The Love Series Complete Box Set (78 page)

“You’re going to love the food, Melanie. Bella here makes the world’s best gnocchi,” Bryan says as he takes his seat. I return to mine and Bella dismisses his compliment, but I see the smile curving her lips.

“Well, now. I can’t refuse a house specialty, can I? Gnocchi it is,” I say as I hand her my untouched menu.

“I’ll have the same,” Bryan says as he hands her his menu as well.

“Perfect. You will not be disappointed.” Bella takes our menus and proudly walks toward the kitchen to make us our dinner.

“She’s really sweet. How long have you known her?” I angle my head in the direction of the kitchen.

“Yeah, she is. I’ve known her and Gus, her husband, since my freshman year. That’s when I started updating their technology systems in here. They’re very close friends with Professor O’Neil and his wife.”

“So was it like a side-job? I mean setting up their computers? Or did O’Neil just want to test out your skills before he hired you?” I quirk an inquisitive, yet still playful eyebrow at him. It just seems unlikely that someone, a college freshman no less, would want to help someone else without any kind of retribution.

“There’s always got to be a motive with you, huh.” Bryan points an accusing finger at me and laughs. “No. It wasn’t a job or a test or anything like that. They needed help. The restaurant was in danger of going under if it didn’t update and branch out. Bella and Gus knew nothing about social media and advertising, so I brought them into this century, because-”

I cut him off before he can finish. I arch my eyebrows and say, “Because you wanted a place to bring all your dates to impress them, huh?” My words are meant to be light and flirty, but as soon as they’re out of my mouth, I realize that he must have come here with Courtney, often.

Damn, I am such a fool, thinking I was special or something like that.

Bryan’s eyes narrow on mine when he sees the disgust settle in. He grasps my hand across the table and through a clenched jaw, he says, “Stop it, now. I told you I would show you why I liked you and I am. By bringing you here, I am. Can I try and explain?”

“Please do,” I quip.

That tone garners an eye roll. “First of all, I have
never
brought Courtney here. She always thought this place was, I don’t know, not classy enough for her or something like that. So, for your information, you are the first date I’ve ever brought here. Okay?” His tone and grip on my hand have softened; his eyes have calmed. Bringing my hand up to his mouth, he plants a soft kiss on my knuckles.

Appeased, I decide to approach this in a less-guarded manner. Maybe it will make me look like less of an ass. “You said ‘first of all.’ Is there more?” Batting my eyelashes, I give him my best pouty face. He sees the apology there and laughs at my silliness.

“God, you’re a trip, Melanie.”

Needing to keep my hands occupied, I reach for a piece of bread from the basket that the waitress has just brought to us. After dunking it in the olive oil, I bring it to my lips and catch Bryan staring at me.

“That right there is another reason,” he says; his voice is all throaty and gruff.

“What? Bread is another reason you like me?” I arch an eyebrow at him.

“Not bread, specifically. It’s just that, you’re not picky. When I asked you out, you didn’t even ask where we were going. You didn’t argue with me about anything. You let me get you all sweaty and dirty hiking, and now you’re letting me feed you carbs in a little Italian place that I’ve never been able to bring anyone else to. And you didn’t think twice about hugging Bella, even though the woman was covered in sauce from head to toe.” He pauses briefly as if he’s trying to find the perfect words. “You’re not like the other girls that you think every guy wants. You’re a breath of fresh air.”

Yep, those were perfect. He just told me all of the things that every girl only dreams about hearing.

All the things I never thought I would.

He looks thoroughly pleased with himself. I’ll give him credit; he sidestepped what could have been a few landmines in that little speech.

Pitching my voice low, I say, “I like it when you get me all hot and sweaty.”

“Well, then. We’ll have to see what I can do about that later.” The wink and smirk added to the end of that flirtatious comment have my insides going all sorts of crazy.

Bryan breaks the hold on my hand when Bella brings us our dinner. The meal passes in companionable silence as we both clear our plates. Spending all day in the warm, autumn air helped us build up a healthy appetite, and a huge plate of home-cooked yumminess is exactly what we needed to recharge our batteries.

After our waitress clears our plates and we order dessert, the conversation begins flowing again. “So tell me about your family?” I ask as I take a sip from my water.

“There’s nothing really all that special. We’re your stereotypical All-American family. Mom, Dad, me and my little sister, a dog and a white picket fence. You?”

“Umm, not so stereotypical, I guess. My dad died before I was born so it’s always been just my mom and I.” His eyes shine with concern and care when he hears about my dad.

“I’m so sorry, Melanie.” He reaches for my hand again and gently grazes his thumb over my knuckles.

“It’s okay. I mean, I never knew him. I miss him, or maybe just the idea of him, but I mostly hurt for my mom. She never got remarried. I always felt like it was my fault, like she was too worried about taking care of me to take care of herself. Who knows? Maybe now that I’m away at college, she’ll finally start dating again.” I shrug my shoulders and hope for the best. I really do want her to be happy, perhaps even more than I want my own happiness.

When the waitress brings out our tiramisu my mouth waters. I have such a sweet tooth. Yeah, I never met a cupcake I didn’t fall in love with and then swiftly devour. Quickly scanning the table before she steps away, the waitress realizes that she only brought out one fork. “I’ll be right back with another one. Sorry about that.”

Bryan stops her before she fully turns away. “Don’t worry about it. We’re good.”

When he winks at me, I think I may have to check the floor for my panties. Yeah, it was
that
sexy.

He sinks the fork into the layered goodness and my heart starts fluttering like crazy when he extends the bite to me. “Ladies first.” His voice is seductive and sexy, just like the gesture.

