Book Boyfriend (Someday #5) (6 page)

I was fricking mesmerized. I remembered thinking to myself that I just had to get to know the girl behind the brain that would put together an outfit like that. Then, when I’d watched her in class (because, trust me, it was a lot more interesting than fucking Kaminsky’s lecture), I’d been taken by her epic concentration. She listened, and not in the way most kids did. She
really
listened. I could see the wheels turning behind her lovely eyes.

And that had pretty much been it for me. I was sprung as hell. I was, as my mama would have put it, a goner.

Of course, when I’d flirted with her and hadn’t gotten anywhere, far from putting me off, it had only fueled the fire. And, now that things were actually progressing between us, I wasn’t just excited to see her in class. I was damn near thrilled.

I stepped through the door and followed my unconscious routine, which had now become second nature, of scanning the room looking for her. When I spotted her, I smiled as I headed down the aisle toward her seat. This time was different. All the other times I had looked for her, it had been because I’d wanted to see her, to know where she was. I’d had no real use for the information. Now, I was looking for her because I was going to sit next to her. Big improvement in my book.

When I dropped into the seat next to her, she looked up, startled. Then she laughed.

“You scared me. I guess I’m not used to people invading my space without warning.”

I gave her a cockeyed grin. “I can give you a warnin’ if you like, darlin’. But I definitely plan on ‘invading your space’ on a pretty regular basis from now on. So, why don’t we just consider this a blanket advisory?”

“You have the coolest way of phrasing things,” she said, smiling warmly as she gave the compliment. Heat grew throughout my body. Wow, that smile. It had been tough to earn her trust enough to get that smile, but now that I was on the receiving end of it, I knew that it had been worth it. In fact, it was an even sweeter prize because of all the effort that had gone into winning it.

“Well, darlin’, I do have a natural-born gift for words. I come by it honestly. My daddy’s a Southern lawyer. And his daddy’s a Southern preacher. I’ve been listening to both of them expounding eloquently on various topics since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. I guess some of it rubbed off.”

She laughed delightedly. “Wow, that makes so much sense! It’s why you always sound like you’re the lead actor in a Tennessee Williams play. And I guess it’s why I can never figure out if you’re giving a closing argument, or a sermon.”

“Well, honey, when you come right down to it—they’re basically the same thing. It’s all about using words to convince folks of your point of view, and both of them are masters at that. But, I have to say, I do think I’m using my oratory gifts in a much more noble pursuit than either of them.”

Her eyebrows drew together and her head tilted to the side. I knew I had her. I winked just to drive it home, then teased. “You see, Miche, all they do with their skills is defend the downtrodden and bring people to the Lord.”

Her puzzlement grew. “And what are you doing?”

“Why, impressing a beautiful girl, of course! What’s more noble than that?”

The adorable blush that spread across her face let me know that I’d succeeded.

Professor Kaminsky entered the classroom and shuffled to the podium. “All right, all right. If we could have conversations come to an end, please? Let’s begin, shall we?”

One thing about Kaminsky that always bugged me was how he always sounded so unsure of everything he said. Rather than just telling everyone to shut the hell up because class was starting, he made it all sound like a question. As if he was asking us if that was okay. It always made me feel kind of rebellious, and I’d usually make a point of continuing on a few more sentences because it annoyed me.

Not Michelle though. As soon as she heard the professor’s voice, her head whipped around to focus on the front of the room. Suddenly, I didn’t exist. She was fully engrossed in class.

Damn. She was
serious
about her studies. It was just one of the things I found so fascinating, admirable, and cute as hell about her.

After thirty seconds had gone by, Kaminsky followed up with, “Students, students! Come on. Settle down now, all right?” in a distracted and slightly annoyed tone.

No one—except for Michelle—had shut the hell up yet.

After another few seconds, he shook his head and pulled a group of papers out of his battered, leather briefcase. “I have quizzes to hand back, people!” he announced, holding the messy sheaf over his head.

Well, hell. That quieted the room fast enough. He should have just led with that. As the two TAs circulated throughout the room and laid the papers facedown on each desk, I smiled at Michelle. She couldn’t have been more focused on watching the papers being handed back, though. She wouldn’t have noticed even if I’d stood up and waved my arms around, so I took advantage of the opportunity to gaze at her beautiful face uninterrupted, and enjoyed the view.

