Breaking the Plan: Mill Street Series #1

by Calla, Jessica

  Of course, it would take me an hour to look like I’d gotten ready in five minutes. Time was on my side though, thanks to Rachel and her lateness issue. As I was blowing out my hair, my phone dinged.

  Ollie: If I promise not to touch you, can you meet me at the library?

  I hated that my heartbeat sped up while I read Ollie’s text. I’m not going to do this, I repeated to myself. Violet is my friend and my attraction to Oliver is purely hormonal. I typed out a reply.

  Me: It’s Friday night, Nerdilicious. I’m going out. Don’t have time to help you jerk off at the library.

  That should do the trick. Wait. Was I flirting? Damn it.

  Ollie: Don’t need assistance with that anymore.

  Oh? Hmm…

  Me: Found yourself a girl?

  I pushed down the jealousy and watched those three lingering dots take forever. Finally, his text came through. A picture of his hand popped onto my screen.

  Ollie: Got my hand back. And invested in Vanilla Bean lotion too.

  I giggled at the phone like I was in eighth grade. I sent him a clapping emoji.

  Ollie: Library? It’s important.

  As my fingers typed the response, I hated myself.

  Me: Why don’t you come here? I’m getting ready. And I’m allergic to the library on Friday nights.

  Smooth move, Tar. I’d never get out of the apartment if Oliver came over, brought me food, snuggled me… His reply interrupted my oh-so-wrong thoughts.

  Ollie: Not a good idea.

  At least he had more sense than I did. I typed out a flirty text about him not touching me and how we were never to speak of our night together again, but I deleted it before sending.

  Me: I’m meeting Rachel and her gaggle of sorority sisters at ten at the Student Center. You can meet me there. Seriously not going to the library.

  The Student Center wasn’t far from the library. He could walk over if it was that important.

  Ollie: See you there.

  I put down the phone and resumed hair straightening, hating the blush across my face from texting with Ollie. No matter what he said or did at the Student Center, I wasn’t going to let him derail my plan to find a man tonight. A man that wasn’t him.

  Chapter Nine

  Oliver

  At ten o’clock, I darted across the campus green from the library, past Sheridan Hall, to the Student Center. The place was bustling for a Friday night. The coffee shop was packed, and the food court had lines out the door. No sign of Taryn.

  With Violet, I never really did the whole weekend partying scene. Once in a while, Josh got me out, but usually Vi and I would do our own thing—watch a movie, share a six-pack, have sex, sleep. Pretty routine stuff. Seeing all the people out and about, that kind of seemed boring in comparison. But still, my chest ached knowing I wouldn’t have those weekends with Violet again unless I could figure out how to make things right.

  Probably not flirting with her roommate would be a good start.

  As I looked around for Taryn, I reminded myself not to be enamored. It didn’t matter how she looked or what she said, she wasn’t for me. Vi was the end game. Taryn was a test, one that I needed to pass. I was pretty good at tests.

  After I looked around the entire building, I texted her that I was there. When she didn’t text me back right away, I walked to the exit, thinking I missed her. Then my cell dinged with the special ringtone I’d assigned to her.

  Taryn: In the arcade.

  I raised my eyebrows and read it again, ignoring the tingling sensation the three words caused in my body. Well, okay then. I made my way back through the building.

  The arcade was the pride and joy of the Student Center. It had old school games and new school games, and if it didn’t have what you wanted, the manager would order it for you. Our freshman year, Josh asked for some new football game—the manager added three television screens and consoles to play it. The arcade was a gamer nerd’s paradise and probably my favorite place on campus.

  There were never any hot girls in the arcade. That’s why Vi didn’t care when I went and why I hadn’t checked in there for Taryn. Why was Taryn in the arcade? Was this part of her ploy to lure me, as Josh had said she’d try to do?

  The beeps and blips of the machines welcomed me as I entered the arcade and searched up and down the aisles, reminding myself that Josh was an idiot. There was no way Taryn would want someone like me. Even if she did, she was off-limits. Way off-limits.

