Page 20 of My Pucking Mate

Oh lord, now he's smiling and it's even more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. Then he says in a low, gruff voice, “Can we take a walk and talk?”

For several moments words leave me, and I just nod a little until my ability to speak finally returns.

“Let me throw on some real clothes real quick and I can meet you out in front of the building. I don’t want you to get in trouble for being in here . . . wait how DID you get in here?”

He just smiles like he knows it muddles my thoughts, takes my hand in his, kisses the top of my knuckles, and begins walking down the hallway as he tosses a smile over his shoulder.

How can a man make me feel like my heart is going to stop and beat out of my chest at the same time?!

I close the door softly, holding on to all the calm energy I can for a moment. Once the door is closed and I hear their heavy footsteps fade away, I whisper-screech as I rush across the room. “ZOEY!”

“WHAT, WHAT, WHAT?!” she cries sitting straight up in bed and removing her eye mask.

“ROMAN. Just. Knocked. On. Our. Door,” I squeak out, thumb hooking over my shoulder in the direction of the door. I think I might be on the edge of hyperventilating.

Zoey is out of bed now, eyes the size of saucers, rubbing her hands up and down my arms. “Breathe Lee, it won’t do you any good if you pass out. Remember, deep breath in. Hold it. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Release . . . better?”

I nod.

“Okay, let’s try that again. What’s going on?” she pries.

I take one more deep breath and get all my words out on the release of that same breath, “Roman and Benny knocked on the door and woke me up. He’s okay and not hurt, but I don’t know how, and he wants to take a walk and talk,” I finish talking, dropping unceremoniously onto my bed.

I didn’t know Zoey’s eyes could get any bigger.

I hop up off my bed rushing to my dresser. “I told him I was going to throw on some clothes and meet him outside. Is this crazy? It feels crazy.”

“It’s definitely crazy, but you better get your ass out there and find out what’s up. You’ve been kinda crazy about him,” she says with that stupid eyebrow wiggle she does.

“Okay, right. It’s definitely crazy, but I’m just gonna talk to him and see what’s up. What could go wrong?”

When I’ve finally gotten myself together, in my favorite black flare leggings, a comfy pink hoodie, and a wild silver messy bun, I rush outside.

He’s waiting under the tree just outside the dorm building with two drinks in his hands that were not there before, and he seems to have lost Benny. He notices me glancing around for him and points towards the courtyard that connects all the dorms. I see Benny lounging on the edge of the small concrete wall, waving when he sees me, so I give him a small wave in return.

Nodding, I walk towards Roman on shaky legs.

“I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got a caramel macchiato and a hot cocoa,” he says, nodding to each Cool Beans cup. He looks unsure of himself, which looks adorable on this gorgeous mammoth of a man.

“I love both, but if I drink that coffee right now, I won’t get to sleep again until tomorrow.” I say with a small smile as he hands me the hot cocoa.

He takes a sip of the coffee as he slowly starts to walk away. I follow his lead, also sipping on my cocoa. It’s the perfect mix of temperature and creamy chocolate goodness. A small moan of contentment slips out, and he freezes.

“As much as I love that sound, if you could refrain until we’ve discussed everything, that would be very helpful,” he says, his voice somehow even more gravelly than before.

I release a nervous giggle, “Soooo, um, can we start with the questions I blurted at you back at the dorm?” Still slightly nervous about walking around with a practical stranger in themiddle of the night, I glance around and see a few different groups of other students. One group looks to be studying and the other looks like they might have had a few drinks and thought it was a good time to play football. No one told me that college kids were so nocturnal.

“I’m okay. I’ll explain how, later.”

“You were definitely not okay. I was there. I saw how hard you were hit. You should not be okay. I mean, I'm glad you are, but how is that possible?”

He smiles before he says, “I know it doesn't make sense right now, but I promise I'm really okay. And I'll tell you everything soon.”

“That's not strange or anything . . .”What am I doing? I am in so over my head right now.“Okay, so um, what did you want to talk about?”

“Well, you, actually. I’m sure you’ve noticed I seem to be . . . drawn to you,” he says cryptically.

“Umm okay, what a . . . what about me?”

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