Page 38 of More Than Chemical
I took it, and he pulled me up. “Right,” I said.
Straightening his hoodie, I looked at the door, and my heart skipped a beat. It was like a war zone out there. Getting back to my room undetected was going to be difficult. And worse, I wasn’t sure who would be waiting to interrogate me when I got there.
“Okay. See you later.” I took a deep breath and exhaled.
Cracking open the door, I glanced down the hall to make sure it was clear. I slid out and walked with my head down as fast as I could. I didn’t know if anyone saw me. I just kept going all the way up the stairs to my room.
Inside, I saw a lump in Priya’s bed. Whew. She and Luke were still sleeping.
I went into my closet, pulled off the sweatshirt—which smelled like Dallas—and buried it deep in the back. I peeled off my yoga pants and put on my robe. A nice hot shower was what I needed.
“Where have you been?” Priya’s voice stopped me in my tracks. She was onmyside of the room, undermyperiodic table blanket, and sitting up onmybed.
“Why aren’t you in bed with Luke?” I whispered.
“Oh.” She brought her hands to her lap. “I was hot, then he kept rolling on top of me and I couldn’t breathe. Since you were gone, I moved over here.”
I thought when you had a boyfriend, you never wanted to be apart from him. Especially when you saw him only every other weekend.
Her eyes narrowed. “You didn’t answer my question. Where have you been?”
I stayed silent. Mostly because I had nothing to say. I wasn’t going to tell her I’d been in Dallas’s room. I didn’t want to go there. But then where had I been? Everything I came up with could be proven a lie.
“The lounge.”
“You slept in the lounge?”
“Sort of. You know how I have trouble sleeping? I started reading one of those novels that are on the shelf, and I fell asleep on the couch.”
“I’m sorry, Ade. That must have been really uncomfortable. I should have come looking for you.”
“It wasn’t bad. I’m fine. Just off to take a shower.”
I walked out of the room, and an ache shot across the back of my throat. I hated lying to Priya. She didn’t deserve that. Eventually, I would tell her the truth. As soon as I was ready. As soon as I had Dallas all worked out in my brain.
Fourteen
The Girl in the Hoodie
By the time I’d finished showering, wrapped my head in my towel, and cinched my terry cloth robe tight, I’d done my share of thinking about Dallas. Even though he’d outright refused me after I’d thrown myself at him, I was not having second thoughts. I still wanted him.
In the hallway I passed Priya, shower caddy in hand. “Luke’s gone,” she said, her voice sounding flat.
Hmm. I wondered if everything was okay.
When I got back to our room, I had it all to myself and decided to power up my laptop while I waited for Priya to return.
My mom had responded. She agreed to pick me up for an early sushi meal. Good.
I closed my email and opened my internet browser. It would seem after the previous night’s debacle that just demanding to have sex with Dallas wasn’t going to work. I needed a better plan. A strategy for Operation: Get Laid.
Somehow I landed on a wikiHow page titled “How to Start a Friends with Benefits Relationship.” I didn’t want just a one-night stand with Dallas. That wasn’t going to be enough for me. He didn’t need to be my boyfriend either. I wasn’t looking for one. What I wanted was something in between, and this might be the perfect solution.
The first step, the website said, was picking someone. Check.
When I scanned the details of the first step, I noticed some interesting points. I should pick someone I had chemistry with. I smiled, thinking of our conversation about aphrodisiacs. Dallas and I, we had chemistry.
The website also said to pick a person outside my social network. Another slam dunk there. Dallas would never be part of my circle of friends. Not when they distrusted him so much.