  Way off-limits and…

  Fuck if I didn’t find her playing an old Donkey Kong machine—in tight jeans that hugged her ass like they were painted on. Her white shirt looked about as thin as a tissue as it hung off of her shoulder, revealing a pink strap underneath.

  Pink bras.

  Tight jeans.

  Donkey Kong.

  Just kill me now, Gods of Love. Do it.

  I’d just have to make it quick. Pass this test. Give her what I needed to give her, say what I needed to say, and get out, away from those legs. Away from how her ass shook back and forth as she maneuvered the joystick, like she was using her entire body. Away from how her hand gripped said joystick, wrapped around it, with the thumb on the top. Away from the fact that she was probably tall enough that if I lifted her on the machine and spread her knees—

  I shook my head. “Stop. You’re an adult. It’s a test.”

  Great. Now I was talking to myself.

  With a deep breath, I headed toward her and peeked over her bare shoulder, the one with the strap. Her vanilla scent didn’t help matters. That shoulder begged to be kissed.

  Focusing on the game, I saw that she’d leveled up pretty well. “Grab the hammer,” I suggested.

  She startled but didn’t take her eyes off of the screen. “You scared me.”

  Mario climbed the beams and ladders. “Do you expect to die soon?” I asked. “I have to talk to you.”

  “I don’t die at this game.” When she glanced at me, the glow of the machine lighting her face, I was so close that her nose rubbed mine. “You’ll have to wait.”

  “The barrel, Tar. Jump.” I hated watching other people play. Put my nerves on edge.

  “Stop being a backseat player. I got this.”

  As I watched from my spot over her shoulder, the vanilla called me. I took my eyes off the screen and let my nose land behind her ear. She didn’t seem to notice as she continued to play.

  I took a step closer to line up my body behind hers. I didn’t want to, but it was as if I had to. Like I’d been dropped into a dream and had to play it out. In a way, I wanted her to object and kick me away, but she didn’t. I wasn’t sure if that was because of Donkey Kong or because of something else.

  She jammed the joystick to the side and her shoulders twisted, causing her back to brush against my front and her ass to slide against my groin. My twitching hands wanted to take her hips and steady her against me.

  As I let my nose trail a millimeter from her earlobe, over her neck, to her bare shoulder, the lace on her pink strap tickling it, my hard-on strained against my jeans. Despite my best efforts, I wanted her—wanted to kiss the side of her neck as I took her from behind—yet at the same time, I knew everything I was feeling was inappropriate and completely wrong.

  But at the moment, I couldn’t remember anything ever feeling as right as she did, sandwiched between me and the machine.

  Breathing heavy, I wondered if she could feel me behind her or if she was lost in her game. I glanced at the screen as she jumped the barrels, stopping and running when necessary. She had it covered. Mario made it to the top and the board changed.

  Reaching my arms around her, I caged her in. “Need your attention.”

  She relaxed her stance and turned to face me. I gripped the sides of the machine so I wouldn’t grab her. Our foreheads touched as I looked down at her, our bodies so close. Her chest rose and fell with her breaths.

  Mario died behind her in an old, electronic sounding demise. “Ollie,” she whis
pered.

  “Bella,” I whispered back, fighting with myself. With what I wanted, what I knew I shouldn’t take.

  Keeping her forehead connected with mine, she put her hands on my waist. The blips of the machines surrounding us disappeared, and all I could hear was my own heartbeat as I struggled to keep myself together. One word from her, one little tug of her hands over my waistband, and I’d be done.

  When the machine beeped on, I startled and dropped my hands. I had to or I would have kissed her. Hard. Which would be completely inappropriate, not only because we were in public but because…

  Vi.

  As I moved a step back, I ran my hand through my hair and took a deep breath. “I…I’m sorry.”

  She half-smiled. “It’s okay.”

  “I said I wouldn’t touch you.”

  “I don’t think you did. I touched you.” She pushed her hair back over her shoulders and stood straighter. “I should be the one apologizing.”

  She may have touched me, but I was the one having all kinds of dirty thoughts about things to do in an arcade besides play video games. I took my bag off my shoulder and unzipped it. “Your paper. Well, your abstract, sources, and outline, at least.”

