Taking a step away, I keep hold of her hand. “Later?”
She answers softly, her voice shaky. “Okay.” She lets go of my hand and watches me walk backward toward the building. I stop and wait for them to leave.
Watching them drive away together, I don’t know what to think. Part of me is relieved I managed words. Another part is angry that I didn’t lift her up and drag her back to my room. One thing’s for sure though. Winston’s making his move. If I want to keep seeing Maggie, I’ll have to get my shit together and up my game. I tried the fancy date and ended up in a dumpster. Strike One. I tried the romantic picnic and ended up in the hospital. Strike Two. The way I see it, I still have one more chance before I strike out. This time, I’m going to be me. Not a fictional douchebag CEO, vampire, or pirate. Just the best version of myself if I can figure out what that is. “I’m going to make you love me, Magdalena Patrinski,” I whisper to the Winston’s taillights as the car disappears.
Chapter 10
Maggie
Breakfast for dinner was a huge success, although the girls weren’t thrilled to see me prepping with Winston. While everyone ate pancakes and omelets, Juliet and Chase fought over naming their new boy kitten Beyoncé, and Ben announced that he ordered his kilt. Then we argued whether kilts were hot, and soon enough, it was debate central. I’m not sure that our dinner tonight was what Frank had in mind when he started the tradition, but we all smiled and laughed.
After dinner though, the girls are quick to rush me back into room three. Using an ice cream cake to bribe me into talking, they ask me details of my weekend with Dave.
The bribe works. Pooja, Megan, Juliet, and I sit on the floor around the cake with spoons in our hands. We dig right in from each corner while I fill them in on my weekend.
After the sordid details of the dumpster and the hospital, Juliet asks, “So how’d it end?”
I scrunch my nose. “Well. Last night, he left me a goodbye note and no expectation of another date. Then this morning, he runs into the parking lot in his underwear just to ask if he could see me tonight—”
“Back up.” Juliet holds out a hand. “What do you mean he ran into the parking lot in his underwear?”
Shrugging, I mimic their confused faces. “Just what I said. He—”
“Boxers or briefs?” Meg asks. They all stare.
“My God, that’s not the point—”
“Still. Which?” Meg’s eyes dare me to ignore her question. She won’t let me continue until I spill.
“Boxers.” I sigh. “Damn, he looked good too. Like all smooth and ripple-y.”
“He’s got such great colors. Such a sweetheart.” Pooja always says Dave’s easy to read. He may be easy for her to read, but not for me.
Reminding myself that I’m not built like the girls on my floor, I drop my spoon and forfeit the calories to them. “He was so nice in the hospital, taking care of me. He played his guitar. Would it be terrible to keep seeing each other?”
“I thought you were taking a break from guys,” Juliet says, raising her eyebrows my way.
I hate her for reminding me. “I was. This sort of just happened. I mean, we at least tried to go on the dates. He seemed into it. Last night was weird. This morning was super weird. I don’t know.”
Megan scoops the whipped cream off the top of the cake. “He worships you, Mags. Maybe he thinks you aren’t into him.”
I cringe recalling how he found me with Winston. “I asked him to kiss me after the hospital yesterday.”
They all drop their spoons. “How?” Juliet asks. “You just said, ‘Kiss me, Second Floor Dave’?”
I nod. “Pretty much. We were in his room last night, and he was playing a soft song. We were so close. I’m supposed to be off boys, but he’s insanely cute. Those twinkly eyes—”
“The eyes,” Meg says. “Yes.”
“—and I couldn’t help it. The butterflies were going crazy, and I needed to feel him.”
Pooja holds up a hand. “Wait. So you asked him to kiss you, and what did he say?”
“He kissed my head and said something like, ‘Sorry.’”
I frown as they stare.
Juliet twists her hair around her finger and squints at me. “But then he ran into the lot in his underwear to ask if he could see you tonight?”
“Yep.” I pop the “p.”
They’re all frozen with various baffled looks on their faces. I wave my arms around. “This is what I’m saying, people! It doesn’t make sense. I’m all confused. Remind me again why I like boys?”
