I grab my coffee and pay. I breathe a sigh of relief when I don’t run into Jake. Maybe he’ll be a gentleman and quit coming to Chaz’s, so it’s not horribly awkward all the time.
I head out to campus a bit earlier than usual. When I walk into class, Jake is already seated in his usual desk. I hesitate for a second, and then push my chin up high and walk in.
“Finley!” Jen says, coming in behind me. I stop and turn around and see her wide brown eyes looking at me, assessing. “How are you?” she asks, and steals a glance around my shoulder.
“Fine,” I reply, trying to figure out what her deal is.
“I wanted to talk to you Friday, but you finished that quiz so damn fast, I missed my chance.” She looks at me sympathetically. “I’m really sorry about what happened Wednesday night.”
I shake my head, wishing we were talking about anything else. Jen is nice. I like her well enough. But she’s still Olivia’s roommate and friend. I highly doubt I register highly on her loyalty chart.
“It’s fine, Jen…it’s,” I look back over my shoulder to see if Jake is listening, and he looks away quickly. “Seriously, it’s nothing…less than nothing,” I finish softly.
“Well, not really. I mean,” she laughs briefly, and leans in close to me. “It was pretty fricken’ obvious you had it bad for Jake.”
My cheeks flame red hot at her blatant lack of propriety in this moment. “Um, yeah, that’s really no longer an issue. In fact it was almost a blessing in disguise.” Her lips sneer together in disbelief. I cross my arms defensively. “I’m not lying, Jen. I’m kind of…seeing someone now.”
“A new guy?” she asks, louder than I’d like. I grit my jaw in response.
“Can we just not talk about this? I feel like everyone is listening and it’s weird.” I gesture my head slightly behind me and she gets a sneaky look in her eye and nods curtly.
“Check ya later, Finley,” she says, and strolls over to her desk.
I roll my eyes in annoyance at the whole exchange, and turn to make my way to my desk by Jake. I’d really rather not sit by Jake anymore, but since we’re sharing a textbook and have assigned seats by now, I don’t really see a way around it.
I feel his eyes on me as I slide into the desk and pull out my notepad and pen.
“How are you, Finley?” he asks, with his deep timbre voice. I’ve listened to that voice for hours upon hours, and now it sounds like a stranger’s.
“Great, Jake!” I say, a bit too brightly. “You have a nice weekend?”
He shifts uncomfortably in his seat. “Uh, yeah. It was fine. I was home at my parents’ all weekend.”
I nod in response. Normally, I’d ask him all about his visit and whether or not his siblings were home too. But I’m done being that girl to him. He did fuck my friend, after all.
“So, I uh, that guy at the lab…” he says, sounding nervous and unsure of h
imself. This is a whole new side to Jake.
I smile saccharinely and continue staring straight ahead. “What guy?”
“You know what guy,” he grumbles, and I still refuse to look at him. This is awkward as hell. I can’t believe he’s asking me about this right now. I don’t know what to say, so I chose to say nothing at all.
“Are you going to tell me who he is?” he asks, leaning over to me.
I smile, internally debating whether or not I should tell him.
“Would you at least look at me, Finley?” Jake growls. I turn, just to get a glimpse of the sudden outburst. He looks angry and disheveled. His normally bright chocolate eyes look tired and a bit mopey. He looks strung out.
“It doesn’t concern you, Jake.” I sneer at him and turn away again.
He mumbles incoherently beneath his breath and sits there in stony silence through the rest of class. I decide that after I get off work today, I’m going to go buy my own textbook. The fewer reasons I have to speak to Jake, the better.
***
“Hi Parni!” I offer brightly, as I walk into the computer lab.
“Finley,” she responds, without glancing up from her computer to look at me.
I drop my bag by my desk and see a white sheet of folded paper on my chair. I smile instantly, hoping it’s something from Brody. I unfold it and it’s completely blank. I turn it over, looking at the front and back, and there’s nothing.
I sit at my desk, feeling disappointed. I turn to shake my mouse and wake up my computer monitor and a sheet of paper is taped to the screen.
GOTCHA
I smile at his silly smiley face scribbled next to it and quickly grab the paper from the monitor and glance around the lab hoping to see Brody. No sight of him. That makes me feel a bit deflated, but at least I know he’s thinking of me. I sort of love this note thing he’s doing. So much more original than the texting every other guy I’ve dated in college does.
I busy myself with schoolwork for the next two hours and my stomach begins grumbling with hunger. I didn’t even think about packing a lunch this morning. Mondays were the day that Jake brought me something to eat. I only have to make it ‘til after my 2:00 class, so I just need to suck it up.
“Hey,” a familiar sexy voice breaks my concentration.
I look up, smiling, as Brody strolls into the lab. “Hey,” I repeat.
“Parni!” he booms loudly. Several heads turn away from their monitors to see what all the commotion’s about. The computer lab isn’t a library, talking is allowed, but typically it’s really quiet.
Parni gives Brody a what the fuck look. I bite my lip to stop myself from laughing. Brody grabs the chair nearest her and wheels it right up next to her. “What are you working on?”
Her lips curl up in disgust at his close proximity. “Why are you speaking to me?” she inquires, in her thick Indian accent.
“What do you mean? Aren’t you a friend of Fin’s?” he asks, not taking his eyes off of her and looking honestly confused. She looks past him, at me, obviously having no clue what he’s talking about. “I’m not messing with you, Parn. Fin talks about you. A lot! She’s always saying how smart you are!”
Her words inch out between her crumpled lips, “I did not know that.”
“I think it’s pretty cool you come here of all the labs to choose from. Finley says you’re going for you masters…that’s sweet!” Brody gives her a boyish, All-American smile and I look on amazed as the normally icy demeanor of Parni begins to melt beneath his charisma. Parni looks at me like I’m going to reveal the big joke, but I just smile kindly at her.
