Authors: Ashley Blake
“Oh my gosh, we’re going to have to put up with
that
all year? Really? I know I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I’m having a really hard time believing that
that
has any type of brain. So how did she get into our university?”
“Funny, you’re not the first person to ask that, Amanda asked the same thing. Apparently her daddy’s money purchased an entire wing in the library and a building for the English department. So basically her family’s money bought her way in.”
“Who’s her father?”
Katie shrugged her shoulders. “No clue.”
I scowled when I realized that she wasn't going to go away. The more I looked at them laughing with each other, the more upset I could feel myself becoming. Was this guy trying to play me? Maybe Jonathan was just a player, he certainly had the looks for it, but I had no interest in being part of his little game. Been there, done that, and I wasn’t doing it again. I looked over at them again and he was smiling at whatever it was she was whispering in his ear, and if she were any closer to him it would be hard to tell where her body stopped and his started. I felt a pang in my stomach.
How could I have been so stupid?
I realized that I was getting way ahead of myself so I had to pull back a bit, regroup, and remember that I had only known this guy for two days. I didn’t like it but, he was perfectly free to hang out or whatever with any girl if he wanted to, but if bimbo was his girlfriend I wanted nothing to do with him. I must have been staring in their direction for a long time because when I snapped out of my state of pissed offedness, I noticed that Jonathan was staring at me with a curious, yet intense, stare. I quickly turned away because I didn’t want him to see that I was watching him, but not before I saw Barbi plant a kiss on his cheek.
If “bimbo” was his type, then he had no business even looking in my direction. I know it wasn’t nice to think about her in that way but I had to make myself feel better somehow. It was almost dinnertime so Katie and I decided to head over to the cafeteria, and we were walking out of the student union when Jonathan grabbed my arm as I was on my way out of the student union.
“Leaving so soon?” My skin felt on fire under his touch.
I shot him a cool glance and looked down at my arm where his hand held me, and then back up at him and raised my eyebrows. He held my gaze as defiance brewed in his eyes and he held a firm grip. I was pretty good at the stern glance and I couldn’t recall a time when it didn’t work, until now.
“You’re not speaking to me Skylar?”
I could see Katie staring at us taking it all in and I began to squirm because I felt really uncomfortable and I knew she would be interrogating me about him later.
I continued to give him a cool stare as I answered him. “It looked like you had no problem finding someone to speak to you earlier Jonathan. It’s really not a good look for you to have a bimbo hanging all over you. You should tell your trampy girlfriend that it is un-lady like to throw herself at a guy, it’s so déclassé.” The words rolled off of my tongue before I could stop them.
I could see a spark of fire flash across his eyes as he held my gaze for what felt like an eternity, and then he leaned down to whisper in my ear. “I thought you were different Skylar, apparently I was wrong.” With that, he released his grip on my arm and walked away.
I instantly felt horrible about what I had just said.
Wait, why am I feeling bad?
He’s trying to cheat on his girlfriend with me! The whole thing was not cool and I felt myself getting more and more pissed. He was not going to kiss me in private one minute and then have his girlfriend hang all over him in public! I wanted no part of any of that. I turned to see Katie’s look of amazement and I thought,
cue the interrogation
.
“Oh my gosh Sky, what just happened between you two was so sexy! He is definitely hot for you girl, you guys have this super hot chemistry. What did he whisper in your ear?”
“Katie, he is not hot for me, I think he’s trying to have his cake and eat it too. That girl is his girlfriend! Didn’t you see them together? She was hanging all over him and he seemed to like it. I didn’t see him objecting, did you?”
Katie turned her nose up in disgust. “Oh please! You think a guy like Jonathan would have
that
as his girlfriend?” She rolled her eyes. “Not in a million years.”
“Katie, I saw them together and he looked pretty happy with her.
Ugh
, guys suck!” I waved my hand in the air to change the subject. “Enough about him, I’m starving! Let’s go eat dinner.”
Thankfully Katie dropped it because I really wasn’t ready to share how much I already liked him. Jonathan Hunter was nothing like any guy I had ever met and I could feel myself starting to fall
hard
. It was the craziest thing, I had just met him and I could not stop thinking about him, but I would have to because he was taken. Maybe Seth cheating on me threw off my jerk radar. I was going to have to just push Jonathan out of my mind.
Yeah, Sky, good luck with that.
If only the memory of his kiss and his touch would stop flooding my mind. I couldn’t wait for classes to start so that I could throw myself into my schoolwork and forget that I had ever met a gorgeous guy named Jonathan Hunter.
I was so excited when Monday morning came because I’d had a really hard Sunday trying to get Jonathan out of my mind. I was ready to start new and diving into school was the perfect solution. I had a few classes with Katie and Jenn that week and thankfully my schedule seemed to coincide with Jonathan’s because I did not see him for three whole days.