  “What?” Her eyes widened as I handed her the hard copies and the thumb drive. “You didn’t have to do that. We ended the deal, remember?” She flipped through the pages. “Oh, wow, this is awesome.”

  It was—I made sure of it. I only did good work. What was the sense of doing anything but? “I wanted to get it to you since I know it’s due next week, but it doesn’t look like you have anywhere to put it.” I cleared my throat as I looked down her body again.

  “You didn’t have to print it,” she said. “You could have emailed it.”

  “I did. But I know you and Vi don’t have a printer, so I thought this would be hassle-free for you.” Lie. I’d wanted to see her and watch her face light up at my brilliance.

  “That was thoughtful,” she said, her cheeks flushed.

  Now that she was focused on me and there was space between us, I could check her out. Her green eyes were lined in black. Her face looked sort of sparkly. Her hair was long…so long. Hotness factor tonight was definitely at a ten.

  I pointed behind her. “Sorry about your game. I didn’t know you played.”

  She shrugged, her shirt slipping off her shoulder. “Sometimes. Used to play when I was a kid. We lived over a pizza place and they had an old machine just like this one. The owner would give me quarters so I could play while my parents slept. I had to stand on a crate to reach.” She laughed at her memory, then crossed her arms. “I was Pauline for Halloween one year.”

  Was she for real? “I was Mario once. My parents took me to the law firm, but nobody knew who I was.”

  She covered her mouth, giggling behind her hand. “Poor kid.”

  Taryn looked at me with puppy dog eyes and held up the paper. “Thank you.” She wrapped her arms around me again. “I know I’m not supposed to touch, but I really appreciate this and it deserves a hug. You’ve done too much for me already.”

  I gulped, holding her against me. Her body felt incredible lined up with mine. Her hips, her chest, her nose in my neck. Fuck, she fit perfectly. We may have stayed there a second longer than what would be considered socially appropriate.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, pulling away. “About everything. For making you uncomfortable and for touching you tonight.”

  “I’m not.” The words came out automatically, as quickly as my heart beat.

  She blinked and then met my gaze again, pulling her lips into a sexy half-grin. “Flirt.”

  My body couldn’t handle being around her, the pull almost too much to bear. I shifted, crossing my arms. “I’m not sure what’s happening with me. It’s not you, at all. It’s just that I must miss Vi or something because when I’m around you…”

  She waited for me to finish, but I wasn’t sure how I wanted to end the sentence. Closing my eyes, I tried to verbalize the feeling. “When I’m around you I feel… full.”

  Yeah, it was dumb, but it was all I had.

  I took another step back, feeling incredibly inadequate and nerdy all of a sudden under her stare. “Anyway,” I blurted. “I should go. Um, have fun tonight. You look…well, you know how you look.” Her eyes darted over my face, her lips pressed together. I pointed behind me. “I gotta go.”

  I spun and started out of the arcade, unclear which door I was exiting or what direction I was moving in. All I knew was that I needed air. Space.

  Space. Isn’t that what Vi had wanted?

  “Fuck,” I groaned under my breath.

  Even though I hated myself for it, I could admit it. I wanted Taryn. Badly. So much. Being around her was like fighting a magnetic force. Like she was a circuit sending electrical waves through me. Like…

  “Ollie!” she called behind me.

  I didn’t stop until I was outside of the Student Center, inhaling the cool October air and trying to cleanse my frazzled mind.

  When she caught up to me, she was breathing heavily. “Don’t make me run in heels.”

  She waited for me to respond, but I couldn’t. I glanced between the ground and the building behind me.

  Taryn grasped my arm. I yanked it back.

  “Easy, okay? You left your bag.” She pulled it off her shoulder and held it out to me.

  I slung it over my back. “Thanks.” Then I waved and started to bolt again. I had to get away from her, away from the emotion and the confusion.

  “You know,” she said, walking in step with me, “it’s not just you.”

  I stopped moving and faced her. “What’s not just me?”

