“It was awesome, right?”
I study her face. Is she doubting herself? “You are the best, most perfect woman I’ve ever met, inside and out.”
She pouts. “Aw. Take me back to the dorm.”
“Nut-ut-ut-ut-uh,” I sing, waggling a finger then pointing to her laptop. “Antibiotics for cows. Go. Win this thing.”
She places her glasses on top of her head. “But it’s Saturday. And you’re so sweet and sexy, and I want you all over again—”
Even though it’s like a dream to hear her say these words, I’m strong-willed. “You’re making this very hard.”
Her jaw drops, and she looks to my shorts. “Am I?”
I stifle a laugh. “Always. But I mean too hard to leave.”
Her bright eyes dance as she whispers. “That’s the point. I’m trying to distract you, so we can mess around again and I don’t have to do my paper. Let’s go on a date. Doesn’t dinner sound nice? Or maybe a movie? Livestock will be okay. I mean, heck, they’ve survived this long without my dumb antibiotic paper….”
“Hey, procrastinator. Didn’t your mom threaten to drag you home if you don’t get this paper done?” She’d told me that her mother was hard core about the internship. “Do your work, or she’ll take you away and chop off my balls.”
Maggie giggles. “We couldn’t have that.”
“I’m scared to death of the woman. Meg told me she hates men.” Meg’s obviously not a fan of Maggie’s mom. She made it clear I should keep my distance.
Maggie scrunches her face. “Well, that’s sort of true, I guess. She was okay with Winston.”
“That just lends support. He’s no man—”
“Dave! He’s… I don’t know. I guess he grew on her.”
“Because he’s a nerd, and she’s all about grades.”
Maggie sighs. “Maybe.” She sighs, smirking up at me. “Who even cares?”
I kiss her nose. “Well if you don’t care, I look forward to pissing her off with my lackadaisical ways. But I will not let you get out of doing this paper. No more games.” I point to her laptop. “Cows. Then tonight, you’re all mine. You can make whatever you want hard. And don’t worry. Serious IOUs will be collected as soon as this paper is done.”
She laughs. “But you forgot something.”
She waits for me to read her mind, but I have nothing. I squat next to her, my hand on her thigh. “What’s that?”
“Finals, Dave. When I finish this paper, we have to study.”
“Screw finals.”
She gasps. “David Novak! I don’t get these straight A’s with my looks, you know.”
I shake my head. “You don’t? Okay, okay. We’ll study for finals. Maybe you can help me pass this year so I can come back for sophomore year.”
“See.” She leans close and plants a kiss on my lips. “You better pass. For me. I like seeing you around here.”
I sit on the chair next to her and rest my elbows on my knees. I pull her hands into mine. “Can we be serious for a minute?”
She turns her body to face me and squeezes my hands. “What’s up?”
I look from her eyes to our hands. “If… when you go to Olympia, say I go on the tour, or even if I don’t and I stay here. Are you going to break up with me when you leave?” The thought scares me. I can’t look in her eyes. I take a strand of her hair and twist it around my finger.
She touches my chin to make me meet her gaze. “Oh Dave, why would you say that?” Her voice shakes. “That actually hurts my heart. Do…do you want to break up? I mean, I know you’ll be on the road—”
“No, no, no!” I scoot my chair closer and then slide her glasses off. I place them on her keyboard and kiss her nose. “You’re the only one I want to be with.”
She bites her bottom lip and raises her eyebrows. “And you’re the only one I want to be with.”
I grin like an idiot. “For real?”
She nods. “So we better not break up, right?”
“Better not. Glad you’re so smart.”
She leans in and kisses me. When I try to pull away, she moves with me. I take my hands, unwind her from me, and back away. “Go. Cows. Smart stuff.”
“Later? Be with me later?”
“Yes. It may be our last night for awhile.” I tell her about my trip home and the mess with my parents, and I love that she groans in disappointment. “Tuck already said as soon as we get back, it will be time for intense gala practice.”
“And you’re going to try your originals, right?”