Michelle didn’t wait even a second to flip her paper over after it was set in front of her. Her hands were on it before the TA had even fully laid it down on the desk.

“Damn, girl,” I said with a low whistle. “Ninety-seven percent! That’s some good work!”

“Thanks,” she said, sitting up a little straighter. “I studied really hard.”

“It shows.”

The TA laid my paper down on the desk. Rather than flipping it over though, I just lifted the corner and peeked. When I’d seen my grade, I slipped the paper into my bag without fanfare. As I was closing the flap, a gentle hand rested on my forearm.

When I looked back at Miche, her eyes were buttery with warmth and compassion that I had never seen there before.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed,” she said, her voice soft with concern. “A lot of people struggle. I mean, especially athletes. If you want, we could get together and study before the debate trip next weekend. Maybe on Wednesday night? That’s my night off.”

Damn. I wasn’t going to turn an offer like that down! “Sounds good. I’ll text you my dorm room number. We can meet there.”

Michelle

W
hen I knocked
on Sebastian’s door, I had to admit that I was bit jittery. I had spent over an hour in front of my mirror like some sorority girl, trying on outfits and discarding them one by one. Then I labored over my hair and makeup for another hour. Of course, the clothing I was trying on was nothing a sorority girl would be caught dead in—but that was just fine by me, because it’s not like I wanted to wear their frou-frou shit, either. But I had to face the fact that Sebastian was turning me into a stereotypical “girl” in many ways, something I never thought would happen. What
really
surprised me though? I kinda liked it.

When the door swung open, I took a step back. Not because I was shocked or appalled at anything I saw. Quite the opposite. God damn, but he was handsome! I stumbled backwards a few small steps because, all of a sudden, my knees were no longer capable of holding my legs up.

Yep. Typical “girl.” And, yep. I loved it.

“So, where are we headed? To study, I mean? The library? The caf?”

He laughed. “Girl, I’m not gonna take you back to spend the evening at your job on your one and only night off!”

Wow. I hadn’t even thought about it that way. Because I loved the library like no other place on earth. It felt like home. The smell and the tactile sensation of the books. Being surrounded by other people who loved the written word as much as I did. Damn. I’d probably set up a cot in the back room and never leave it if they’d let me.

“I don’t mind,” I said amiably. “I really like it there. And it’s a very conducive environment when it comes to studying.”

He smiled that oh-my-God-holy-shit-he’s-so-sexy-I-can’t-feel-my-fingers smile of his and leaned in toward me conspiratorially. He adopted a low, sexy tone as he said, “I think we can do better. I think we can find an environment that’s conducive to studying…and other things as well.”

I almost passed out right then and right there. However, I did manage to keep my voice relatively tremble-free (score!) when I responded, “Well, where did you have in mind?”

He stepped back with a flourish and extended his arm to invite me in.
Oh, holy mama cow.
His room. He was inviting me into his room. Alone. Just the two of us. In his room.

Be cool, Michelle. You can do this.

I shrugged with the studied nonchalance I only wished I had actually been feeling. “Sure. Cool. We can do that.”

I was proud of myself. I might have been turning to jelly on the inside, but if someone was listening to my voice, they would’ve thought I was as cool as a cucumber.

As I brushed past Sebastian, he whispered in my ear, “Don’t worry. I won’t bite. Unless you ask me to.”

Okay, so maybe not
quite
as cool as a cucumber.

I surreptitiously glanced around as I moved into Sebastian’s room. I had kind of expected his room to be a filthy mess, with discarded athletic gear—including maybe jock straps?—slung all over every available surface. But it was nothing like that. It wasn’t immaculate by any means. Not in a way that seemed unnatural. Rather, it was sort of comfortably lived in, with books and papers piled up on the desk, and the bed was made, but a bit rumpled.

“Where can I put my things?”

“Right there on the desk is fine, if you’d like.”