  “Before. You said it wasn’t me; it was just you.” Taryn, crossed her arms, shifting her weight. She looked at the sky. “It’s me too. I…I’m sorry. Maybe it’s all me. I mean, I shouldn’t be…I don’t know…maybe I’m sending out signals or something. Being too casual with you. I know we’ve found this new…connection…and I—”

  “Bella,” I murmured, taking a step closer to her.

  I hated seeing her upset and nervous. I’d never seen her like that, except for the pageant, and that was different. She didn’t need to say anything to me, and she certainly didn’t need to apologize. But she looked at me with those big green eyes and my heart pounded—full of something, full of her.

  I shook my head. “It’s not you.”

  She smiled. She wasn’t going to fight me.

  I nudged her on the shoulder, glad she seemed to relax. “Go find Rachel. Do your thing.”

  She looked toward the Student Center, then back at me. “What are you doing tonight?”

  “You’ll call me a nerd if I tell you.”

  “Me?” She held her hand to her chest, her pink fingernails spread over her cleavage. “You just caught me playing Donkey Kong on a Friday night in the Student Center. How does that leave me any room to make fun of you?”

  “Oh, wow. She doesn’t even know,” I murmured to the sky, teasing her.

  “Know what?”

  “Forget it.” I smirked and started to walk away.

  She followed and pinched my elbow. “What?”

  I turned to face her, shifting my backpack over my shoulder. “That catching you playing Donkey Kong on a Friday night in the Student Center was pretty much the hottest thing I’ve seen in four years on this damn campus.”

  She gasped and gave me a shove. “Nerdilicious! You’re such a flirt tonight. Didn’t we establish that we aren’t going that route?”

  “Actually, I’m not sure we did.” I was glad she thought I was joking, but her sarcasm had a tad of truth. Why couldn’t I stop? I was the worst. “Go. Your girls are waiting for you.”

  She glanced behind her at the building, then back at me. “I don’t know if I feel like The Study now.” The air seemed to change, as Taryn pursed her lips together.

  “Was it something I said?” I asked. “Did I bum you out?”

  “No,
of course not. I just…I don’t know. Everything’s weird without Vi around. It’s not like we hung out a lot, thanks to you,” she scoffed, “but everything seems kind of lonely.”

  “I understand, believe me.” I wondered what Violet was doing. If she was with Tobias the Asshole. If she missed me. If she thought about us or if she’d moved on. “At least she didn’t dump you.”

  Taryn and I strolled toward the center of campus. “Are we still doing our honesty rule?” she asked.

  “We are.”

  She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. “I miss you too. I thought if I went out tonight, I’d hook up and maybe not feel lonely.”

  I swung off my backpack and unzipped my hoodie. As I wrapped it around her, I gave her shoulders a squeeze. “You have a ton of friends. You’re always out doing fun things.” I couldn’t remember one weekend when Taryn was sitting around being lonely.

  “I know a lot of people, yeah. I get invited to a lot of places. Mostly, I go out to give you and Vi privacy.”

  I had no idea she’d done that for us. My stomach twisted as I thought about how unfair I’d been to her. How I’d judged her relentlessly and complained to Violet. “Thanks for that.”

  She continued, “Even though I’m not having sex with them all, when I find someone to talk to or hook up with for the night, I sort of feel a part of something, for a little while at least. Something like what you and Vi had. It’s fake, but it feels good, mentally and physically.”

  “Maybe you need a boyfriend.” Though I said the words, I had a hard time picturing her with anyone. She was different than any woman I’d ever met, in that she wasn’t easy to categorize. She was hot, but she had a nerdy side. Sexy, but down to earth too. Sweet, but strong.

  “I don’t know if I could do the boyfriend thing. I’m not interested in being tied down, and forever seems like a long time.”

  I watched her pull her hair out from under the neck of my hoodie. “Well, I have no doubt you could hook up tonight if you wanted to.”

  “Thanks. I think.”

  We walked through the green, past the library. “Hey Tar?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Remember that night at The Study when you said you didn’t think Vi and I were right for each other?”