I shrug. “Yeah, well. I don’t know. We’ll see how practice goes.”
“Dave…” She draws out my name.
“I’ll try. For you.”
I mean it too. If Tuck and Maggie think I can pull this off, I may as well believe in myself too. Be brave, Tuck had said. Bravery requires a lot of ambition, but my motivation is sitting in front of me, blowing me a kiss as she places her glasses back on her gorgeous face.
Back at Sheridan, Tuck’s spread out on his bed, napping. Our Spanish text rests on his belly.
I slam the door to wake him. The book falls to the floor, and his eyes pop open.
“Sorry, not sorry.”
He groans and sits up.
“I’ll try the new songs at rehearsal tomorrow night.”
His eyes grow wide. “You will? Should I thank Squirrel Girl and her magic pussy?”
“Hey now. Show some respect for my girl.” I grab a water bottle from our fridge and throw it at him, a little harder than necessary.
“Tell her I said thanks.”
“Tell her yourself. She’s spending the night.”
“Here? Shit, I better make myself scarce.” He stands and stretches.
I hold out a hand to stop him. “Not until you teach me Spanish.”
Tuck groans. “I still have to do that? Pussy, new songs, and you’re going for the grades too?”
I shrug. “What can I say? I’m reborn. I’d appreciate your help.”
Tuck’s smile stretches from ear to ear. “I like this new Dave. Sit your ass down and let’s get to work.”
Maggie
Juliet, Pooja, and Megan sit with me on the floor of room three, around another ice cream cake, telling me about their trip to Atlantic City. The three of them have no qualms about shoving junk food down their faces when they just bought skin tight dresses for the gala the day before.
“You’re going to make me fat with all this ice cream. I can’t keep weight off like you guys can. I’ll never fit into my dress.” I can’t resist so I take tiny bites, hoping they devour the cake before I eat too much. Tonight, they want details. They know ice cream cake is my weakness.
“What time are you going upstairs?” Meg asks.
I look at my phone. “No set time. I couldn’t take the library anymore today.”
Pooja points her spoon at me. “How’s the paper coming along?”
“It’s terrible. It’s still a first draft. I’m trying to get the words down then revise it later. My mom said she’d help. Obviously, I’m distracted by the hottie upstairs.”
“Let’s talk about that, shall we?” Meg asks, scrunching her little nose at me. “So? Will you tell us, or do we have to drag it out of you?”
I’m not sure I want to talk about Dave. Not in the gossipy way they do. “What do you want to know?”
“First off,” Juliet says, holding her hands about a foot apart. “Is it true? The rumors?”
I scowl. “Ew, crude girl. That’s personal and private. And how the heck do I know anyway? It’s only the second one I’ve seen.” Question one. Averted.
“What’s he like? Slow and deliberate? Fast and furious?” Meg asks.
“It was perfect. We did it again today while you slackers were off gambling.” Question two. Asked and answered.
“Maggie.” Pooja looks serious, her big eyes searching mine. “Do you think this is a good decision?” She crosses her arms. “We’re about to leave for the summer.”
/>
“You said it happens when it happens. I sort of just…fell into it. And it’s Meg’s fault anyway. She made me do it.”
Meg nods. “I sort of did.”
“You said you just wanted to be wanted,” Pooja says. “I don’t want to see you get hurt, especially after Winston.”
“He does have a reputation,” Juliet adds.
Meg shakes her head. “No, that’s just a rumor, right, Mags?”
“As far as I know, it’s a rumor.”
Pooja’s words strike a chord though. I don’t know much about Dave besides his parents being bigwigs in New York State politics and his attraction to me. I haven’t even met his cousin/roommate yet. “I guess I could know more about him.”
Pooja takes a scoop of the vanilla portion of the cake. “You aren’t one for casual, like Megan.”
“Hold up,” Megan says. “I’m not casual with Ben.”
Juliet rotates the cake and digs into my barely touched side. “Not now, but you started off that way. Maggie’s more of a romantic. She wants the real deal.”