A knock interrupts us. I leave the girls with the cake and open the door.
It’s Dave.
The voices behind me quiet as he stares down at me. He leans against the doorframe and his blondish, streaky hair falls over his forehead. Those twinkle eyes are dark—darker than I’ve ever seen them.
He looks at me. Through me. He doesn’t acknowledge the girls or look into the room.
Nobody says a word.
I cross my arms and wait. My face heats with each passing second as his gaze moves from my eyes to my hair, and down to my lips. He opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. My chest rises and falls with my breath, my heart thumping so loudly I’m sure he can hear.
We lock eyes. Dave leans in closer, tightening the space between us. When he looks to my mouth again, I bite my lower lip. He blatantly gazes over my neck, my shoulder, and over my chest.
I want to jump into his arms. He hasn’t touched me, but I feel his touch all over my body as my nerves tighten and my breasts strain against my bra. It’s like his eyes are touching me in every place he looks.
When someone opens and shuts a door down the hall, Dave startles. His eyes grow wide as he takes a step back and looks past me into the room. “I…I’m sorry. You’re busy….”
I shake my head. “No, it’s okay—”
“I gotta go.” He gives me one last glance and then darts for the staircase.
My heartbeat slows to a healthy pace. I turn and raise my eyebrows, pointing to the door behind me. “See? What am I supposed to do with him?”
Juliet clicks her tongue. “I can think of some things you can do with him.”
“The eyes,” Meg says.
With my hands on my hips, I tsk at my friends. “That was totally weird.”
Pooja pouts. “Weird, but he’s so cute. The colors are so bright.”
Twinkly eyes, bright colors, whatever, I’m not supposed to be falling for him. For anyone. No way will I give my heart away to another sketchy guy. And so far, Dave’s been pretty damn sketchy.
Dave
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Tuck points to our door. “Get back down there and go kiss her like you said you were going to.”
I pace our room in circles. “I…I…can’t.”
He grabs his hair, pulls it, and then holds his hands out. “Why are you sabotaging this?”
I wave my arms as I circle in front of him. “I wanted to. But then I saw her and I couldn’t do it. She’s wearing a dress, Tuck. She’s so damn cute.”
He pushes past me and moves to the door.
When he opens it, my heart pounds, and I panic. “Where are you going?”
He turns to face me. “I’m going to tell Squirrel Girl that you’re completely in love with her and want to know if she wants to go out again.”
I walk toward him and reach for his arm. “No!”
“What the fuck, Dave? If you can’t go down there and kiss her, then just ask her out.”
Tuck waits while I kick the wall and slam my forehead with my fist. I hide my face in my hands. “I can’t.”
He moves back into the room and shuts the door. “Why? This isn’t like you.”
“She’s not like the other girls I’ve been with, Tuck. She wants a boyfriend, not some one-night stand.”
“You can be her boyfriend. Isn’t that the point of all this?” Tuck relaxes his stance and lowers his voice. He looks around the room, hu
ffing and shaking his head, exasperated. I can’t blame him.
I take a second to collect my thoughts. Then I look to Tuck. “Can I get all chick-like on you?”
He scowls. “Only if you aren’t going to touch me.”
“No worries.” His joke relaxes me. “Seriously. Do you think I can be someone she can like? I’ve never been a boyfriend. I want to try for Maggie, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
Tuck moves closer. “What you have to do to be a boyfriend is simple.” He stops talking and waits.
“Well, genius?” I tilt my head waiting for his words of wisdom.
He holds up his hand and counts off his fingers. “First, you ask her out. Second, you actually go out. Not to the hospital or the dumpster behind the dining hall. To an actual place. You have a nice time. Then you ask her to go out again. You do that a couple times and guess what?”
“What?”
“You get to have sex with each other and bam! Mission accomplished. Before you know it, you’re her fucking boyfriend.”
“But—”
“No buts, douchebag. Stop being a pussy and go for it. This is your chance.”
