“Wait.” Spencer tugged on my hand. “Let’s go this way. The OIA house is just across campus.”
“We need to take a different route.” I was pretty sure he wasn’t chasing us, but I wasn’t going to give Name Badge a way to connect Spencer to the bubbles currently filling the quad. Rather than running straight south, I headed west toward Carr Hall. If he were still watching, he’d likely think we were aiming for the train station. When the courtyard was out of view, we cut through the Grotto and hit Lancaster Avenue, circling around the campus chapel. I slowed enough to make sure there was no oncoming traffic, then sprinted across the four-lane road without bothering to find a crosswalk. Once we were safely on the other side, Spencer took the lead.
“This way,” she said and cut down a gravel drive. We ran past a row of garages and took a sharp left down a grassy path that lead past the backyards of several large sorority houses. Spencer screeched to a halt at the door of a wooden gate and threw it open, then dragged me inside. We cut through the backyard of the OIA house, past the spot where we’d had our first kiss and straight up the back steps to the glass French doors. Once we were inside, I thought she’d finally stop, but she held tight to my hand as we passed through the dining room, the living room, and eventually into the entry hall. When she rounded the banister and headed up the steps, I froze.
“Come on,” she said, looking down at me with a smile that made my already labored breath catch in my throat.
It took less than a second for my feet to start moving again, and I followed her, taking the stairs two at a time. We turned left at the top of the staircase and walked to the far end of the hall. The girls had hung a mirror at the end of the corridor, and I caught our reflection in it before reaching Spencer’s door. We were both still soaked, and her fiery hair glinted in the track lighting above us, still slick with soap bubbles. Spencer pushed her door open and pulled me inside, then closed it behind us. I thought I heard the
“You know what this means, don’t you?” She tugged the bottom of my shirt up with both hands, and I lifted my arms so she could pull it over my head.
“We’ll probably both be expelled?” I asked, lifting one side of my mouth to grin at her. I guessed even vandalism couldn’t get you expelled from a school you weren’t really enrolled in, but I had to keep up the act despite how distracted I was by the feel of her fingers trailing down the ridges of my abdomen.
“No,” she said, with a playful smile. “I mean what it means for you to be here. In my room.”
“Remind me,” I said, peeling her wet shirt from her body and up over her head as she’d done mine. I tossed it to the side and immediately brought my hands to her now-bare shoulder blades. The pale pink satin of her bra was practically invisible against her creamy skin, and my fingers twitched with anticipation when they found the clasp at the middle of her back. I wondered if she’d stop me when I moved to undo it, but she just moved closer, pressing her belly to mine.
“It means we’re official,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “It means we can be together.”
I slid one strap from her shoulder where a light dusting of freckles peppered her skin, and I bent my head, intent on kissing each one. She tilted her head away from mine, and I trailed my lips up her neck to the sensitive patch of skin under her earlobe. I heard her breathe out a quiet gasp, and the sound of her pleasure made my whole body ache to have her. I slid my hand up her thigh and underneath her wet skirt, then tugged at the waist of the panties underneath. She helped by slipping the other side from her hip, and they fell to the floor. She stepped out of them and nudged them aside with her foot, then pulled her arms out of her bra and discarded that as well. I took a long moment to admire her, naked to the waist, and was impressed by how unselfconscious she seemed under my hungry gaze. Looking didn’t satisfy me for long, though, and soon my mouth was on hers. I moved one hand to her breast, gently pinching the rosy tip between my thumb and finger. My other hand moved up her thigh again, and this time there was no cloth to separate my fingers from the slick warmth between her legs. She rocked against my hand, and I dropped my head to her breast and took it into my mouth.
“Shane.” Her breath shuddered when she said it, and for the first time, I wished I had told her my real name.
She forced me back so she could undo the button of my shorts, then pushed them from my hips. Once they’d slid from my waist, I sprang to attention, and Spencer smiled now that it was her turn to do the admiring. I fidgeted, far more uncomfortable than she’d seemed to be. I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against me, using her body to block her view. She gave a quiet laugh as she slipped her skirt off. I kissed her again and walked forward, pushing her along with me until we’d found the bed. There would be no interruptions this time. No OIA sisters with shows to watch, no phone calls, no voice in the back of my head or hers telling us to slow down. I honestly didn’t give one thought to the con. All I knew was that I wanted her. Completely. And when I laid her back against the pillows and positioned myself over her, Spencer looked up at me with an expression that told me I could have everything I wanted.
Exhausted, but with a mind too restless for sleep, I watched the fading sunlight through Spencer’s bedroom window. Her deep, even breathing was the only sound in the room, and I lay on my side next to her, running a hand up and down the naked skin of her back. She’d fallen asleep over an hour ago, each of us finally sated, but I still hadn’t been able to stop touching her. Some irrational part of me was afraid that, if I did, she might fade away like the setting sun. I wanted to hold on to this moment, just for a little while longer. She lay on her stomach, her face turned toward me, and I moved her hair to the side so I could see every inch of it. I’d wanted her so badly that I hadn’t allowed myself to think about how hurt she’d be when she realized I’d used her. If I’d thought of it, I don’t think I would’ve been able to go through with it. She’d realize the betrayal eventually, no matter how careful I was in getting back the ledger. I wanted to commit this moment to memory, memorize every inch of her, and I’d spend all night doing it because I didn’t know what the morning would bring.
“Spencer,” I whispered.
She inhaled deeply through her nose but made no other sound to indicate she’d heard me.
I kissed her cheek, but she still didn’t move or speak. She was in a more peaceful sleep than I’d probably ever get again.
My lips moved before I could stop them, and I spoke the words that I’d felt but hadn’t been able to fully admit for a while now. “I think I love you.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I SHUT THE bedroom door as quietly as I could with my hands full of coffee and muffins. I’d gone back to the Carroll Center just after dawn, mostly to get breakfast but also to see what kind of damage we’d done the day before. I’d had no choice but to wear Spencer’s slippers, but luckily for me no one noticed. The fountain had been turned off and most of the bubbles had been cleared away, but the water’s surface had a frothy sheen.
Spencer was still asleep. I knew she had an early class, and as badly as I wanted to crawl back into bed with her, I wasn’t going to let her get into the habit of skiving off. I set the coffee and muffins down on the desk and sat on the edge of the bed. I watched her sleep for a few seconds more before I leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. Her eyes fluttered, then opened, and she gave me a sleepy smile.
“Morning, beautiful,” I said.
“Morning.” She yawned and stretched the sleep from her shoulders and back.
“I brought you some breakfast.” I reached for one of the paper cups and handed it to her. “You may want to avoid the Carroll Center for a few days until they get things cleaned up and that guy has a chance to forget what we look like.”
She snickered into the lid of her cup as she took a sip.
“So,” I said, feeling a little awkward all of a sudden. “I guess I should let you get ready for class.” I stood up but leaned back down to give her a quick kiss. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Any plans for dinner?” she asked
“Not that I can think of. What did you have in mind?”
“Well, I was thinking, since we kind of…made things official last night, maybe it’s time I introduce you to my dad. I’m supposed to have dinner with him this evening. I thought you could come.”
It took me a few seconds to process what she’d just offered. An invitation to Tommy’s house. Tonight.
