Page 49 of Kingston
This is always the awkward part. Girls get really weird when I don’t speak to them. She’s asked me why I won’t talk to her, but even without a solid answer, she hasn’t freaked out about it like some chicks would—and have in the past. I like her more for that than I already did. In truth, she’s in the process of making me a fucking fool for her.
Wait. That’s a lie.
Because I think I fell for her the moment I laid eyes on her. It’d been like getting punched in the face. I saw fucking stars. Fucking. Stars.
I take a few calming breaths, then connect my gaze to her dark eyes before I point at our house on the hill, visible from here. I’m always careful to make sure people know I’m paying attention, even if I’m not vocally responding to them.
And then because I can’t see what it’ll hurt, I take her hand in mine and start down the path heading toward the east end of campus. She sputters beside me. “What are you doing?” She pulls her hand out of my grip, stopping us. “You’re always manhandling me.”
I tilt my head to the side for a moment, eyeing the way her lips are pursed, a deep groove forming right down the center of her forehead. Her eyes blaze at me. Eyelashes flutter. All the air punches out of my lungs. She’s so fuckin’ pretty when she’s mad. Makes me want to throw her over my shoulder a third time and take her back to my room to see if she stays angry when I bury my tongue in her pussy.
Kingston was inside her last night. Had his mouth and hands all over her. I bet he made her whimper his name again, like she had on the video footage. I know it’s not good for me, but I can’t help but think about the two of them together. It makes my brain twist up into tiny knots. It makes it hard to think. Harder to breathe.
Obsessive. That’s what I am sometimes. And I can’t seem to help myself.
“Cannon.” I blink at the sound of my name, realizing I don’t have any clue how long we’ve been standing here with me all caught up in my head. Elliot crosses her arms over her chest and looks up at me from under those lush lashes of hers. “I don’t know what to make of you.” I watch the way her teeth sink into her full lip and wish it was mine caught between them.
I force myself to stop thinking about it and gesture that we should keep walking. If I train my eyes ahead of me instead of on her, maybe I have a chance the boner in my shorts will go down.
We haven’t quite made it off campus yet when she hesitantly speaks again. “Um, could I ask you a question? Or… I guess it’s more of a favor.”
Drawing my brows together, I begrudgingly let my eyes drift back to hers and nod.
“Do you think you’d be able to get Archer to look at his video footage—I’m assuming Archer’s responsible for whatever camera is in my room. He wasn’t much help last night.” She pauses to give an eye roll. “I want to know who was in my room. There was hot chocolate on my nightstand, and I’m kinda freaked—”
I should have seen this coming.No one else knows what I did. Do I tell her? Fuck, I can’t stand here like an idiot.Not to mention, if she goes directly to Archer, I’m sure he’ll show her the recording. He loves all his techie stuff, sure, but he also gets off on anything having to do with Elliot. He watches her as much as I do, probably more because of the video feeds. I rub my hand over my jaw. There’s this curling, twisting sensation in my chest, and when it comes down to it, I’d rather be the one to tell her it was me than have her find out later from someone else.
Tugging her by the elbow off the path, I take her to a spot between a couple of buildings where we can stand in the shade under one of the big trees our campus is known for. I toss my duffel bag down at the base of the tree and encourage her to do the same while I pull out my phone and my ear buds, then thumb through my new playlist until I find the right song. With a deep inhale, I pop one ear bud in and offer her the other.
I can totally tell curiosity has gotten the better of her. “You want me to listen?” When I nod, she tentatively reaches out to take it from me, a perplexed look crossing her face. She tucks it into her ear, then crosses her arms over her chest.
I hit play and wait for her to figure out what I’m trying to say as the music starts while I tuck my phone back into the pocket of my athletic shorts.
From the expression on her face, it doesn’t take her long to recognize the song she’d been singing last night in the shower. But will she pick up on the fact that I heard her? That I was there dropping off the hot chocolate while she was singing the song?
I can practically see the way her brain puzzles it out as “Dirty Thoughts” plays in her ear. Her face goes a little pale when what I’m trying to get across to her smacks her upside the head.
Her mouth drops open, eyes flicking up to mine. “Are you… are you saying you’re the one who busted into my room?”
I stare steadily at her, solemnly taking in the flush blooming on her chest before it moves up to her neck, finally landing on her cheeks. She blinks up at me, as if she can make me tell her the truth if she does it enough. Commanding me with her eyes or something.
When I don’t answer, she grits out, “Cannon. Were you in my fucking room while I was showering?”
I nod and lip sync the next line to the music we’re both listening to. Her face turns a bright pink.
For several seconds, the only movement she makes is the rapid rise and fall of her chest. “How did you get in there?”
I give her a little shrug she doesn’t seem to appreciate. Narrowing her eyes, she wets her lips. “You brought the hot chocolate. Why? You know I didn’t drink it, right?” Her breath heaves from her, her voice raising as she throws up her arms from her sides. “I couldn’t! You freaked me out! How was I supposed to know there wasn’t something wrong with it? It’s bad enough someone’s leaving me no—” She clamps her lips shut and whirls around, stooping to get her bag.
What the fuck?I may have broken in, but I had no intention of harming her. I catch her by the elbow, and we stop, staring at each other. There are tears forming in her wide eyes, and it shocks me so badly that I let her go.
She runs at least ten paces before I come to my senses and go after her. In a few short strides, I’ve got her in my arms, her back to my front, stopping her from leaving. She becomes wild, flailing and kicking as I return us to the tree where my bag is. I manage to get her to drop her backpack as I turn her around, catching her arms between us against my chest. “Let me go, Cannon,” she cries. Her voice hitches, and wounds me with her upset, like a hammer pulverizing my heart. She’s trembling, but if she’d calm down, I could explain.Dammit.I take an exaggerated breath, willing her to understand.I don’t mean to hurt or scare you.Come on, Elliot. Breathe with me.I inhale, each breath deeper and slower than the last.
I feel like a goddamn genius when she does, in fact, stop struggling in my arms. Her fingers are twisted in the fabric at the front of my shirt, but her cheek now rests above them on my chest as we breathe together. I take in the scent of her, letting it drift up my nose and infiltrate my brain. Damn, she’s so fucking sweet.
“Hey, is she okay?” A pair of girls stop near us, watching the scene unfolding before them with interest.
I nod, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
