The Only One

by Magan Vernon

  He laughed, a low sound that came from deep in his stomach. “You need to chillax a little.”

  “What?” I raised an eyebrow. The leaves were changing colors and starting to fall off the trees, blanketing the ground in a array of reds and oranges. If I was by myself I may have gone out of my way to find a particularly crunchy one to step on. But I couldn’t embarrass myself like that in public and especially not in front of John.

  “You seem so tense. Maybe I need to come by your place and give you a massage or something.” He squeezed my side. If he thought I was tense before, he probably thought I had gone rigor. My body seized under his touch and it became hard to breathe.

  “Um, no, that’s okay.” We were almost in front of Brown Hall and I had to get away before I did or said something stupid and made a fool of myself. “I better get to class. Don’t want to be late.”

  I wiggled out of his grasp and power walked like an old lady toward Brown.

  “See you around, Red!” I heard him yell behind me, but all I could do was wave because if I turned around and saw him smiling, there was no way I was ever going to actually make it to class.

  On the one hand, he seemed like a big player. No guy just makes out with a girl in the middle of a fraternity party if he wasn’t. But on the other hand, there was something different about him that was becoming highly addictive and hard to stay away from. Maybe the guy wasn’t a player and maybe I’d get a chance to find out.

  But that would have to wait until after class.

  Chapter 4

  The next few days were filled with the normal routine of work and classes. It made me acutely aware of what little of a life I actually had. My dad bailing on us put a lot of financial stress on my mom before I went to college. I had to rely on student loans and a lot of hours at the coffee shop just to get by. I couldn’t blow all that by going out every night. That would be why I was currently sitting alone in my apartment while everyone else was probably out.

  The Halloween party at the Alpha Mu house was a fluke. No matter how much I tried to concentrate, I couldn’t help but let my mind wander to images of John. Not just how good he looked in a loincloth, but the way he looked at me. Like there wasn’t anyone else around. Hell, he ditched two blonde girls to talk to me.

  No. I shook my head, even though no one could see me. I’d been staring at my open Word document, typing my paper for American Religious History. It was very dry material and I constantly had to take breaks to check my Facebook or watch a YouTube video just to stay awake.

  After an additional half an hour of reading another boring article, I decided I deserved another Facebook break. Usually not much had changed on my newsfeed except for some more memes or people with bad grammar from high school posting about something stupid. But this time I did have something new. One friend request.

  I clicked on it and there was a picture of a guy in a loincloth. John “John Boy” Walden wants to be your friend.

  I couldn’t help it. I giggled and quickly pressed accept. No sooner had I pressed the button when a message popped up.

  Hey, Red, thought we should become official friends.

  I gasped unconsciously. It was as if he was waiting for me to come on. I wondered what he was doing at this exact moment, but it would have been really creepy to ask, so instead I just went for normal conversation.

  Good Call.

  Whatcha doing?

  What was I doing? Did he just ask that? Was he going to ask me to do something? How should I respond to that? “Pull yourself together, Melanie,” I chastised myself. “You don’t need to be that crazy girl who fawns over what a guy’s thinking. You also shouldn’t be the crazy girl that talks to herself.”

  Nothing much. I’m just working on my history paper, you?

  Seriously? It’s Thursday night and I’d expect a fine ass girl like you to already be pre-gaming.

  I always found it nuts to drink on a week night. I had classes the next day and I wouldn’t miss those. I cared more about what my teachers thought of me than the other students a lot of the time. The people having parties weren’t giving me a grade.

  It’s not really my thing.

  What if you came over here and hung out with me then? We could make it your thing.

  I had to seriously think about that one. On the one hand, I wouldn’t mind seeing him outside of the classroom. On the other, I didn’t want to be just another notch in his bedpost. That’s all I figured he wanted anyway. He just seemed to really be going out of his way to get it. Was he actually into me?

  No, it’s fine. We can’t all be overachievers like you and I really need to get this paper done.

