“He’s good,” he announced, forming a smile that was faker than Sawyer’s insistence that everything was good between him and Ashton. “He hasn’t had any more seizures.”
“That’s great news,” I said.
“Yeah, it is. And he was able to watch the game in the common room. He said everyone was rooting for us.”
Shoving his hands into his pockets, his lips curved for a second before flattening and worry carved lines in his forehead. He seemed to wait for more questions. No one else said a thing. So I walked over, placed my hands on either side of his face, and drew him down for a kiss. Slowly, he relaxed.
Sawyer took that moment to say the wrong thing at the right time. “Let me know when you guys want a threesome.”
Chance slapped Sawyer on the back of the head.
“Ouch.” Sawyer frowned.
Soon we were all laughing as Sawyer looked put out.
“No, I’m serious.”
Everyone waved him off. And I could have kissed the guy for the remark because it broke the tension.
We didn’t stop in Dallas, because Lenora’s parents were bringing Mason back later that night. They were working hard to repair their relationship with her and build one with Mason.
By the time we made it to their place, we’d been in the middle of an intense alphabet game. According to Sawyer, he played it a lot on road trips growing up. Each of us attempted to find the letters of the alphabet, in order, on road signs, nearby buildings, or anything outside of the vehicle we were in. The first to find Z won.
With the guys being so competitive, Lenora and I had to break up several arguments as to who saw a letter first. Still, it had been fun and even comical, especially when Kelley got stuck on Q and cursed loudly about how there was never a Dairy Queen around when he needed one. Seconds later, Sawyer called Q on Quiznos and that earned Kelley lots of jokes at his expense. No one, however, had found a Z by the time we parked, so we were all losers.
“I still say I’m the winner,” Kelley boasted.
“No Z, no win,” Lenora taunted.
Everyone was laughing until we entered the house and caught sight of Ashton heading for the stairs. Kelley and Chance traded glances. Then Chance stepped over to me.
“I’m going to talk to Ash. Don’t leave, okay? In fact, stay the night.”
I nodded before he kissed me.
A smile the size of Texas spread across my face.
“What’s with you?” Lenora asked.
“I don’t know.” I bit my lip. “Okay, that’s a lie. I’m happy.”
“You should be.” She grinned back at me.
“It’s just silly. Why do I feel giddy that I have a boyfriend?”
“No, I get it.” She watched as Kelley disappeared upstairs.
She did get it.
When Chance returned, we spent the evening in his room fooling around. Personally, I was ready to take the next step, but Chance continued to insist we wait. It was frustrating, but maddeningly at the same time it was also sweet. And it made me love him more. I was toast and didn’t know if I’d get burned by the end.
Monday came, and for the first time, I truly hated it. Wrapped in Chance’s arms, I didn’t like that he had to leave for practice.
“Do you really have to go?’ I complained.
I fisted his cock, having learned what he liked after a few more times of practice last night. A clear bead formed on the tip. I bent my head and licked it off.
“Fuckkkkk,” he called out and scrambled off the bed. He pointed at me. “No fucking fair.”
Giggling, because teasing him had become my favorite pastime, I took off the shirt I wore. It was his anyway, and I was determined to end the stalemate between us. It was quite possible that I was so horny due to years of neglect.
“You win,” he said, holding up his hands in defeat. His eyes, however, said I would pay. I scrambled to my knees, ready to pounce. He stepped back. “But not now. I have to leave before I’m late.”
To celebrate, I stood and jumped as silently as I could on the bed, pumping my hands in the air like I had pompoms. “I’m getting laid tonight,” I cheered.
“You will pay for teasing me.” His wicked smile mocked me. I just cheesed harder. He shook his head, leaving for the bathroom and muttered, “It will suck if we don’t get invited to a bowl game to play and this practice is for nothing.”
My car was at their place because I’d driven over there to meet for the road trip. So I drove back to school an hour later. Chance insisted I meet him at the café. He wanted to feed me before class.
So when he darted into the massive room, panting from running over from practice, I surprised him with a to-go bag. I’d gotten us both breakfast.
“Hey.” He dove in, pressing his mouth to mine.
“Hey, you,” I said, after getting a taste of his deliciousness.
Tangling our fingers together, he said, “I see you beat me to breakfast.”
I shrugged. “Figured I owed you. Plus, you’ll need your strength for tonight.”
He chuckled. “You. Are. Trouble.”
“With a capital T.”
“And I have to walk you to class with a chubby. Which means by the end of the day, my balls will have passed blue on the spectrum and moved on to purple.”
Giggling, I offered, “We could skip.”
“Tempting as you are, I’ve already missed too many classes between my dad and football.”
We walked with our hands clasped tightly together between us. I was on cloud nine. It was one of those days when you felt like nothing could go wrong. We stopped just outside of the lecture hall door.
“Thanks for breakfast,” he said.
We didn’t speak for the next several seconds. Wordless promises were traded as our tongues did the mating dance, and I decided then and there to call it. He gripped my waist like he didn’t want to let go. And my body hummed with tingles that grew feverish with need. I squeezed my legs tight as if that would relieve the pressure. He stepped back with desire so heated in his eyes, it had gone nuclear. I was sure he was about to suggest we leave together before my professor caught sight of us.
