Page 26 of Learn Your Limits
Her arms drop to her sides as she pushes off the doorway, standing to her full height once more, putting her at least six inches shorter than me.
Too short.
I’ve never put much thought into my preferred height for a partner, and I’ve dated women of varying heights, but Milo is the tallest person I’ve ever been with. I loved that even when he had me pressed against the wall in his office with my legs spread, giving him room to stand between them, we were eye-level.When I’m fully standing, Milo is only a couple of inches shorter than I am. I wouldn’t need to bend over a ridiculous amount to kiss him, and he wouldn’t have to stand on his tiptoes to lean up and kiss me.
Fuck.
My mind can’t continue to go there right now. I have to push him from my mind and try to get through this night with Avalon. I doubt she wants to be here any more than I do. Maybe we could actually have a fun evening together if she agrees to hang out as just friends.
When she finally breaks the tense silence building between us, her words surprise me. “How long do you think we need to stay out tonight to make our so-called date believable?” Her eyes brighten, the corner of her lips tugging into a smirk.
“You’d be willing to fake it with me?” I ask, needing to make sure I’m understanding her correctly.
“Believe it or not, Reid, you’re not the only one who would be betraying someone by going on a date tonight.”
Breath expels from my lungs with a relieved sigh. “A couple of hours?”
As much as I wish we could simply swing through some cheap drive-thru and call it a night, I’m fairly confident that my father will be monitoring my credit card activity. And there’s a chance her parents will be waiting to hear from her about the evening as well. If I have her back within an hour, they will assume the date was a disaster, and any hope I have of escaping my father’s wrath will fly out the window.
Once we agreed to go on a fake date for the sake of accommodating our parents, Avalon and I discovered that we actually have quite a bit in common. We ended up at someridiculously fancy restaurant, courtesy of the credit card my father pays for. We managed to run up the bill quite a bit, enough that he won’t dare question whether or not I treated her to the luxuries that our last name can provide. The meal was decent, I guess. But I would much rather have spent the night eating a large pizza and lounging on the couch with my sketchbook in hand.
By the time I’m dropping Avalon off back at her house, my craving for Milo has grown exponentially.
I wait until I’ve made it out of her neighborhood before I pop in a Bluetooth earbud and keep one hand on the steering wheel, carefully using the other to swipe open the app on my phone. It would be so much easier to be able to call Milo, but he’s made it clear that communicating this way is safer. There are no phone calls or text messages that can be traced back to Reid Callahan, his student. We can’t risk leaving behind any kind of so-called paper trail.
As soon as I pull up to a red light, I open our conversation and press the video chat icon, drumming my fingers anxiously on the wheel while I wait for him to answer. My attention flicks between the screen and the road in front of me, butterflies swarming my stomach.
What if he doesn’t answer? Or worse, what if he does but turns me down? What I’m about to ask of him will cross the line between us, but I’m done caring.
“Reid?” Milo rasps, answering the call. From what I can see, he’s wearing a black V-neck and is in a lounged position on his bed, the room dark as though he had been sleeping before answering my call.
I don’t have it in me to feel bad about waking him up right now. Not when every fiber of my being is screaming at me to see him, to wrap my arms around him and know that he still wants me.
That he’s still mine.
“What time is it? Are you heading to your date?” he asks.
I would give anything to be curled up with him right now.
“No. I, uh, just dropped her off. It’s a little after ten,” I say, heart pounding in my chest. I force my eyes away from the screen and back to the road as I drive. I don’t know where exactly he lives, but I know it’s not far from my place. “Milo, I want to see you. Please...”
“At least I’m not alone in the thought,” he responds with sleep still lining his voice. His deep breath draws my eyes to the screen just as he finishes running his hand through his tousled hair. “I want you to come to my house, Reid. I need to see you.”
My eyes flick back to the road in front of me. “Fuck, Milo. Are you sure?” I’m desperate for him to say yes, but I would understand if he thinks the risk is too great. I doubt anyone would see me this late at night. Hell, at this point, I’d be willing to sneak in through a damn window if it meant I could spend the night with him. The past few weeks have been torture, and the time we have managed to steal for ourselves hasn’t been nearly enough.
“Muñeco, I’m going to send you my address.” Light tapping noises fill the space while he types, his eyes narrowed in concentration. His gaze finds mine through the screen, and the intensity of his stare makes me squirm in my seat. “I’m done pretending you’re not everything to me.”
I can’t help the sigh of relief that escapes my lips, my eyes fluttering shut for a moment at his declaration. “I’ll see you soon,” I promise. The video chat disconnects, and I quickly copy the address he sent me, plugging it into my navigation.
Fifteen minutes is all that stands between us now.
The palms of my hands feel cold and clammy when I pull up outside of Milo’s home and find the front windows faintly illuminated with soft light peeking through the curtains.
My mind is racing with thoughts and fantasies of where tonight is going to lead. Whatever happens, I know that as soon as I step inside of his home, we won’t be able to go back to how things were. Some secrecy will still be necessary until the semester is over, and I don’t even want to think about how my parents will react to our relationship, but after this...
He will be mine, and I’ll be his.
I rub the palms of my hands over my jean-covered thighs before grabbing my phone from the dashboard mount and sending a message to Milo, letting him know I’m here. Resting my head back against the driver’s seat headrest, I give myself a moment to catch my breath and will my erratic heart to steady before I step out of the car and make my way to his front door. I slowly pull in a lungful of air when I reach it, exhaling the breath as I raise my fist to the solid surface, preparing to knock just before it swings open.
