Over time, she noticed that people must have started to
leave, the push of the crowd starting to recede. She had no idea how long they stood there wrapped up in each other, but eventually the room thinned out. She could still feel his heartbeat and, when he suddenly stepped away, she was a little shocked at the amount of disappointment she felt. She could have stood like that for hours.
Before she had the chance to further sulk at his detachment, she felt an arm pulling her back down and onto his lap. She mustered a small amount of courage to look him in the eye. They still hadn’t really spoken since what would now be forever known asthekissand she felt as though her heart was going to explode out of her chest from sheer tension.
No one had ever made her so nervous and yet so comfortable at the same time. He went to brush some of her hair back and she wrapped her arms around his neck, running her fingers into his hair. He closed his eyes, a dreamy, almost drunk hint of a smile stretched across his face. She could tell he wanted to kiss her again, but he was waiting for her to make the first move. He opened his eyes, reached up and rubbed the pad of his thumb across her bottom lip, popping it from the firm hold of her teeth.
“Stop thinking so hard.”
“What?”
“You think too much,” he said as he shifted her to the side and leaned his forehead against hers. A trail of goosebumps followed his hand as it snaked up her back to pause at the nape of her neck. It took considerable effort to hold in her moan as he gently massaged the muscles on the back of her neck. He had ignited a fire in her with just a simple touch. A touch like none she’d felt before. She shifted slightly, tentatively brushing her lips against his. His hands, which had made their way to her waist, slowly slid up her back and to her neck again. A continuous movement she never wanted to end.
They were so close she could breathe him in. She smiled against his lips and then let go of her restraint. She kissed him as if he was the only thing left in this world. And in that moment, he truly
was. It was them and no one else. When his teeth scraped against her bottom lip, wanting and needy, she let out another whimper which seemed to invigorate him even further. He shifted her slightly, pulling her in closer, and she felt him hard and ready under her.
“Dude. You’re supposed to be listening to us, not sucking face with your girl the entire time.”
They quickly broke apart, both looking rather guilty and extremely flushed. Callum looked her way, not correcting the stranger.
Your girl.
Chapter 15 - Sam
“Well, maybe if you sounded a little better I wouldn’t need a distraction,” Callum said to his friend, smirking. “Sam, this is Keiser. Keiser, this is Sam.”
They exchanged hellos, and then she realized she had actually met him the previous week at Micah’s house. Sam would normally have mentioned their having met before, but her brain was on autopilot.
She couldn’t think straight. Not when she was acutely aware of the fact that she was still planted firmly in Callum’s lap.
Her brain and muscles started to debate whether she should get off of him or stay put. She had never been one for public displays of affection, and here she was practically dry humping a guy she had sworn to hate. And every moment of it in full view of a crowd of strangers.
Sam thought Callum could sense her slight shifting because he reached around to hold her to him tighter. His small motion made her smile. Sam had never been boy crazy. She honestly thought those girls were insane. They would get all giggly and giddy because some guy looked at them the right way. Yet, here she was trying to figure out why she couldn’t take the damn smile off her face.
Callum and Keiser talked about music for the duration of the break, leaving her to overanalyze the fact that she was sitting there like it was the most normal thing between them. He continued drawing little circles against her skin, but this time he let his fingers linger on her hips. He was so close to the apex of her thigh that, if there hadn’t been a thread of fabric between them, he would have certainly felt the evidence of her desire.
After a few minutes of conversation, Keiser excused himself to return to the stage and Sam tried to come up with the right thing to say. The buzz of her phone was her saving grace.
Kristin: ARE YOU ALIVE!?
Sam didn’t have time to respond before the next text came through.
Kristin: I just checked your location. You ARE NOT at the library. You are at SOCIAL! Have you been kidnapped?!
Callum buried his face in Sam’s neck as he unsuccessfully tried to hold in the laugh that erupted.
Sam: Yes. Be home shortly!
Then she quickly realized what she had typed and rushed to fix it before Kristin called in the National Guard.
Sam: Yes, I’m alive. Not, yes, I’ve been kidnapped, haha. See you in a few…Mom.
“I need to head back. I have an 8 a.m. lab and it’s after midnight.”
“Nothing I can do to convince you to stay, huh?” Callum said, more to himself than to her. She shuddered. She swore she felt his lips graze her neck as he spoke.
But she silently shook her head. She needed to stand up. That would be the first move in walking away. But his head was planted on her shoulder and his arms were still holding her tightly to him.