“Miss Holloway.”
There was so much scorn in his voice, Chance didn’t let go of my hand even though he was already going to be late.
I whispered, “It’s fine. Go. He gets testy like that.”
My professor wasn’t known for his cheerfulness and stood sentry, as if waiting to speak to me. After more urging, Chance agreed to leave. However, he kissed me one more time before he took off.
With knitted brows, the man said, “Did you not get the email?” My confusion was evident because he added, “Why don’t you check?”
I removed my phone from my pocket and accessed my email. Sure enough, I’d gotten one from the dean the past Friday morning. But I hadn’t checked for any all weekend.
Scanning through it, my presence was requested for a meeting in her office at the same time as my class. I glanced up.
“I suggest you get going. You’re going to be late.” He shooed me off like an errant child.
Nodding, I darted for the elevators at a brisk walking pace and took note of the directory. The dean’s office was located on the top floor of the building, and I stabbed at the call button. I practically leaped in when the doors opened.
Once off, it was like walking the green mile. The email hadn’t given any reason why I had to make this appointment. It couldn’t be good, I admitted to myself. I trudged toward her office, which was at the end of the hall on the side of the building that faced the quad. I couldn’t blame her. That would offer the best view.
An admin greeted me and alerted her boss to my presence. “Dean Miles will see you now,” she said after a few minutes.
I was ushered inside and took a seat in one of the two chairs in front of her desk. She stood facing the window, observing whatever was happening below. I scanned the chaos of the office. Papers were piled like constructed towers
nearly burying the computer monitors on her desk. Bookshelves that lined the walls on either side were cluttered with books and bound documents that didn’t appear to have any organization. There were also overfilled banker boxes sporadically placed on the floor.
A clicking of heels had my eyes lifting and meeting hers. The mess that surrounded us was nothing like the woman who faced me. She was put together, wearing a long-sleeved conservative button-up blouse with a simple gray pencil skirt. Her hair was pulled back into a tight dark bun at the base of her neck. Although her face wore a pinched expression, she had no lines and appeared more youthful than I imagined and was almost pretty.
“Miss Holloway, I’ve taken the liberty to review your academic record. You’ve made my Dean’s List every semester you’ve been here.”
Call me clueless, but I hadn’t quite yet puzzled together what my being there was all about.
Then she sat and the space between the piles on either side of her desk started to feel like walls closing in on me. Because dawn began to illuminate the cloud I’d been in, my heart began to sink.
“As a woman, I recognize how competitive it can be. However, it pains me to think that such a bright student might have broken the rules to gain favor in a class.”
My throat was in my stomach, my chest had constricted down two sizes, and my mouth hung open because I couldn’t find the air to breathe.
“I never—”
She held up a hand. “We have received some distressing accusations that you and a certain teacher’s assistant have been dating. Is that true?”
My brain collapsed in on itself. I was tongue-tied and knew I was hip deep in shit.
“Okay,” she said, filling in for my silence. “Let’s start with do you know Craig Davenport?”
The question threw me off for a second. I didn’t know Davenport was his last name, and he’d never corrected me. That was how my professor had called him, and I’d just assumed.
“I know a Davenport. He’s the TA in one of my classes. If he’s the same guy”—and I guessed he was—“I wasn’t aware that was his surname.”
“Fair enough. Did you see him outside of class?”
As much as I wanted to save myself, I couldn’t lie. I nodded my head and folded my nervous hands on my lap.
“So you were having a relationship with him.”
“I wouldn’t call it that. We had mutual interests, but he wasn’t my boyfriend or anything. We never kissed or did anything intimate.”
Her brows furrowed. “You are aware that we are going to investigate. If you are caught lying to me or to anyone in the course of this investigation, our choice of punishment could be worse if you are found guilty.”
“I’m not lying. We were friends.”
I didn’t add that I’d hoped for more. Clearly, he’d had a girlfriend and I’d been seeing Chance. We’d never discussed what was going on between us, no matter what my thoughts had been.
She steepled her hands and drummed her fingers together as she decided the truthfulness of my statement.
“I do hope you are found innocent. However, at this point all of your classes in this department are in jeopardy of receiving a failing grade at worst. You will be allowed to attend your classes and turn in work or complete tests, but your grades will not count until you are cleared from all charges. I should warn you that there is a possibility that all the grades from any of your classes he’s associated with in any way could be removed and you could be asked to leave the school.”
Charges? Expulsion?
“It is up to you whether you seek out legal counsel, but know that we are working quickly to resolve this matter. You will be contacted if the board wishes to question you further.”
I wanted to jump up and shout how unfair it all was. Yes, I had a romantic interest in Davenport…Craig, whatever his name was. But I’d never asked for help to gain advantage on tests or assignments. It had all been so harmless. However, I didn’t think admitting that to her would help my case.
Numbness filled me as I fled for the solitude of my dorm room. She said I could go to class, but the total impact of what could happen had never entered my mind when I’d accepted his invitation to go out.
