I realize belatedly I should’ve just given him the damn cup. Especially when his eyebrows climb towards his bangs and he stares at me in slight surprise. Before I can apologize or take it back, however, he reaches up to curl his fingers around the plastic cup and my fingers. He pulls my hand higher until his lipsclose around the straw and he lazily drags the liquid up through the straw and into hollowed cheeks.
It’s both the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen and one of the hottest. Oliver himself is fucking gorgeous, and when he’s acting like this, I can’t help but feel like it’s a turn on to some weird part of me. Well, not as weird as the part of me that loved talking toThrillingterrorover the weekend, so there’s that.
“You look… well you certainly know how to suck,” I tease, feeling more at ease with him than I expect to. His lips turn up in a grin, and he lets the straw fall out of his mouth.
“I would say I’m trying to flirt with you, but I don’t think mysucking gameis of much interest to you,” he snickers.
“Yeah, probably not.” I take another sip of my drink, positive I can taste Oliver on the straw. Mixed with coffee, it’s a damn good flavor.
“Did you have a good weekend?” he hums, taking the cup back when I offer it. Thanks to him, we have less than half of the contents left, and I let out a breath and moan at the prospect of drinking the rest.
“There’s so fucking much,” I nearly sob, then add, “It was okay. I didn’t do much. I just read a lot and ate ramen. And pancakes. I had such fucking good pancakes from Goldman’s Diner.”
“That’s pretty nice. My roommate got shitty and kept telling me I needed to study instead of going off and doing what I wanted.”
“Did you listen to him?” I ask, more curious than anything.
“Some, I guess. He gets scary when he’s mad. You want more?” I hesitate, then take another drink just as Professor Solomon’s office door closes and I jump, choking on my coffee.
Oliver snatches it from my fingers, a hand on my back as I cough and my eyes stream. There’s sure as hell no way to be subtle about it now, and when I have myself under control andOliver is sipping our shared drink once more, I glance up to see Professor Solomon’s eternally disapproving gaze squarely on us.
“Five minutes,” he says, then breezes into the room without a look behind him.
Oliver sighs, and I groan, throwing my head back against the couch.
Or what I thought was going to be the couch. In reality, it turns out to be Oliver’s arm I’m leaning against, and I canfeelthe heat from his body as he curls around me, his cologne the perfect mix of spicy and sweet.
“Sorry,” he murmurs softly. “Though you could still do the thing. He doesn’t know you didn’t get this for us to share. He barely knows anything, after all. Maybe you really like me.”
“Maybe I do,” I agree with a loud sigh and try to sound as flippant as him. “Maybe I’m the kind of girl who buys coffee for the guys she really likes.”
“Maybe you are. And maybe I’m the kind of guy who shows off his sucking game with girls he wants to impress.”
I open my eyes to meet his, a nervous smile on my face. “Or maybe we’re just drinking so much coffee we’re going to throw up in his class,” I say, trying to sound funny and sounding almost nervous instead.
Oliver doesn’t pull away. Not quite, even when he puts the cup down and moves to lean closer to me again. He could kiss me, I realize. He’s close enough that if I just leaned forward a few inches into his amused face, I could press my lips to his soft, full mouth.
God, I shouldn’t want to do it so badly, and I curl my hands in my lap at the way my heart pitter-patters in my chest.
Whatisit about him that gets me going like this?
“I like the first option better,” he says finally, dragging me gently to my feet. “Now…” Oliver picks up the cup and, holding my eyes, drains the rest of my coffee to leave a sip for me, whichI gratefully take before shaking the empty cup. “Go in there andslam dunkthis into his trash can. Right in front of him.”
“That’s kind of dramatic. Maybe too dramatic,” I say, a little unsure at the prospect of pissing him off that much. Oliver chuckles and shakes his head.
“Nah, it’ll be fine. Prove a point. Prove yourdominance. Show Rook you aren’t afraid of him and you’ll get whatever size coffee you want.”
Even if it has me running to the bathroom for the next six hours, I suppose. I just hope it’s worth it. When we get to the room, I hesitate just inside the door, until Professor Solomon expectantly looks up at us, unamused.
Though I don’t slam dunk the cup into the trash, I rattle it enough to prove that it’s empty before dropping it into the plastic can. Though I nearly miss, and it hits the sides of the plastic bin on its way down, causing Oliver to frown in sympathy.
Professor Solomon justlooksat me, disdain oozing from his pores. “Close the door before you sit, Love,” he says, a sigh in his voice. “Since you waited until the very last minute to come in here.”
He looks away and down, and even though I realize this was all for nothing as I gently close the door and sit, I can’t help the small spark of satisfaction as I sit beside Oliver and pillow my chin on my hands as our professor gets up and starts his lecture.
Who knows? Maybe I’ll take advice from Oliver on my next stage of passive aggressive disrespect and start calling himRookwhen he can barely hear and certainly can’t do anything.
I blink, thinking through that, and press my lips together so I don’t grimace. Well, I won’t be going that far, I don’t think. But a girl can dream, can’t she?