Page 75 of Surrender
“I came to see if Ms. Morris had time to grade our finals yet,” Dallis responded. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to talk to Ms. Morris about my summer assignments.”
“Like I just told Dallis, I have a meeting to go to, but you’re more than welcome to go to the office and wait until it’s over,” Colbie spoke as she made her way toward the two. “If not, then we can discuss them on Monday when you come.”
Dallis stepped out of the classroom as Colbie did the same, locking the door behind her and heading down the hall. Dallis turned, going in the opposite direction, toward the exit.
“You don’t plan on waiting?” Max questioned from behind him.
“No, I’ll wait until she updates them. I’m not too worried about it. I know I’m graduating,” Dallis responded, continuing, hearing Max’s footsteps retreat in the other direction.
Dallis made his way out of the building and into the parking lot. There were a few cars left in the student section, but for the most part, when the bell rang, most students were quick to leave unless they had after-school activities.
Sliding into his car, Dallis started it, glancing in his rearview mirror before pulling out. He thought for a moment about whether or not he needed to go by his house and get anything. He had things at Colbie’s house and decided it would be enough for the next few days.
When he reached her house, Dallis parked next to the mailbox. He’d been having one of his friends drop him off until the day Will sent Colbie flowers to school. At that point, Dallis no longer cared if the other man saw his car at Colbie’s house because if he popped up, Dallis would deal with him.
He made his way to the front door and let himself in, locking the door behind him. This was the first time he’d been at Colbie’s house without her there, but it didn’t feel strange as he’d thought it would. It felt right somehow. Like he was supposed to be there, it wasn’t the first time Dallis had thought about it.
He’d be lying if he said living with Colbie never crossed his mind. However, Dallis had decided to at least wait a year until he broached the subject. He didn’t want to move faster than she was willing to in that aspect, wanting her to be comfortable with the decision when it was made.
Dallis made his way into the kitchen and looked through the freezer. He figured the least he could do was cook dinner since Colbie would be at work for a bit longer. It was almost four, and Dallis felt he had time to take something out to thaw. He grabbed the pork chops and ran water in the sink before placing the package in.
Pulling his phone from his pocket as he made his way back into the living room, Dallis sent a text to his mom, letting her know he was at Colbie’s house and would stay the weekend. He then turned on the television and flipped through the channels before settling on something to watch.
Afew minutes after six, Colbie walked through the door, and Dallis sat up from where he’d been lying on the couch. He’d contemplated texting half an hour ago to ensure she was alright but remembered that her meeting could run long. By the look on her face, he figured it hadn’t gone well.
“Bad meeting?” Dallis questioned, standing and making his way over to her.
Colbie shook her head. “No, the meeting was fine. It was after the meeting that was the problem.”
“What happened?” Dallis inquired, taking her bag from her shoulder, and placing it by the door. Colbie put her purse on the table before he took her hand and led her over to the couch.
“I didn’t think Max would actually wait until after the meeting to talk to me,” Colbie informed him as they sat. “So, when I found him outside my classroom door, I was a little surprised, but I told him he could wait.” Colbie sighed. “Anyway, he spent half an hour trying to convince me that he didn’t need to attend class the next three weeks and to allow him to do the work at home and turn it in.”
Dallis refrained from rolling his eyes. More than sure Max would have just had someone else do the work for him. He also knew Colbie wasn’t breaking any confidence. The entire senior class knew that Max would have to attend the additional session and pass to graduate. The idiot had pretty much announced it to everyone as if it were some badge of honor.
Dallis knew Colbie enough to know that she wouldn’t have that, and it was more than likely why Max had wasted half an hour of his time and hers trying to convince her otherwise.
Shaking his head, Dallis kissed her softly. “How about I run you a bath, and you can relax while I make dinner.”
“That would be amazing,” she responded with a smile, and Dallis stood, making his way down the hall into her bedroom.
Once in the ensuite, he turned on the water, placing the plug into the bathtub before grabbing Colbie’s favorite bubble bath and essential oils and adding them. He pulled out the few candles she kept under the bathroom sink and some matches and set them up before lighting them.
When the bathtub was filled, he turned the water off, making his way back into the bedroom, where he found Colbie undressing. Dallis allowed his eyes to take her in before reminding himself that he needed to let her relax. He had all weekend for everything else he was thinking about at that moment.
Dallis made his way out of the bedroom and into the kitchen; he grabbed a wine glass from the cabinet and opened the refrigerator to see if she’d already opened a particular bottle. Grabbing it, Dallis poured the rest of it into her glass before making his way back to the bathroom.
He found her in the tub, the bath pillow behind her head, eyes closed, and soft music coming from the phone dock. Dallis sat on the side of the tub and ran the knuckles of his free hand up and down her cheek, Colbie’s eyes opening. He held out the glass to her.
“Thank you, baby.”
“You don’t have to thank me.” He leaned in and kissed her temple. “I’ll start on dinner.”
Dallis left her to relax, going back into the kitchen. It took him a minute to decide on which sides to have, but once he did, he began cooking, making a mental note to ask Colbie when she wanted to return to Cabo during the summer.
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