My parents would be so disappointed in me. I’d not only be their oops baby, but I’d be the kid who fucked up, unlike my siblings who were stars in their fields as doctors.
I texted Lenora and Chance and told them I needed to talk about something, but didn’t give many details. Last thing I wanted them to do was miss any of their classes because of me. So I tucked myself into a ball on my bed and tried to sleep to pass time in order not to cry.
By the time I got to Brie’s dorm room, Lenny was already there. She opened Brie’s door, and I caught sight of my girl with her knees to her chest and her arms folded around them.
It took three strides to get to her.
“It’s not as bad as you think,” Lenny said to Brie.
“What isn’t?” I asked.
“I…I got called to the dean’s office.” She sniffled.
“Okay,” I encouraged, frustrated I didn’t yet have all the details so I could fix things.
“Someone reported Davenport and me. I’m under investigation. I can possibly get kicked out of school and my grades invalidated if I’m found guilty.”
Her eyes were large and glassy. It killed me to see her cry. Murder was back on the table. I could kill that fucktard for just existing. I pulled her onto my lap and buried my face in her hair.
“I’m sorry, Brie,” I whispered into her ear.
“What am I going to do?” Brie asked no one in particular.
“Have you told your parents?”
We’d had enough conversation for me to know they played a large role in her life.
“Not yet,” she told me.
“There is a way to get out of this,” Lenny suggested.
“And how’s that?” My mind had spun out of orbit, and I had no clue what Brie should do.
“I’m not going to flat out lie,” she responded.
Lenny appeared unfazed. “You don’t have to. Stick with the facts. You and Dave didn’t kiss. You didn’t even label what you guys were doing. Chance, here, did however tell you he wanted to try things again. And he posted pictures of you two out on dates, claiming you as his girl.”
“What if they ask me what happened between Davenport and me? And by the way, his first name is Craig,” Brie blurted.
“What?”
Lenny waved me off and started to get fired up. “It’s perfect. Tell them exactly what happened the first time Dave…Craig tried to kiss you.”
A plan started to form. But Brie insisted on calling her parents first and telling them the truth of it all. She waited for us, needing our support. I held her hand as the phone rang against her ear.
A muffled sound came through.
“Mom,” Brie said.
Words were said I couldn’t make out.
“Yeah, I’m fine. But something happened at school.”
Brie launched into the story. It was the first time I heard it in its entirety. She started from the beginning with how she made the mistake of going out with one of her teacher’s assistants. There were questions that resulted in answers about how she went out with him, not for a grade but because she genuinely liked the guy. That I hadn’t wanted to hear. She told them that everything had been platonic, no kiss, no anything. She shocked me when she admitted to them that she’d been seeing me as well and I’d been her choice along with his reaction to that news.
Hearing her explain to her parents how great I was made me want to roar out like my teammates did at the start of a game to get ourselves pumped up.
Instead, I squeezed Brie’s hand to help her get through the rest of it. That part was hard. She turned bright red with tears in her eyes as she confessed that she was in jeopardy of losing her place in school.
When she finally hung up, Lenny and I waited for her to fill in the blanks.
&nb
sp; “They’re going to hire a lawyer,” she breathed. “I’m to tell them the full story and he or she will advise us what to do next.”
That was all she said before more tears fell from her eyes like summer rainstorms.
“Brie, baby, it’s going to be all right.” I tried to soothe her the best way I knew how.
“No, I shouldn’t have dated him. I knew better. And it’s all because I didn’t want to be hurt by you again.”
Guilt was like a bomb. My heart raced, waiting for detonation. She was going to leave me because somehow it was my fault.
She continued, “I should have trusted you and gone with my heart instead of my head. Now look where I am.”
Her pulling away from me only ramped up the countdown inside my chest. Lenny met my eyes, and she saw my fear.
“Look, I have to go, but I’ll come back.”
Brie shook her head. “It’s okay. I’ll call you later.”
Lenny nodded and then gave me a final glance with a small smile before leaving the room.
“I’m sorry, Brie.” I had no clue what else to say.
Her tears were tearing me apart, and I wanted to fix this and had no way of doing so.
“What are you sorry for? This is all my fault, not yours.”
“I don’t know. You said yourself; you did all of this because of me.”
Our eyes connected for the first time since Lenny left. I reached up to wipe away her tears.
“Chance, you aren’t responsible for my actions. I’m not stupid enough to put this on you. I didn’t have to date the guy. You certainly hadn’t encouraged me to do so. This is on me. I’m just glad you’re here.”
There was a force greater than sadness, than any magnet that drew our lips together. I knew the name of it, but couldn’t verbalize it yet. Instead, I kissed her until her sobs were long gone. I kissed her until she felt the words I couldn’t yet say. I kissed her until we were both breathless.
“Do you want to come over and spend the night?”
She smiled with heat that even I felt. “Yes.”
Then a noise came from the other side of the room. We shifted to see her roommate on her bed holding her phone up. The tiny girl with red hair shorter than mine had a sneer on her face.
Catching Fireflies Page 13