This girl had the power to make me forget myself and so much more. I didn’t think she fully grasped the influence she possessed, not just with her lips and what was between her legs, because it was so much more than sex for me, something I never imagined I’d feel—didn’t deserve to feel. There was nothing in this world I wouldn’t do for her.
Her long lashes, coated with last night’s mascara, fluttered open, and I adored the little dazed glimmer in her dove-gray eyes. “What was that for?”
My hands continued to rest on her hips. “No reason. I just wanted to.” We both had needed it, a moment to forget Sterling. I refused to let that asshole come between us. Mads and I had worked hard to get to this point. I wouldn’t let anything or anyone take her from me.
Not again.
I was damn close to being in love with this girl.
Or perhaps I already was but just wasn’t ready to admit it.
“I’m glad.” She let out a long sigh. The cigarette that had been between her fingers sat burning on the ground. Mads crushed it under her white sneaker before meeting my gaze again. “I needed that.”
“Bad day?” I thought back to Sterling. What had he said to her? If he hurt her in any way, emotional or physical, I’d kill the bastard. If he kept messing with my girl, I would make him wish he’d never laid eyes on her.
“You could say that.” A few moments of silence passed as I let her sort out the turmoil I sensed from her. “Sterling was in my class today,” she explained what I’d already learned.
I brushed the side of her cheek with my knuckles. “Did he bother you?”
She dropped the back of her head against the tree. “It’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m more upset about not being able to keep my promise to you.”
Right. My promise about her staying away from Sterling. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel guilty. “You didn’t go out of your way to hang out with him. Coincidences happen.” Except I fully didn’t believe him being in that class with Mads was a happenstance. The prick was up to something. He had an agenda, and I planned to uncover what the fuck it was.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” she asked, studying my face.
“I will. Just not today.” She had enough on her mind, and I didn’t want to add to it. “How was class?” I asked, taking her hand and pulling her out from under the tree.
“Wait.” She dug her heels in and turned around, grabbing something in the grass—her discarded cigarette to dispose of properly. After she gathered her stuff, we traipsed through the courtyard to the sidewalk. “Surprisingly it didn’t suck completely. I like my professor.”
The scent of steamed hot dogs drifted in the air as we walked by one of the street vendors on campus. “Is she hot?” I asked, failing to keep a straight face.
She pinched me in the side, but I only chuckled. “Oh, before I forget, here.” Extending my laptop, she waited for me to take it. “Thanks for letting me borrow it.”
I took the computer, tucking it against my side. “Are there any notes you need?” I inquired, making sure she had everything.
She shook her dark blonde head. “I ended up not needing it today.”
“Did you at least take a few nudes for me?”
Her nose scrunched. “And when would I have had the time to do that?”
I slung my arm over her shoulder. “I don’t think about the details, babe, just the outcome.”
She shoved me away. “Don’t call me babe.” Mads loathed the use of cute couple nicknames. She thought they were cliché and gag-worthy. Her words, not mine.
“Sweetie. Cookie. Honey. Doll. Love. Are any of those better?”
Shooting me a deathly side-eye, she replied, “Not if you want to keep both your balls attached.”
“Such violence.” I grinned, moving in to nuzzle the space behind her ear. “No wonder I’m crazy about you.”
She rolled her eyes.
We came to an intersection in the pathway. The right would take me to the gym, and the left would take her to the dorms. This was where we split off, yet I was reluctant to leave her. “I need to go shower and change. I’ve had enough of these clothes,” she said. “I’ll text you later?”
I nodded.
Waving, she flashed me a smile before turning and heading to the dorms. I stayed and watched her receding back for a few minutes until I lost her behind a building.