  Want some company?

  Was he really asking what I thought he was?

  I could swing by if you need someone to show you how a history paper is done.

  I knew how to write a paper; I was an English major for God’s sake. I had just been procrastinating on it. I didn’t really need his help. Which was why my reply shocked even me.

  If you want to come over and hang out and talk about the Mennonites, I guess that’s fine.

  Was the paper just innuendo for sex? I wasn’t good at these types of things. It took me a long time before I even fully understood the context of the donut shirt.

  Cool. I can be over there in a bit. Where do you live?

  I quickly typed in my address. What the hell was I doing? I wasn’t the type of girl that just had guys over to my apartment. My apartment! I sprang from my chair and surveyed the room. Sure, it may have only been about 450 sq feet, but that didn’t stop me from constantly making a mess of it. Directly across from my desk and couch was my kitchen, or more like the wall that my sink, fridge, and stove were on. There were a few dirty dishes in the sink that I hadn’t gotten to. Crap.

  I didn’t have time to wash them and I didn’t want to do a half-hearted scrub so I just opened my freezer and tossed the plastic bowls in. I would just have to worry about them later. I then slid across the hardwood floor to my bedroom. Okay, not much of a bedroom, but I had a cubed, open book shelf from Ikea that I displayed all my books on and it at least blocked my bed from the rest of the room. Quickly, I made my bed and stacked my pillows on it.

  Another quick swoop of the room and I found a pile of dirty clothes. I didn’t technically have a closet, but a wall across from my bed had a curtain rod dangling across it. Nowhere to hide my clothes. Why did I care so much? John’s room looked like a tornado went through it. But I did care. No guy had ever come to my apartment, even just to do homework.

  I surveyed the room one last time. There was only so much I could do with the place, but at least it looked presentable. When I turned away from the front door to the bathroom opposite it, I caught my reflection in the mirror and gasped. I may have cleaned up my apartment, but maybe I should have checked out myself. After working all day I had bad hat hair, so I quickly just pulled it into a bun on top of my head. It was at least a little better, but that didn’t hide the dark circles under my eyes. I rushed in and found my makeup bag on the sink and searched through it until I found concealer to try and cover up as much as I could. “Okay, not half bad.”

  Before I could make another move, a knock came at my door. Shit, was it that time already? I stuffed my makeup back in the bag and tossed it in the bathtub, pulling the shower curtain shut so he wouldn’t see that mess, either. I stared at myself in the mirror one last time. “You can do this, Melanie. It’s just studying.”

  I turned around, closing the bathroom door behind me, and then finally opened the front door. John stood with one arm leaning against the doorframe, making his t-shirt slightly rise up so I could see a hint of his stomach and even the waistband of his underwear. I tried not to stare and looked up to his smiling face, but it wasn’t my face he was looking at.

  “Nice tights, Red.” He nodded.

  In all my rush I completely forgot to change clothes. I swallowed hard, looking down at my red and white snowflake leggings and the giant gra
y hoodie I was lounging in. I could have at least changed my clothes instead of worrying so much about the alignment of my bookshelf.

  “Uh, thanks.”

  He pushed off the doorframe and practically strutted into the room, his eyes trailing around with amusement. “Nice place you got here. No roommate?”

  I shut the door, shaking my head. “No, it’s just me.”

  I didn’t want to deal with roommates. I had a crazy one my freshman year in the dorms who always brought random guys over and I’d find dirty boxers on our floor.

  “Nice.” He set his nylon computer bag on the coffee table and plopped down on the couch. I picked up most of my furniture on sale or through Craigslist ads. The couch was one that some guy was selling after his wife left him. I still didn’t completely trust it and had shampooed it three times. It had started off beige, but by the third cleaning it almost looked off-white.

  I leaned against my fridge, unsure of where else to go. I could have either sat next to him on the couch or on my bed, but I didn’t want things to lead to the bedroom. “Do you want something to drink?”

