Page 36 of More Than Chemical
“So, you do or you don’t want to have sex with me?” I asked.
“I do. I’m just not going to ruin this.”
“Ruin what?”
“Exactly.” He opened the door and stepped aside.
I walked across the threshold and looked back at him.
He smiled, said good night…and shut the door.
I stared down the long, empty hallway, and an ache took root in my stomach. Where was I going to go now? Not back to my room. Luke was still there. Not to backstabbing Emma’s room. No way.
I tapped on Dallas’s door.
He opened it again, his mouth twitching. “Did you forget something else?”
“Um.” I rubbed my lips together. This was awkward. “I know that you don’t want to have sex with me, and we don’t really know each other all that well, but do you think I could stay here tonight? On your futon?”
He squinted.
“My roommate’s boyfriend is here, and…well…I sort of got into an argument with the other girl on my floor who I usually stay with when he’s in town.”
His brow unfurled. “Just to sleep?”
“Yes, I promise.” I held my breath. An insomniac promising to sleep was like a toddler promising not to draw on the walls.
“Okay,” he said, and I exhaled.
This was crazy. Totally bizarre. I’d all but walked out on the guy because he wasn’t going to give me what I wanted. Now, I’d somehow managed to weasel myself back in for a no-nonsense sleepover.
Forget it. I was going to get him to have sex with me whether he liked it or not. Maybe not tonight, but soon. Very soon.
Thirteen
Walk of Shame
The next morning, I watched Dallas standing next to his fancy coffeemaker with his Minnesota University mug in his hand, his elastic waistband slung low on his hips. His white T-shirt had bunched high enough to show the bottom of his toned abs.
I rolled onto my side and sat up. The room looked different with light streaming through the blinds. A black hockey bag sat in the corner, slightly unzipped but no equipment poking out. A couple pieces of clothing were strewn across the floor. The top of a mini refrigerator held a few crumbs and unorganized snacks.
“Do you want a cup?” he asked.
“No thanks.” I rubbed my eyes, sorting out what had happened last night. He’d been true to his word. He hadn’t touched me. He’d stayed in his bed. I could attest to this. I’d tossed and turned while he’d lain over there in the deepest slumber I’d ever witnessed.
Now that I was upright and wishing I’d taken an Ambien, I remembered the worst thing about my decision to stay here. I didn't know how I was going to get back to my room without someone seeing me leave.
He sat on his desk chair.
I rolled my head in a circle to get the kinks out. “I’m sorry,” I said.
“For what?”
“I probably shouldn’t have stayed here last night.”
“It’s no big deal.”
But it was big deal. It was huge. If anyone saw me leaving this room at this time in the morning, I would, without a doubt, be the talk of the dorm. And when people talked, they dug.