“So?” I scowl at Juliet. “Who doesn’t?”
Pooja rests her hand on my arm. “It’s okay to want it all, but make sure Dave wants the same.”
I catch a glimpse of my bookshelf, overflowing with romance novels. “He seems so into me.”
“Good,” Pooja says. “Let’s see how he feels now that he’s had you.”
Meg frowns at me. “That’s not nice, Pooj. Let Maggie enjoy her new lover.”
Juliet scowls at Pooja. “Yeah. You slept with Rocco before you even knew him for a day. He was smitten with you the same way Dave is with Maggie.” Insta-love isn’t a strong enough word to describe how fast Rocco and Pooja hooked up.
“But Maggie’s special, Juliet. She’s a romantic. An old soul from a different era.”
I scrunch my face, not sure if that’s a compliment. “I am?”
She nods. “I think so.”
With my mood souring by the second, I leave the girls discussing various eras I could be from, put on my cutest pajamas, grab my phone, and excuse myself to go to Dave’s room.
Meg chases me down the hallway.
“Don’t listen to Pooja. You go have fun with Dave. Enjoy him. Love him, in this era. Do whatever you want to do with him.” She pulls me into a hug.
“Thanks, roomie.” I hug her back. “Maybe she’s right though. Look at my track record. I don’t see things clearly when it comes to guys. Today, he mentioned the summer and asked if we’d break up. I told him no, but my judgment is terrible and I don’t know if I could go through heartbreak again.”
Meg pulls away. “Your judgment isn’t terrible. Winston’s judgment, on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired. Go be with Dave. I have a feeling this is the start of something great.”
I force a smile. I had that feeling too. Now though, I’m not so sure.
As soon as Meg disappears, Winston pops his head out of room two. His dark hair is disheveled and messy as he fumbles with his glasses. “Hey. I thought I heard you out here. Are you okay?”
I point my phone toward the staircase. “I’m fine. Heading upstairs.”
“Dave?”
I nod and resist the urge to apologize. He dumped me, I remind myself.
“Be careful, Maggie. I don’t like that guy.”
I roll my eyes. “Funny, he doesn’t like you either.”
Win smiles. “Fair enough. Listen. I’m here if you need me. Anytime. For anything.”
“Thanks.” Even though I don’t miss Win as a boyfriend, I miss his friendship. I miss his room and his video games. I even miss his roommate, Rod. Win never thought of me as the hot girl. I was always just Maggie, the girl he knew from camp. I never had to live up to his fantasies because he never had any.
Will Dave bolt tomorrow morning when he sees me without makeup? When I get the zit on my chin that I get every month with my period? Will Dave truly accept imperfect, real Maggie when I’ve been a fantasy in his mind for so long? I’m not always the girl who’s on top of him, riding him, all sexed up, and turned on.
Win ducks back into room two, but I head back to room three. I have an idea that may help me figure out what Second Floor Dave thinks of his real-life Squirrel Girl.
Chapter 17
Dave
Tuck hangs out to say hi to Maggie. Besides Frank’s memorial service and the television coverage, and maybe a hallway pass-by once in a while, he’s never met her.
It’s close to midnight when she knocks on the door. I jump up to answer it, scowling at Tucker. “Be nice. Don’t call her Squirrel Girl. Don’t talk about anything. Just hi and bye. Got it?”
“Fine, jeez. Relax, Sir Whipped-A-Lot.”
I glare and he backs off, opening a book and sitting on his bed in the most unnatural pose ever.
I fling the door open and jolt backward. It takes me half a second to realize I’m looking at Maggie.
She’s a mess. Her knotty hair sticks out all over the place. A green slime covers her face. She’s wearing dumpy man sweats, purple to make matters worse. I don’t know what’s going on, but I have the feeling I’m being tested.
I don’t take her bait. “Hey, beautiful.” I lift her hand and kiss it since I can’t kiss her face.
Tuck peers around the door and jumps at the sight of Maggie. “What happened to your face?” he asks over my shoulder. I elbow him in the ribs. “I mean, hi. I’m Tuck.”