  He shook his head. “No, I’m good. You could just stop standing there staring at me like I’m going to rob the place.”

  “I-I-I didn’t say I thought you were going to do that.”

  A large grin spread across his face. “I’m just shitting you, Red.”

  “I totally knew that.” I blinked.

  “But seriously, you don’t need to just stand and stare. I’ve been waiting this whole walk over for you to regale me with these stories of Mennonites.”

  Right. My paper. That’s why he was over. I took the few steps over to my desk, which was smooshed between my bookcase and the couch. At least my desk chair gave me somewhere else to sit. “If you really want to hear all the exciting details, I’m sure I can share them.”

  I sat down at my chair and was eye level with his bicep. That’s when I really noticed the detail of his tattoo. I may have been sitting next to him all week, but he usually wore long sleeves and I was too busy trying to avert my eyes from other things the night of the Halloween party.

  “Is that what I think it is?” I leaned in closer, making out the triangle shape with a circle in the middle and a line running through that. On each slope of the triangle a few words were scrolled out. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” I whispered it until I finally realized what it was and had to hold back my squeal. “Oh my god! It’s Deathly Hallows! You didn’t tell me you were a Harry Potter fan.”

  He laughed, a sound that came from low in his stomach. I met his eyes, which sparkled a mesmerizing blue even in the dim light of my apartment. “I guess it just never came up. I was always a fan of the books when they came out and it just seemed like a good piece of ink to get.”

  I wanted to reach out and trace the lines of the tattoo. I couldn’t believe I never noticed it before and now I wanted more. “What about your other ones?”

  He smirked. “You noticed those?”

  “You were sort of in a loincloth the other night. They were kind of hard to miss.”

  He turned at his waist, pulling up his shirt sleeve slightly on the other bicep. I half expected it to be the Hogwarts crest, but it was definitely more detailed than that. A lion’s head sat at the top of a teal crest with two shaking hands at the top and a buccaneer ship below that. A white ribbon molded around the bottom of the crest with the words Alpha Mu across it.

  “For your fraternity?”

  He nodded, his eyes meeting mine as I looked up from the intricate detail that circled each bit of the lion’s mane. “Do you want to see the others?”

  I spoke before I even thought about what I was saying. “Yes.”

  He leaned against the back of the couch before he peeled off his shirt, leaving only his bronzed chest for me to stare at. On his right pec was a Celtic cross that looked like it was carved out of a tree, complete with gnarled roots at the bottom. He ran his fingers along the circle where a few leaves branched out from the cross. “This is to show that I’m firmly rooted in my family’s heritage.”

  Slowly he slid closer, turning toward me so that I had a full view of his broad chest and the second tattoo on his left pec of a tribal bull.

  “What is this one for?” I whispered, staring at the dozens of lines that made the running bull.

  He took my hand in his and brought my fingers up to the tail of the bull. My fingertips lingered over the details. I thought it would feel different than regular skin. If anything it was a little smoother, but I didn’t know if that was the tattoo or just how John’s body felt under my fingertips. “It was my nickname when I played hockey in high school. The guys used to say I was like a bull in a china shop, but I took more out of it than that.”

  He moved my fingers up from the bull’s tail to its snout. “Bulls are misunderstood creatures. Everyone thinks they’re just these big things that are out to attack everyone they meet. I think they’re just provoked and have to do something to defend themselves.”

  “And you think you’re like the bull?” I moved my head up and saw that John wasn’t looking down at the tattoo; his eyes were directly focused on me.

  “Yeah, I know it’s cheesy and not something guys usually say, but definitely. Everyone thinks I’m just some big guy that wants to either fuck or fight. Maybe I don’t want that.”

  “Then what do you want?”

  He leaned in even closer so his face was barely an inch from mine. The flicker of vulnerability I saw was gone and replaced by a very sexy smile. “Right now, I want to see if you have any tattoos hidden under that sweater.”

