Page 20 of Damnation
I nod. “I had a meeting with them this morning. It looks like a loanis my only solution right now.”
“Welcome to America, ladies and gentlemen, where money buys every privilege, but if you’re poor, you’re screwed.” Tiffany exclaims angrily to Alex’s nodding agreement. I’d like to point out that both of them are far closer to the first category than to the second, but we are interrupted by the sudden appearance of Leila.
“Hey, folks! Do you like snakes?” is what she opens with, sitting down next to us. “There’s an exhibition at the Corvallis Museum next Monday, and they have a discount for OSU students,” she explains, handing each of us a flyer.
“Blech, no, God forbid,” Tiffany says with a repulsed grimace on her face. “All those scales, the forked tongues, and the way they slither all over everything…” She shudders and squeezes her eyes shut. “God, it’s disgusting. It’s like I can feel them on me!”
Alex and I, however, politely thank Leila for the flyers. This would be a good opportunity to better introduce her to my two best friends. The first—and last—time they met, we were surrounded by the chaos of the basketball game.
“Hey, Leila, do you remember my friends?” I ask her. “Alex and Tiffany?”
“Yeah, of course. You’re the photographer guy, right?” she asks, pointing at Alex. “You took a ton of pictures at the last game.”
“Yep, that’s me,” Alex says, shaking her hand with that easy way he has of making people feel comfortable.
He and Leila continue to chat about photography, also drawing Tiffany into the conversation, until Thomas appears in the cafeteria door. With an unlit cigarette waiting between his lips, he props the door open with one foot. He acknowledges his sister from across the room and invites me outside with a jerk of his head.
“He’s here. I’ll let you know how the appointments go. Later!” I tell Leila and Tiffany, before heading off with Alex in tow. When Thomas notices his presence, his jaw immediately clenches, and he crosses his arms over his chest. I’m willing to bet that the next words out of his mouth will be something like,He’s not getting in my car.So I pick upmy pace to get to the exit before Alex. I launch myself at Thomas and manage to silence him by throwing my arms around his neck and covering his mouth with a kiss that clearly takes him by surprise.
“Please be nice to him?” I murmur.
Thomas jerks his head in annoyance but still doesn’t take his lips off of mine. He pushes my mouth open with his tongue, kissing me deeper. He runs a hand over my butt before squeezing it hard, causing an explosion in my body. Under my clothes, every inch of my skin is burning.
Behind us, Alex clears his throat, and I instantly come back to earth. Embarrassed, I detach Thomas’s hand. “We’re not alone,” I say into his mouth. I lower myself back onto my heels and press my hands to his chest to put him at a safe distance.
He looks from Alex to me; then he wraps a possessive arm around me and pulls me back to him, as though trying to establish the boundaries of his territory. “If I want to touch you, I’ll touch you,” he tells me, soft but firm. “And if your little friend doesn’t like it, he can leave. This is the second time today he’s cockblocked me when all I want is to be alone with you.”
“Uh…how about I wait in the parking lot for you two?” Alex breaks in, clearly uncomfortable.
“Stop calling him my little friend; it’s demeaning,” I murmur, disheartened, as I watch Alex walk away to leave us alone. “He’s my friend, my best friend. We’re a package deal. So I would really like you to make an effort to get along with him or least to accept our bond.” I plead with my eyes, and Thomas gives me an indulgent look. I smile gratefully at him, and the three of us walk to the car and leave.
***
I didn’t have any great hopes for the apartments I was seeing, but reality somehow undershot my expectations. The visits were all complete disasters.
The first place was a good price, but it was a house share with bunch of musicians—punk musicians—who may or may not have been high on something, considering that in the twenty minutes we spentwith them, none of them was able to put together a single meaningful sentence. The second place was also shared, with a guy, a detail which had not been specified in the ad.
Thomas’s answer, before I even had time to formulate one of my own, was unequivocal: “Not a chance.” He grabbed my wrist and dragged me out to a soundtrack of Alex’s soft laughter.
The studio near campus, on the other hand, was really nice. The common areas were well cared for, the internal walls were red brick, and the layout was sensible. But it was too expensive.
So here we are, back on campus again, dropping off Alex for his last class of the day. I’m dying to take a shower before work, and Thomas offered to let me use his bathroom at the frat house. He didn’t have to ask me twice. I like occupying his space even when he’s not in it. It gives me a feeling of familiarity.
We park in the space reserved for students and climb out of the car. Thomas locks the doors and then hands me his room key. “Please actually lock the door this time,” he teases.
I take the key and roll my eyes. “That was just an oversight, sweetie,” I say, dragging a smile out of him. Though, honestly, I almost die of shame every time I think about how Finn saw me half naked in Matt’s room.
With one sudden movement, Thomas sweeps me up off the ground and sets me on the hood of his car. He positions himself between my legs and rests his palms on either side of my hips, on the still-warm chassis.
“An oversight we don’t wanna make again,” he says, rubbing his nose against mine. I can feel his warm breath against my lips as I wrap my arms around his middle.
“Worried someone else might see me in my underwear?” I tease in a whisper, letting my gaze fall first to his Adam’s apple, covered in ink, and then to the breadth of his shoulders in his black sweatshirt.
“If that were to happen…” he warns, bringing his mouth to my neck, just below my ear. He kisses me softly there, teasing the sensitive skin. I shiver and press my eyes closed, savoring the jolt of electricity that courses through my body. “I couldn’t be held accountable for myactions,” he continues, his voice raspy, his hands sliding around to the back of my pants. He squeezes my butt and pulls me harder against his hips, all while continuing to lay a trail of kisses along my jawline.
“You’re too jealous,” I answer, burying my fingers in the fabric of his sweatshirt. He shakes his head slowly, but a small half smile gives him away.
“I just protect what’s mine.” He takes my bottom lip between his teeth and softly bites it. His deep-green eyes stare into me. “And you are mine.”
