Page 28 of Somewhere Between Falling

“Do you want me to stop?” I whispered softly in his ear.

His response was wordless as he brought his lips to my own and turned us in one motion so that he was able to lean me up against his car—one hand in my hair and the other wrapped around my waist holding me to him. I let out a gasp in surprise.This kiss was not gentle, and that was exactly what I wanted. Weeks of pretending that I didn’t want this resulted in feeling like a dam just burst inside of me, and the overwhelming feeling of intense pleasure was almost too much to bear. I clumsily fiddled with the door handle behind me until I managed to get it open and pulled us both inside the backseat, him on top of me. Before I had a chance to truly get lost in the weight of his warm body on top of me, the softness of his lips and the intoxicating smell of, well, him…he pushed himself up onto his arms, hovering above me.

“As much as it pains me to do so, we have to stop,” he said with a sigh.

Shame and rejection swelled up inside me. This was not me. I didn’t get drunk and throw myself at men. I scrambled out from underneath him, refusing to make eye contact.

“Maybe you should take me home now.”

“Tamsin, I…”

“No.” I stopped him from speaking further. “Don’t…don’t say anything.”

He just nodded sadly. “I’ll take you home.”

Chapter Sixteen

I figured that the library would be a safe spot to study after my embarrassing scene in the parking lot last night. Plus, the fact it was quiet was an added bonus since I was currently nursing a hangover from hell.

Unfortunately, it was really bright in here. Very, very bright. I desperately wanted to wear my sunglasses, but I didn’t want to attract attention to myself; instead, I just suffered.

“I’m never drinking again,” I mumbled to myself as I laid my head down on the table, so imagine my surprise when someone answered me.

“I figured you’d be struggling this morning,” Tobias said. “Here, I brought you something. Caramel macchiato, right?”

I looked up at him through half-squinted eyes. “You remembered?”

How did he manage to look so good when I felt like death? Oh yeah, because he wasn’t the one who drank Melissa’s Jungle Juice like it was Kool-Aid last night.

“Of course,” he said, sliding the cup over to me.

I take the to-go cup from him and take a small sip. It wasn’t as hot as I expected, so I took a bigger gulp. “Thank you.”

“So about last night,” he began.

I groaned. “Ugh, don’t remind me. I’m so embarrassed.”

“Why? You have no reason to be.”

“Oh, sure. I just got drunk and then threw myself at you like some hussy. What’s embarrassing about that?” I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Do you have any idea how much control I had to exert last night?” he asked, and I felt the blood rush to my cheeks.

“I have an idea,” I said, thinking about how hard it was even now not to reach out and touch him. “But…”

“I had to stop us last night. It wasn’t the right time, but more importantly, if we are going to go there, I’m going to need you to be sober first,” he said with a smirk. “But I also need to know it’s what you actually want. After all, you have spent an exorbitant amount of energy trying to convince me that we can’t be together because I was your teacher.”

“TA,” I clarified, as he had so many times before. “Not my teacher.”

“Ah, so you finally see the light.”

“What can I say? I’m a slow learner,” I said with a shrug, wondering when it was exactly that I changed my tune. Maybe it was after he took me sledding? Or maybe when he thoughtfully hunted down my favorite ice cream? Or maybe it was the way my body reacted when we were together. But one thing was for certain, there was no point denying that what I felt for him was no longer friendship. I wanted more. And why shouldn’t we see where this went? After all, as he had repeatedly pointed out, we weren’t that different—I mean, we both were technically students after all.

“Good,” he said, pulling me up to my feet and keeping my hands firmly in his own. “Because there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. Somewhere between that day we met in the park and then finding out I was your teacher—”

“Not my—” I started, but he gently pressed his finger to my lips, interrupting me.

“Tamsin,” he said, exasperated. “I’m trying to say something here. Somewhere between all of that—all the secret looks,our inside jokes, and everything in between—I realized that I have fallen for you.”

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