On Wednesday, when I went back to my room after my last class, I checked my email and I had a message from the Dean. When I opened it, I felt a pit in my stomach as I read the message:
Ms. Miller, your individual appointment with your Resident Advisor is scheduled for Thursday at 4:00 in the 1
st
floor meeting room of your dormitory.
I had completely forgotten about that meeting and I was dreading seeing him alone. I was sure he was upset with me and I knew that I was definitely upset with him. He was a cheater and I didn’t like that. He needed to focus all of his attention on that bimbo girlfriend of his instead letting his eyes wander in my direction. I deleted the email because I didn’t want any reminders of Jonathan around. I just wanted to get the meeting over with.
I grabbed my backpack and headed to the cafeteria to meet a few of the girls for dinner. After dinner I went to the library, found a quiet spot, pulled out my laptop and immersed myself in my books. At around 11:30 I found myself reading the same paragraph three times and I felt my eyelids getting heavy so I packed up my stuff and left. As I made my way toward the quad, I ran right into Jonathan as he was also walking toward the quad.
Under the bright lights of the walking path, I could see his eyes light up and then quickly go blank as he saw me.
Oh great.
I was not in the mood to see him just yet. He walked up beside me and started walking with me without even asking if it was okay. I hated to admit it but I felt safer with him by my side, but I would never let him know that.
“I think you’re walking with the wrong girl, where is your girlfriend Jonathan?”
I cut my eyes sideways at him and saw him set his jaw, clearly annoyed at my question.
“It is late and you shouldn’t be out here by yourself.” His tone was terse as he ground out the words.
“I can take care of myself just fine Jonathan Hunter, I don’t need you to protect me.” I let out a loud huff and sped up, trying to get away from him.
His stride increased with mine keeping pace with me and I couldn’t shake him.
“I’m sure you can take care of yourself Skylar, but I am not going to let you walk back to the dorm alone at this hour, so just slow down and let me walk with you!”
I stopped in my tracks and turned to him, glaring into his eyes.
“I do not want to be around you, don’t you get it! Now go away and leave me alone!” I spun on my heel and stalked off but Jonathan caught up with me in two seconds and grabbed my arm spinning me around to face him.
“I am not going to leave you alone at this hour, that is not going to happen!” He let go of me and ran his hands through his hair in frustration, looking at me with almost desperate eyes. “I don’t know what it is about you, but I can’t leave you alone Sky, I just can’t.” He gathered me in his arms and his lips came crashing down on mine. My knees nearly betrayed me and I began to feel them buckle as I reveled in his kiss. My stomach did somersaults as I decided to follow my heart and not my head. His fingers laced through my hair holding my head so that he could devour me with kisses. His tongue slid over mine and he gently sucked on my bottom lip, teasing my lips with his tongue. I let out a soft moan as my arms crawled up around his neck, pulling him closer, feeling his arousal and pressing my body to his.
We stood there, under the bright lights, completely engulfed in each other when we heard footsteps in the distance. It snapped me back to reality and the realization of what had just happened began to sink in. For just a few minutes I forgot that Jonathan had a girlfriend and for just a few minutes I allowed myself to get lost in him. But then I remembered Barbi and her hanging all over him and him seeming to like it, and I wanted to kick myself for letting him kiss me again.
I pulled away from him and wiped my lips staring at him with a bit of remorse.
“We shouldn’t do that Jonathan, you have a girlfriend.”
“Sky, it is not what you think.”
“Look, I can’t deal with this right now, I’m tired. Let’s just get back to the dorm.” I started walking and he fell in step beside me.
“You have to let me explain.” His voice was intense but I didn’t want to hear any excuses, at least not right then. I was mad at myself for what I had just allowed to happen, but I did want to hear what he had to say for himself eventually. I was so hoping that he wasn’t the cheater that he appeared to be, but I would have to hear him out later. I was thoroughly exhausted.
We walked up to the door of our dorm and he slid his card to buzz us in. As we started to walk toward my room I stopped and turned to him.
“You don’t have to walk me all the way, I’ll be fine from here.” He started to protest but I held up my hand. “Look Jonathan, I’ll listen to what you have to say tomorrow, okay? I’m just really tired right now.”
He reluctantly agreed and I thanked him for walking me back. My growing feelings for him were starting to mess with my head.
Before I could stop him, he leaned down and kissed my cheek, his scruff gently scratching me. “I’ll see you at our meeting tomorrow at 4:00. Sleep well.”
I walked off to my room, trying really hard not float on that cloud that was under my feet. The whole thing would be so much easier if he wasn’t so damned gorgeous and irresistible. I thought about his kisses as I got ready for bed and crashed.