  I tried to control my breathing. I knew I shouldn’t have been so nervous. That I could have held my ground, but the nearness of him and the whole admitting that he felt vulnerable had me wanting him even closer. “No tattoos, but I do have a piercing.”

  “Really?” He raised his eyebrows.

  I leaned back on the chair and lifted up my shirt slowly, making sure to suck in my stomach. I did work out regularly, but I definitely didn’t have the body John did and wasn’t as comfortable as him to show all of it.

  He bent forward, his fingers grazing the tiny silver bar that pierced my belly button. “Nice.” He inched closer until his face was right at my stomach. His lips left feather light kisses on each side of the bar before his tongue darted forward and circled my belly ring.

  I gasped at the feeling of his warm tongue against my cold stomach. He put his tongue back in his mouth and looked up at me with a huge grin on his face. “Very nice.”

  “I thought you wanted to hear more about the Mennonites.”

  He put his hands on either side of my waist. “You’re the one that started this, Red. If you don’t want to finish it, we can study. But it’s going to be damn hard if I have to stare at your hot little body in those tights all night.”

  He put the ball in my court. I could have gone back to working on my paper. I should have gone back to working on my paper, but instead I let another part of me win over. I put my hands on either side of his face and then crushed my lips to his. At first he didn’t kiss back, but when he did, it came in full force, pulling me off the chair. I pushed him forward, knocking him into the couch while I straddled my legs against his waist. His fingertips roamed my lower back, pushing my sweater up so that every touch grazed my bare skin.

  His tongue circled mine and then he sucked it gently just like he did to my belly ring only a few seconds before. The guy definitely knew what he was doing and I definitely wasn’t as experienced as I thought I was. My hands fumbled for where to go. I didn’t know if I should try and go for his pants or if he wanted me to touch his arms. Instead they just awkwardly flailed from his biceps to the couch and back.

  Finally John moved his hands and took mine, placing them above his head. Since I was so much shorter than him, I was in an awkward position and my arms felt like they were being stretched out. I broke the kiss, fearing that if I didn’t my arms would break
off.

  John arched an eyebrow as I sat up and pulled my arms down, trying to resist shaking them out. “Sorry I suck at this.” I blew out a deep breath of air.

  He slowly sat up, his body still underneath mine. “Red, trust me, you definitely don’t suck at this. And while that was pretty awesome, I’m not just here to judge you on your making out skills.”

  “Then why did you come over?”

  He sighed. “Despite what it looks like and what you think of me, I actually did come over here to study with you.”

  “I don’t think anything of you.”

  “Please, I’m not stupid. The checking out my tattoos, showing me your belly ring, and even that sexy outfit. It all added up to us being on the couch.”

  I dropped my jaw, my mouth gaping open. “I did not plan to have you come over so we could fool around. How could you think that of me?” Okay, maybe I did expect if he came over there would be some kissing, but it’s not like I always studied with guys just to make out. There were plenty of guys I studied with in my major. Okay, maybe only a few. But John didn’t need to know that.

  He placed his hands on the small of my back. “It’s cool that you can’t resist me. In fact it’s pretty fucking awesome, but I don’t just want to get in your pants all the time.”

  “Then what do you want?” I tilted my head.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t. When I saw you in class the other day I just thought ‘I need to talk to her. I need to spend more time with her.’”

  “And why is that?” I pressed. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know the answer, but my curiosity won out.

  “As much as I’d like to carry you over to that nice bed or press you against that lovely book shelf, I know that Monica and Trey would have my balls if I did anything to hurt you.”

  “Maybe Monica and Trey don’t know me as well as they think. Maybe I did just invite you over here for sex.”

  He pressed a very chaste kiss on my jawline. “A girl that recognizes my Deathly Hallows tattoo isn’t the type of girl that humps and dumps.” He glanced over at the clock that hung above my TV. “And I should probably get going if we’re going to keep it that way.”