I rub my chin. “What if I mess it up?”
Tuck sighs. “Remember the first time we went on stage as The Randoms? We were all scared shitless, but we told each other we had to try. If we failed, we failed. But we did it. We weren’t great that night, but we fucking did it. And it worked out for us.”
I know what he’s saying, but he confirms it anyway. “She’s your Squirrel Girl, dude. You got this far. Don’t be afraid to try.”
I pace, restless. “I know you’re right—”
“Stop talking. Listen.” He blocks my path and slaps me across the face.
I grab my cheek. “Ow, you asshole.”
“I wanted to make sure you’re listening.”
“I am. Stop abusing me.” I stretch my jaw and rub the sting.
“Go the fuck downstairs and tell the Goddamn Squirrel Girl you want her, before some other guy does and you lose your chance. Got it?”
I imagine knocking on Maggie’s door again. She’s going to think I’m nuts. Then I think about Winston living right next door, the smug look on his face when he got into the car with her earlier. Talk about home court advantage.
Tuck smacks me again, same cheek. “Wake up. I asked if you got it.”
“Yes. I got it.” Then I smack him across his forehead.
“So go, Romeo.”
He opens the door for me, and I take a deep breath and head back downstairs.
Maggie
The next time there’s a knock on the door, the girls and I are sitting on the floor around the empty cake box in a sugar-induced coma, recapping the Dave situation. We all freeze.
“Do you think it’s him again?” I whisper.
They shrug.
“What do I do?”
Megan pushes my shoulder. “Go answer.” Pooja and Juliet nod in agreement.
I stand and shake out my hair, smoothing my dress over my thighs. I turn back to the girls, and they wave me toward the door.
Another knock.
“Go!” Juliet mouths, pointing at the door.
“Act like you’re doing something in case it’s him,” I whisper back.
Pooja grabs a textbook off my desk and opens it, and the three of them bend over it like they’re reading. I grunt. “Pathetic.”
They wave their arms at me in response.
“Okay, okay.” I walk to the door and open it, holding my chest high and my chin to the air.
Dave again. This time though, he takes my hand and pulls me into the hallway, spinning me and backing me against the wall opposite the door. I glimpse the girls’ faces as they stare from inside the room, mouths gaping, until his body blocks my view of them.
He leans into me, pinning me against the wall with one hand, while his other hand moves my hair behind my ear. As my breath starts to catch, my chest rises and falls, pressing against his.
“I’m sorry to bother you again.” His eyes dart over my face as I look up at him.
My words get stuck with the movement of his hand from my ear to my neck. He’s touching me. His thumb lightly grazes that spot behind my earlobe that makes me weak. I don’t say anything. I can’t.
“I wanted to make sure I was clear after everything that happened this weekend.” His voice is musical, but soft. His lips are close to mine.
I open my mouth again to speak, but he moves a finger over it and shushes me. “When you asked me to kiss you last night, it’s not that I didn’t want to. Believe me, I’ve wanted to kiss you since the first time I laid eyes on you.”
He moves his finger down my cheekbone to my neck. Now that he’s touched me, I don’t want to lose the connection. I bend my elbow to maneuver our joined hands closer to my body too.
He keeps my hand pinned against the wall. “I’ve wanted you forever, Maggie. But I know what you want, and it’s something I’ve never been. I’m trying to be someone you could like for more than a night, because a night won’t be enough for me. I’m trying to be a gentleman.” The corner of his lips lifts into a tiny smirk.
Every breath he takes, the way he’s looking at me, the words he says, make me want him. Badly. He moves our connected hands back down the wall and leans closer. The cold wall behind me contrasts with his warm body in front of me. Our chests touch, and I resist the urge to press further into him. Heat pours from his finger as he traces my bare collarbone. My breath quickens, and a jolt runs from his finger right to my lady parts.
He continues. “But the thoughts I have about you? About what I want to do to you. About your lips, and your hair, and the way your hips move when you walk? Not gentlemanly at all.”
