Page 31 of Somewhere Between Falling

As much as I hated the sneaking around part, I still felt very strongly that no one should find out about us. At least for now.

“I promise it won’t always be like this,” I told him before giving him a quick peck on the cheek and darting out of his car.

I raced inside the building, but once I was in my hallway, I slowed down so I wasn’t flushed and out of breath when I walked into my room.

I can’t believe Julie almost saw us! Something about that girl just rubbed me wrong…Like she was just waiting for me to make one wrong move. I have no idea what I ever did to her, but it felt like she had definitely had it out for me since that very first day of class. She was the last person I needed to discover the truth about Tobias and me. I didn’t even want to think about what she would do if she ever caught wind of it.

Just as I expected, Alex was waiting to pounce as soon as I walked in.

“Where have you been?” Alex demanded before I had a chance to close the door behind me.

“Not here,” I said sheepishly.

“Well, no shit, Sherlock,” Alex grumbled. Then she gasped and asked, “Wait, were you…with a guy?”

“Maybe…”

“Oh-em-gee,” she said, jumping up and down. She pulled me over to her bed and forced me to sit down. She was way stronger than she looked. “Tell me allll about it.”

“Um, well, there’s nothing to really say. I’ve been kind of seeing a guy, but we’re keeping it private.”

“A secret lover?” she asked excitedly.

“No, a private, maybe-kind-of-sort-of-the-start-of-a-relationship,” I clarified.

“You’re seriously not going to give me any details?” She pouted.

“Sorry. I love you, but no.”

“Wait—is that where you disappeared to the other night? Were you with him?”

“Maybe,” I admitted sheepishly.

“Tamsin! I cannot believe you aren’t giving me anything.”

“Sorry,” I said simply, then shrugged.

Whatever was going on between Tobias and me was special, and I wanted to keep it just to myself for now. I sat down at my desk, put my headphones on, and pretended to start working on my paper so that she would stop interrogating me, but it was hard to focus on anything as I relived the memories from lying in his arms last night.

Chapter Eighteen

March was over before I knew it, which meant only a few weeks left in the semester. When I wasn’t in class, I was almost always at Tobias’s now. His townhouse had become sort of a safe haven where we could just be together without worrying about anyone seeing us. When we weren’t there, we were always exploring nearby towns. I had seen more of the surrounding area in the last few months than I had in my last three years of living here. Tobias knew all the best hole-in-the-wall restaurants.

He was taking me somewhere special today, but he didn’t tell me where. So, naturally, I was struggling to decide what I wanted to wear. I hated not knowing what the agenda was. I didn’t want to be overdressed, but I also didn’t want to not be dressed up enough.

“Go with layers for sure,” Alex suggested, as I held up my favorite white eyelet skirt.The weather was warm enough for one now, but I knew the evening would be cooler.

“Good idea,” I said, laying the skirt down on my bed and trying to figure out what top I wanted to pair with it.

“And wear your hair down.”

“Will do.”

“And tell me who the guy is.”

“Ha. No chance. Not yet, anyway.”

“Ugh,” she groaned, rolling over on her bed and covering her face with her pillow. “I cannot believe you are keeping this from me.”

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