I walked over to the desk and lifted my messenger bag to set it on the surface. Just before I did, though, I noticed the pile of papers fanned out over the center of the desktop. They caught my eye because they were familiar. I recognized the format. They were the debate quizzes. I had a pile of the exact same papers in my own dorm room. I looked closer. Well, damn! Maybe not
exactly
the same.

I slung my messenger bag back over my shoulder and bent down to shuffle through the pile of quizzes. I couldn’t believe my eyes. After I had reached the bottom quiz on the pile, I turned to Sebastian, my jaw dropping. He was casually reclining on the bed, watching me with a knowing smile.

“You haven’t been doing badly on the quizzes!” I accused. “These quizzes are all marked one hundred! Hell, Sebastian, you’ve been breaking the curve!”

His lazy grin spread wider and he laid on his thickest honey-drenched drawl, which I noticed he did whenever he was trying to make a point. “I never said I’d been doing badly. That was your assumption. I simply didn’t disabuse you of the notion.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but I realized he was totally right. Based on nothing more than his status as an athlete and a campus god, I had assumed that he couldn’t possibly be smart. Embarrassment caused me to snap my mouth shut, my cheeks flaming.

With my fashion sensibilities and my passionate interest in books and school, I had been the brunt of so many stereotypes over the years that I hated the very idea of assumptions and stereotyping. Yet there I was, engaging in that very thing.

I ruefully shook my head. I had always believed that, when you were wrong about something, the best thing to do was simply own up and apologize.

So I said, “Damn, dude. That
was
my assumption. I saw that you were kind of stealth about your score, so I just figured that it must be a bad grade. I don’t really know why my mind automatically went there. My bad. Sorry.”

He spread his arms wide. “Hey, I can’t feel too bad about it. After all, that very assumption is the reason why you’re standing in my room right now. So it could never be all bad. But I do hope that this little misunderstanding lets you know that there is a lot more to me than meets the eye. Whatever you think I am on the surface, it’s not necessarily the truth. If you want to know something about me, just ask. Where you’re concerned, Miche, I’m an open book.”

I smiled. “Okay. I do have a question, then. Since you’re offering and all.”

He folded his arms behind his head and reclined further, relaxed and open.

I set my messenger bag on the desk and took a slow step closer to the bed. Then another. Taking a page out of his book, I made my voice low and seductive when I spoke.

“Since it’s pretty obvious that neither one of us needs an emergency study session before the big debate trip this weekend, what do you suggest we do with the rest of our evening?”

He sat up, every muscle suddenly taut, his eyes sparking with pent-up tension and desire. The grin he gave me smoldered with lusty fire. When he spoke, his voice was raw and raspy, and it sent waves of tingling tremors up and down every inch of my skin.

“Oh, baby girl, I’m glad you asked. Because I definitely have some ideas about that. Yes, I certainly do.”

Sebastian

I
could hardly
believe my eyes as Michelle walked toward me, seductively swaying her hips, her eyes holding sultry promise. This very scenario had played out in my dreams and fantasies so many times over the past few months that I felt like I should pinch myself to find out if this was real or not. If that were the case I never wanted to wake up.

I sat up straight on the edge of my bed as she came closer. She stepped between my knees and rested her hands on my shoulders. My hands rose to encircle her waist. I could feel the heat of her skin even through her clothes, and when she bent closer, the warmth of her breath mingled with mine.

Oh, yes. She was real, all right. Very, very real.

“Do you know how long I’ve waited for this? To have you here, alone, in my room? In my bed?” I rasped. I touched her face with my fingertips.

“I think I do. If it’s anywhere near as long as I have waited, then it’s safe to say this has been a long time coming.”

I stood and wrapped her up in my arms, holding her tight as I crushed her lips to mine. I didn’t want to let her go. Now that I finally had her in my arms, with no barriers, no restrictions, I wanted to make every instant count.

I loved the way that she felt pressed against me. Her body felt perfectly molded to mine, as if the two of us had been made specifically to fit together in this way. I wouldn’t have thought that it would be that perfect—I’m so tall, and she’s so adorably tiny. But the absolute rightness of the way our bodies notched together like puzzle pieces was a beautiful surprise. I hoped that it was the first of many amazing things we were going to discover about each other—that night and for many years to come.