I gulp, and he smiles. “I just wanted to be clear.”
“Oh, I…I’m clear,” I stutter, even though I’m anything but.
Dave’s eyes search mine. If anything is clear in this situation, it’s that he wants to kiss me. I move my chin toward him, a fraction of an inch, to see if I can get him to nibble.
He backs away. “Ask me again. Ask me to kiss you.”
Behind Dave, the girls watch. I hear their silent pleas to let Dave kiss me. The silence hangs while my brain turns on and kicks my hormones’ asses. I tilt my head, and the little space of air that rushes between us clears it for me. “No.” Fuck this.
Dave’s eyes pop, and I say it again, “No.” I catch dumbfounded looks on my friends’ faces as I spin Dave around so he’s the one backed against the wall.
I charge and jab him in the chest. “You listen to me, Dave Novak.” I can’t help thinking of his naked torso on stage as I look him up and down in the hallway. “Here you are. Supposedly you’ve been in love with me for God knows how long, and you want me to be the one to beg you to kiss me? If I recall, I already asked you to kiss me, and you refused.” My anger bubbles to the surface. I’m being semi-irrational. “And who said I wanted a gentleman?”
Dave shakes his head. “I—”
“Not done.” I cover his mouth with my hand. His lips are warm. My resolve weakens, so I move my hand away. The power Dave has over me, as evidenced in this hallway and my body’s reaction, reminds me of my self-imposed moratorium on guys. But having Dave so close, so intense also reminds me why I love them too. “You say you know what I want, but I don’t recall having that conversation with you. You have some image of me in your head. I’m some sort of…dream to you. But look at me.”
I take a step back and pat my body in random places. I slap my thighs, grab my neck, and pull my ears. Dave looks at me, eyes wide and lips parted, like he’s scared of my crazy. “I’m just a girl, Dave. I’m not some fantasy in your head. I’m flesh and bone, and you don’t know me at all. I have a bee allergy, a thing for saving strays, and yeah, I read romance novels. Frankly, I’m not looking for a boyfriend. Fantasy Maggie? The girl of your dreams? Delete her now.”
Dave tries to speak again, but I give him the hand
. “Still not done. Do you want to go out with me again, Dave?” I cross my arms and wait for his answer.
He nods.
“Good. Because I’d like to go out with you too. So here’s what you have to do. Ready?”
“Uh-huh.” His eyes are wide as he looks past me into the room. I turn and glare at the girls. They look like they’re scared of my crazy too.
Facing Dave, I count off on my fingers. “One. Stop trying to be someone you aren’t and show me who you are, so I can decide if I like you or not. Two. Stop assuming what I want and stop thinking that I’m perfect. I’m not. I never will be.”
I think about whether to go on and figure, what the heck. I have his and everyone else’s attention. I lower my voice. “Three. Go to the health center and get checked out, so that if this does go further, I don’t have to worry about your history.”
“But I—” he starts.
“I understand you aren’t the player you are made out to be, and I appreciate that. But still. I’m going to get checked out too. You want to date? These are my terms. My real life, non-fantasy terms.” I point at him, mimicking my mother’s stance. Damn I’m on a roll.
While I’m at it, I add a fourth requirement. “Four,” I say. “Hook up your damn phone. If we’re going to date, I’d like to be able to get in touch with you, in case I’m running late or if… I don’t know… I need you to pick me up a loaf of bread or something.”
Dave lifts his eyebrows, and his shock turns to a grin, framing his perfectly white teeth. “Would you seriously call me to ask me to bring you a loaf of bread?”
I try to keep my tough act going, but I can’t fight the smile that threatens to form. “If I did, would you?”
“Yes, Maggie. I’d gladly bring you a loaf of bread if it meant I’d get to see you again.”
“Good. I like that answer.” Somehow his goofy grin turns me on equally as much as his intensity a few minutes before. I take a deep cleansing breath and smooth down my dress. Then I tuck my hair back into the proper places. “So?”
She Wants It All: Book Three of the Sheridan Hall Series Page 10
