"Hey." I rubbed my hands up and down her arms in a soothing manner, leaning my head down to look her straight in the eyes. "It's not your fault. I'm the one to blame here. You did nothing wrong."
"That may be so, but I'm not exactly helping." She motioned to the length of her body, referring to her outfit.
I chuckled. "I'm not complaining."
Taking her head in my hands, I placed a light kiss on her forehead. "Let's not worry about that tonight."
"Okay," she said softly.
I dropped my hands and took a step away from her, finally having a look around her room.
The two sides of the room mirrored each other with a single bed and a desk. One side looked like it had never been touched, while the other side looked lived in, with an added full length mirror, the desk looking more like a makeup area, and the closet bursting with clothes. A lamp on her desk was our only source of light, putting the room in a warm yellow glow.
"I wasn't planning on having company, otherwise I would have cleaned up a little." She bent over to pick up clothes from the floor, and I stopped breathing.
Her skirt was short, like really short, and with the way it fanned out away from her body, there wasn't much there to help hide her.
"Don't worry about it." I assured her, trying to keep my voice sounding normal.
"Let me put this all away real quick," she said, and continued to clean up the clothes.
I wish I could say that I was a better man, but I watched her pick up two more pieces of clothes before I turned my back and walked to the window that overlooked the school.
I sat down on the window bench and watched a few people walking on the sidewalks in the light of the streetlamps, going to their different dorms, to help distract me from Scarlet cleaning up.
"You okay if I change?" She pointed to the door opposite her side of the room that I assumed led to the bathroom.
"Yeah, sure."
As I waited for her, I thought again about how I shouldn't be here. She'd told Coach, and if someone saw me walking out of here later, it would only be a matter of time for the word to spread. But instead of leaving, I continued to sit and wait for her to come back out. I wanted to stay and see where the night led us, wanted to get to know her more and spend as much time with her as I could, especially without curious stares. The more time we spent together, the more we relaxed with each other, moving past acquaintances and attraction, and that was too tempting to walk away from.
The bathroom door opened, and I turned to see her step out into the room. Her face was washed clean, her brown curls down around her shoulders, and she wore a sage green t-shirt with a matching pair of sleep shorts. I'd been hoping that once she was out of the sexy Little Red Riding Hood costume that I'd be able to not stare at her all night, but this might have been worse. She looked so beautiful and bare, like I was getting to see a side of her that not many got to see. I took her all in, several seconds passing in silence as I stared at her. My eyes were drinking her up when they snagged on her chest.
"Wait, are you not wearing a bra?"
A look of surprise and confusion crossed her face. "No, of course not. I'm going to bed, why would I be wearing a bra?"
I rubbed both hands down my face. "To help the guy who's trying to be a gentleman."
She gave me an amused smile. "It's not like you've never seen boobs before."
That was true, I'd seen plenty, but none of them had been Scarlet's. To me there was no one more attractive than her.
"I know, but... it’s different with you," I said, my tone soft and serious.
Her smile turned gleeful. "This is kind of fun."
My brows creased. "What is?"
"Seeing how much I affect you."
It was my turn to give her an amused smile. "And how is that fun exactly?"
She looked down, almost as if she were suddenly shy. "You could have any girl on campus... and I'm still wrapping my brain around the idea that I'm the girl you want."
I stood and walked over to her. "The girls on campus don't want me, they want a football player. And they don't hold a candle to you." I gently brushed a curl from her face. "Trust me, all the other guys on the team would be coming after you if it wasn't for Coach's rule. You're confident, smart, fun, and absolutely hot as hell, with a Southern accent that makes you even more enticing."
She looked up at me through her lashes. "You don't think my accent makes me sound dumb or like a hillbilly?"