As the rich chocolate hits my tongue, my eyes roll back. It’s sinful and heavenly at the same time. I close my lips around the bite he’s just fed me. As he pulls the fork out of my mouth, I lick my lips making sure to catch every last crumb. When I open my eyes, Bryan’s face is frozen in a look of pleasure. He reaches across the table and swipes the pad of his thumb along the corner of my mouth. Locked in a heated stare, I wrap my hand around his and pull his chocolate covered thumb to my lips. As I lick the crumbs away, Bryan traces his lips with his own tongue before pulling the lower one in between his teeth. Watching him be so clearly affected, makes me even more turned on than I already was.

We take turns feeding each other dessert—eyes locked and pulses racing. Bite after bite, we’ve worked ourselves up into a frenzy. By the time we leave the restaurant, I’m more turned on than I ever have been.

It’s a short drive back to my dorm. Of course, Bryan insists on walking me to my door. When he places his hand on my lower back as he walks me down the hallway, I know that I’m falling hard. There’s a fire igniting between us, and now that he’s
shown
rather than
explained
why he wants to be with me, I’m going to let that fire burn—brightly and beautifully.

With my back pressed to the door, Bryan leans into me and grazes his knuckles across my cheek softly. “I had an amazing time today and tonight, Melanie. Please tell me you did too.” I want to jump up and down and sing a song about how much fun I had today, but his nearness makes speaking impossible and he knows it.

Pressing his forehead to mine, he stares directly into my eyes. My breath hitches and he smirks at me. “I’ll take that as a yes, then.” I nod softly because speaking is still not happening.

Bryan cups the back of my head and tangles his fingers into my long, wavy hair. Chills course over my skin and my pulse beats wildly. With his thumb brushing my cheek once again, he says, “Does this mean you’re ready to finally give me a chance?”

“Yes.” But before the softly spoken word is even past my lips, his mouth is on mine. Slow, tender, erotic—those are the only words I can come up with to describe how this first kiss real feels. He kisses every inch of my lips, the soft bow of the upper one—the plump fullness of the lower one. When his tongue licks at the corner, seeking permission to enter, I can no longer deny that I want him.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pull him into my soft body. His arms band around the curves of my waist, and after the amazing day and night that we’ve spent together, I no longer feel self-conscious at his touch.

Completely out of breath and full of desire, I pull back from him when I hear giggling on the other side of the door. He hears it too and laughs lightly in response.

“My roommates,” I explain, thumbing the door behind me.

“Hi, Bryan!” Maddy, Cammie and Lia’s cheery sing-song voices carry through the door and essentially kill the mood.

“So, can I pick you up for class on Monday?” he asks as he presses his lips to mine one last time.

“Yes,” I respond, my voice laced with lust. I could seriously kill those girls for interrupting us. But watching Bryan’s fine ass strut away down the hall is a pretty sweet consolation prize.

For the first time since elementary school, I’m excited about a Monday morning.

Chapter 5

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Cammie and Lia are coming back today and I’m beyond thrilled to see them again. It’s been a while since I’ve been this excited.

There’s a knock on my bedroom door, and before I can say anything, it cracks open and Cammie’s bright, smiling face peers in at me. “Hey, girl!” She bounces over to my bed and nearly tackles me as I try to sit upright. I can hardly breathe as she squeezes the life out of me.

Breaking the hug, and holding me at arm’s length, she says, “I missed you so much. I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

I can’t help but squeeze her right back. “I missed you too. It’s so good to be back. Did Lia come with you?”

“Of course she did. She’ll be up in a minute. She’s just parking the car.” Cammie squeezes me one last time and then breaks the hug.

She moves over and leans her back up against the wall. I follow suit and we’re both staring at the neatly made bed on the other side of the room. Peyton’s bed.

Scanning the room, and then pointing at the light blue bedspread, Cammie says, “So I guess the new girl is here, huh?” She sounds nervous as a bit of trepidation colors her words.

A look of shock passes across my face as I twist to face Cammie. “You mean, you knew? Why didn’t you tell me? I nearly took her out yesterday when she got here. I thought she was trying to break in so I cracked her on the leg with that stupid bat Lia insists we keep up front.” Upon my admission of assaulting our new roommate, Cammie claps a hand over her mouth to try and hide her shock. It doesn’t work.

“You did what?” Her voice sounds banshee-like.

Folding my arms across my chest, I huff at Cammie as her shock morphs into laughter. “I’m not proud of it, but I didn’t know we were getting a new roommate. Why didn’t you guys tell me? Or, hell, why didn’t the school tell me?”

Okay, I’m being a little pouty about it. It shouldn’t be a big deal that I have to live with someone new, but honestly, everything in my life is such a shit storm of craziness right now; this whole new roomie situation feels like it’s going to be the straw that breaks my back.

Smoothing a piece of hair out of my eyes, Cammie smiles warmly as she tries to bite back the last of her laughter. “Oh, Mel, we did tell you. I texted you a few times about it, but you never got back to me. The school sent us all letters, but maybe with everything that was going on over break, it got lost in the shuffle.”

She’s probably right. I’ve never been one to pay attention to regular mail anyway. I shrug my shoulders at her because, at this point, it doesn’t matter—Peyton’s here and Maddy’s not. It’s just that simple.

“It’s okay.” Shaking my head and sighing, I feel ashamed for how disconnected I’ve been from everyone for the last month. “Sorry about not texting you back. I guess I was just distracted while I was home.” It’s a lame cover up for what was really going on. But telling Cammie, or anyone for that matter, about spending my vacation drinking and partying and my all-too-dark secret of cheating on Bryan, well, that’s just not an option.

Cammie’s nosiness gets the best of her as she launches herself up from my bed and starts picking through the items sitting atop Peyton’s desk. There’s nothing all that telling on display—a few family pictures, some of her favorite books, a few simple cosmetics.