I trail my fingers down to his jaw, stroking the scruff there. “This sexy stubble on this chiseled jaw,” I murmur, “is definitely distracting. I could hear you next to me scratching it during the exam, and all I wanted to do was run my hands along your face and see what it felt like.” The short bristles scrape my palm, little pins and needles I rub my hand over again and again, the sensation mesmerizing me. His breathing quickens, setting my heart to beat faster too. I’m in a trance, the words and movements coming from me, but so far past how I would ordinarily act with a guy that it doesn’t even seem like me anymore.
“Does it feel good?” he whispers. At this, he finally touches me again, sliding his big hands down my lower back and drawing me into his personal space.
“Yeah, it does,” I breathe. “I’ve wanted to touch you for ages.” I look up into his blue eyes, and they flicker with heat, gazing intently at me. Something about the way he’s looking at me suddenly makes what we’re doing all too real, too intimate. I don’t really know him, despite all the time I’ve spent staring at him in class.
I lurch back, the spell broken. “Look! You’re trying to distract me even now.” I try to collect myself, seizing on the first excuse I can think of to deflect. “You... you’re practically seducing me.” My hands shake, the beginnings of embarrassment taking root.
He runs a hand down the nape of his neck, appearing just as disconcerted as I feel. “Honey, you’re the one doing all the seducing.” He doesn’t say it in an accusatory way like I did, but so earnestly that it makes the last of the alcohol and music induced fog clear my mind and I realize what I’ve been doing. Yelling at and groping a near stranger. A stranger I’ve confessed my attraction to and will probably see again since he’s friends with my friends apparently.
“Oh God,” I clap a palm over my mouth. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” I reel backward, bumping into someone. Hopefully not the banana guy. I don’t need any more drama right now. “Just forget this,” I wave my hand wildly in his general direction, “even happened.” I spin around, getting swallowed into the crowd of people and flee to my room.
3
Luke
Forget this happened? Not likely. Not with the girl that had been occupying my thoughts all weekend. I had noticed her right away when she rushed in late to my Psych midterm on Thursday, surprised that I had never seen her before. Then again, it’s hard to find an individual person in a lecture hall filled with hundreds, and it doesn’t help that I always sit in the front row either. If I try to sit anywhere else in my classes, I can’t pay attention at all. Of all days for her to choose the seat next to mine, though, of course it had to be on a day when I couldn’t talk to her. I spent longer on the exam than I needed to, waiting to see when she would finish, but she still appeared to be deeply absorbed in the questions, so I cut my losses and left. I lingered outside the doors of Hawthorne Hall for a few minutes, hoping to catch her, but had to leave to make it to my next class in time.
It seemed like fate then when I spotted Becca on campus earlier today getting into the car with my mystery girl. I had met her boyfriend, Josh, last semester in a U.S. History class when we were assigned to work on a group project together. He was a cool guy and we’d kept in touch over the summer, sometimes hanging out at his place, and she had joined us a few times too. If this girl was good enough friends to grab a ride from Becca, she must be able to tell me something about her. A small part of me anticipated her being at the party, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up too much.
When she had hurried into the auditorium, her chocolate brown hair piled up on top of her head and big eyes flashing with worry, a part of me stilled, the rest of the room narrowing down until she filled my vision. Her whole face lit up when she smiled at the TA as he handed her the exam, and I couldn’t take my gaze off her. Seated next to me, the attraction grew as every time she shifted, the scent of vanilla would come wafting over and when she bit the end of her pencil, I imagined her mouth on me instead. I’d never had such a visceral reaction to a girl before. She wasn’t dressed provocatively, didn’t speak to me, never even looked in my direction, but that didn’t stop me from thinking about her. I needed to talk to Becca, find out if she’d give me an introduction.
I had never been to her apartment before, so it took me a while to find the place and somewhere to park, but I eventually made it in and spotted Josh. We shot the shit for a bit before Becca traipsed over, already a little far gone. She looped her arms around my neck in a tight squeeze and shouted over the music, “Luke, you came!”
“Wouldn’t miss it.” Especially since I had an ulterior motive.
“Your outfit is super cute. Did you buy that just for tonight?” She gave me a once over along the length of my body, fingering the edge of my cloak. It seemed like alcohol really brought out the flirt in her. Josh didn’t bat an eye though. He must be used to it.
“I borrowed it from a friend.” I felt a little on display in the Roman soldier costume since it was essentially a long tunic that stopped above my knees, but I was still more covered than most of the girls here so I didn’t have any right to complain. “Josh said to dress up.”
“That’s right. No freeloaders not wearing a costume allowed tonight.” She looked around, spotting someone in the crowd, and turned back to me. “Listen, I have a favor to ask.”
“Okay, actually I have one for you too.”
“You do?” she asked, her eyebrows raised high. “Well, let me go first. See that girl in the white dancing by herself?” She pointed behind me, a sixth sense stealing over me. My mystery girl. Lost in her own world, eyes closed, hands above her head, and hips rolling in time to the beat of the song playing. She was so damn sexy, hypnotizing me, pulling me under her spell. The gap of skin between the tops of her thigh highs and hem of her skirt was intoxicating. Each time her hips rocked, a new tantalizing inch was revealed, only to be covered on the next rock back, then revealed again, over and over. My palms were itching to touch those slivers of exposed thighs and discover if they were as soft as I suspected they’d be wrapped around my waist.
She looked good when I saw her last week, but today I glimpsed a different, wilder side. She didn’t look like she was trying to impress anyone with her actions. It was just her and the music, a duet that created such a powerful image, it left me awestruck.
“It’s her,” I breathed quietly. I saw Becca and Josh exchange glances out of the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t focus on them anymore.
“Yeah, that’s my roommate, Charlotte.” Yes, she probably thought I was crazy, but I couldn’t stop staring. “Do you know her?”
“No, I don’t.” I mouthed her name to myself. Charlotte. “What’s the favor?”
She stood silent for a moment, giving me my measure and then gave a little head nod, coming to a decision. “She’s had a bad day, and I was hoping you’d dance with her. Help take her mind off things.”
I considered it would be awkward asking about her friend, so this turned out even better than I’d imagined. “Yeah, I can do that.”