“I do talk about you, Parni. You’re a really hard worker.” I nod sincerely, meaning what I’m saying. As rough around the edges as she is, I’ve never seen a student dedicate as much time to their studies as she has. Her commitment is quite remarkable.
“That’s very nice of you to say, Finley,” she says softly, looking down. Holy crapoly, Parni just said something nice to me!
Brody gives Parni one more pearly-white smile and gets up from his seat to make his way toward my desk. I glance at Parni and swear I see a semblance of a smile on her lips. I’ve never seen Parni smile in the entire time I’ve known her. Leave it to Brody to charm the pants off the toughest broad on campus.
I grin devilishly at Brody and he comes around my desk and leans against it facing me.
“How are you?” he asks, with a sexy, sneaky smirk.
“My day’s looking up.”
“Oh yeah?” he asks, raising his eyebrows cockily. “What are you doing tonight?”
“I’m cramming for a test I should have studied for this weekend, but I was otherwise occupied,” I say, with a smile.
His chest rumbles with a soft laugh and he tries to conceal a smile. Damn, I love that. “I’ll help you study,” he propositions, innocently.
“Hmmm,” I glower. “Yeah, okay. We can try.” He laughs outright and I beam back in response.
“You want to come over to my place? Or should I come to you?”
“I think…we should go to the library,” I conclude.
His expression turns to disgust in a nanosecond. I laugh at his disgruntled look. “Please tell me you’re joking.” His nose furrows even further.
I shake my head. “I’m not. Library or bust.”
He puckers his lips in deep thought. “Library…I guess,” he grumbles. He shoves himself up off the edge of my desk and stretches lazily, revealing a strip of skin between his jeans and his t-shirt. I have to physically contain myself from reaching my hands out and running my fingers along his pant line. I fear this taking it slow thing is not going to last long.
He leans over and kisses me sweetly on my cheek. My eyes close briefly, savoring the adorable gesture. Before walking away, he drops a white folded piece of paper on my desk and strides out of the lab.
I quickly grab up the paper and unfold it.
YOU’RE WORTH THE WAIT.
My heart soars at his sweet words as I bite my lip in anticipation. I look briefly around the room, and see Parni watching me with a small smile on her lips. My God. Did Brody thaw out the frosty Parni into actually being nice to me?
“Glad you guys are done pawing at each other,” she says flatly.
I frown at her, “Pawing?”
“Isn’t that like…flirting?” she asks, looking uncomfortable.
“Um, I guess. Sort of. But pawing is more physical.”
She shrugs her shoulders and turns her focus back to her computer monitor.
***
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Brody finds the perfect spot for us to study inside the library. It’s on the third floor on the far wall that has large windows and old wooden desks that face each other. At first, I assume he’s going to sit in a desk straight across from me, but he just pulls a chair over and tucks it closely up next to mine. I’m not complaining.
As we work quietly on our own stuff, I find myself grinning at his serious concentration face. Then I feel silly for being the one who can’t focus, after demanding we come to the library to focus. I keep looking at that freckle beneath his eye, feeling desperate to kiss it.
“Hey,” I whisper, and he looks at me sideways, the corners of his mouth turned down, holding back a smile. “Can we make out?” I giggle, softly, at his admonished reaction.
He shakes his head and continues staring at his textbook. I continue staring and smiling at him until he stops what he’s doing and looks at me.
“You were the one that wanted to come here…to focus on school work. I would have much rather studied in my bedroom, where making out is much more comfortable.” He glances around nervously, looking for other studiers.
I take a quick look too, and see no one in sight, so I raise my eyebrows at him playfully. He lets out a breathy laugh. He nods his head in a come hither way, and dammit all to hell, I come hither! He pulls me in for a deliciously soft kiss. I melt into the touch of his hand on the back of my neck. I’m stil
l shocked at how easy and carefree it is to be honest about my feelings with Brody. I hung out with Jake for weeks, and never once would have considered just being honest about my feelings, let alone asking him to make out. With Brody, there’s such an ease because he put it all out in the open from the very beginning. It’s freeing.
I break the kiss and bring my hand up to touch his freckle. “I like this,” I whisper against his lips, as he pulls me in for more. I pull back before he can catch me and place a small peck on his freckle.
“You’re fucking weird,” he murmurs against my lips and captures my mouth with his again. Our tongues dance together for a moment before he breaks the kiss suddenly, just as we start ramping up. We remain close, drinking each other in as quietly as possible.
I look up from his mouth and am surprised to see his expression turn serious.
“Fin,” he begins, and a nervous feeling spreads over me. “I want to say something, but I don’t want to freak you out.” I pull back and Brody’s face looks pained and uncomfortable.
I turn away from him and look forward, casting my eyes downward to look at the pages on my book. Mentally, I begin to prepare myself for him to tell me some reason we can’t be together. Or that he just wants to be friends with benefits or something.
I pull away from his lingering embrace. He scrapes his chair against the wood floor, moving closer to me with his legs spread around my chair.
“What? What’s the deal?” he asks, seeming confused at my sudden change in body language.
“Just say it, Brody,” I whisper, looking down at my open textbook.
“Well, I’m feeling like it’s a bad idea now, with how you’re reacting, but…”
I turn to look at him, suddenly feeling courageous. He swallows hard and I see a muscle in his jaw tick rapidly twice. That’s something I’ve not seen on him yet.
“I heard some shit on campus today about you and that Jake guy, the basketball player.” My lips part in shock. This was not where I was expecting him to go. “I don’t know what’s true and what’s not, but screw it. I’m just going to lay it out there because I told you I’d be real.”