Maggie smiles through her mask. “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“And I’ve heard a lot about you.” He moves back into the room and grimaces at me, pointing to the hallway and shrugging.
I shrug back as she steps inside. Turning to her, I ask, “Want some water?”
She lifts her chin. “I’d love some.”
Tuck reaches for his backpack and darts for the door. “Well, see you around. Great to meet you, Maggie.”
I glare at him as he walks out and then hand Maggie a water.
“What’s up?” I circle my palm in front of my face. “You doing a cleansing mask?”
She squints. “I am. Actually, every month when I get my period, I eat a lot. I get bloated. I get a zit right here.” She points to a spot on her chin. “I’m very controlled by my hormones.”
I give her a slow nod. “Oh-kay?”
“My hair?” She points to her messy do. “This is what it looks like when I don’t straighten it.”
“Got it. And the baggy gym uniform?” I look up and down her body.
“I get cold at night. I don’t like feeling cold.”
“I know that. The library—”
“Yes, well, I wanted to you to see me like this before I spend the night. This is the real me.”
I nod and let out a long exhale while I think about how to handle this. I mentally flip through my romance novels but come up empty. Honesty’s been working for me, so I go with that. “Remember when I almost kissed you in the hallway? I’m good with real.”
“Oh.” She furrows her brow. “This is different though.”
I lean against my desk and cross my arms over my chest. “How so?”
“We get naked now.”
“We do. It’s amazing. I was hoping to do it again—”
“The girls thought once we had sex, you’d drop me. They said you have the reputation, one night and over. The fact that we did it twice didn’t convince them. You said you’ve never had a girlfriend, not a real one. This is what I look like, for real. I wanted to see if you’re going to do what they say.”
I’m not sure I’ll ever beat that rap I got myself into that first week of school. That reputation will follow me all over NJU. I’m not sure why she’s picking a fight, but I’m not going to let her pull me into some conversation about my past. “Drop you? I thought we logically concluded in the library that we won’t be breaking up.”
“Even knowing you could wake up to this?” She looks down at her covered body. “Those words in the library
, the words in my bed, you know, weren’t some afterglow kind of conversation where you felt you had to say something nice? I mean, even though we did it, twice, doesn’t mean we have to be boyfriend-girlfriend.”
Now I’m pissed. I don’t deserve this from her—this indirect game-playing. “Look. I don’t do afterglow, lying conversations with you. Everything I’ve said has been truth, and it’s been genuine. Since you seem to want to believe my reputation over my actual actions, maybe you are the one who hasn’t been truthful with me. Do you want to drop me?”
She straightens up, her hands on her hips. “No. I meant what I said.”
“Why should I believe you when you’re so quick to disbelieve me? When you were gossiping with your friends about me, did you tell them about the size of my dick too?”
Maggie lifts her eyebrows and points to my chest. “I do count on my friends for advice, David. They got me thinking—”
She moves her eyebrows again. Soon her entire face is morphing as she wiggles her lips from side to side.
I’m still pissed, but I’m a little worried too. She already almost died in front of me from an allergy. “Are you okay? What are you doing with your eyes? You look like you’re having a seizure.”
“My mask.”
“What about it?”
“It’s drying. I’ve had it on too long. I don’t want my face to harden. Do you have a washcloth?”
“I do.”
“Can I have it?”
“No.” I cross my arms over my chest.
She puts her hands on her hips. “Why not?”
“Because I’m not done proving my point.” Seeing her ridiculous facial tics, as she tries to keep her face from freezing directly, counteracts my anger.
She points to her green gook. “I have an emergency situation here. What is your point exactly? Are we making points?”
I hide my grin. She’s here, and we’re fighting. It’s like a real relationship, not the fantasy one I’ve been living with all of these months. I let her stomp and point at me, enjoying the emotion she’s directing my way.
“Are you listening to me? Because I was trying to show you that I’m—”
She Wants It All: Book Three of the Sheridan Hall Series Page 17
