Rolling to his side, Cal pulls me toward him. With both of us resting on our sides now, his hands are free to roam over me, and do they ever. I can’t keep track of mine either as I knead and squeeze whatever flesh I can get at of his. My sheet and comforter separate our lower bodies, and I’m wiggling to free myself of the restrictions so I can be on top of the covers, like he is. I manage to recover one leg and drape it over his hip, scooting forward so I can properly mold myself against him. He groans at the intimate embrace. Smiling, I nip and suck at his shoulder. His skin tastes salty and so yummy. For the first time, I want more.
Evidently, so does he. His hand is running up and down my roving, bare leg, finally curving over my hip to grip my ass tightly, dragging me up firmly against his erection. Hot damn!
Instinctively, I undulate, feeling the long, hard length of him between my thighs. His groan this time is more like a growl as he grinds back into my hips, and although my eyes are closed, everything sort of lights up. It’s like a fireworks show behind my eyelids, and then our mouthes are kissing again.
I’m surprised when he pulls back a while later.
“Jesus, it’s not a sprint, but a marathon, Cal,” he murmurs aloud to himself, and I grin, knowing he’s just as affected as I am. But that was also more than just a measly, do-over kiss. We were just dry humping one another and I wasn’t ready to stop. His breathing is hard and so is mine.
Lying now on his back, Cal is looking up at the ceiling, where I have plastic, glow-in-the-dark stars like a freakin’ child, and I curse myself for putting them up there in the first place. I flop over on my back, too, our heads resting side by side on my pillow. We continue to stare up at the ceiling, our chests rising and falling as we collect ourselves.
The bed squeaks when he turns to me. “Well?” he asks, and even with my eyes closed I can tell he is smirking.
“Well …” I repeat, slowly opening my eyes and taking him in. Smirk, check! Gorgeously rumpled hair, check! Tanned, sexy chest, check! I look farther down the length of him. A semi still present, check! “I think?—”
“Yeah?” he prods with a goofy smile, his lips still swollen from our kissing. Mine probably are, too.
“I think I need to kiss someone else.”
“What the hell?” He bolts upright, causing me to roll toward the space he just vacated. Scrambling, I rise, too, scooting my other leg out from under the covers so I can sit in child pose.
“I don’t know,” I say, spitballing and wishing I’d thought this out first. “Obviously, I was wrong about kissing. It’s not meh, okay? You were right. That was amazing, but I don’t want my lack of experience to cloud my judgement, either. The only way for me to be absolutely sure is to kiss some more.”
Cal’s fallen smile returns. “Happy to oblige.”
“With another guy,” I add, and Cal goes ramrod straight. “This way, I’ll know if it’s a you thing or a me thing.”
Or, oh my God, maybe it’s a we thing? I’ve spent the last three years avoiding players, and I refuse to be another casualty of his—or anyone’s—charm just because I’m horny and caught up in lust. Or maybe this is more? Exactly why I need to find out.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” His livid expression makes me think he’d like to strangle me, and I don’t blame him. My feelings and emotions, when it comes to Cal, are all over the place these last two weeks.
Shaking his head and mumbling to himself, Cal springs up from my bed. The leap is impressive, like I am one of the hurdles he jumps during his practices. “Roland said he’s fixing your door tomorrow and will lock this one. You can leave the extra set of keys in my room on your way out. Goodnight,” he says, slamming the door between us, which only inches back open from the impact. I hear another door bang shut a minute later. His front door.
Arghh!! I cover my face with my pillow and scream into it. Shitty, fuck, fuck. Why the hell did I just say all that? Why am I afraid to be intimate? Not just with Cal, but anyone? Why can’t I be a go-with-the-flow girl? Because things were definitely flowing, literally. I should have smiled, said thanks for the steamy, good night kiss, and maybe we should do it again sometime, or something breezy like that. Ugh!
Is this what kissing does to people? Smooches your brain to insecure, romantic mush. Therefore, my kiss test isn’t without merit, just like his ‘one more kiss’ challenge had made sense, too. Yup, I do believe I should smack lips with someone else because maybe it is a me thing. A stupid, self-sabotaging, me thing. A kiss with another guy will prove it one way or another, or possibly what I’ve been so afraid of from the beginning … that I do have feelings for Cal Chase.
Chapter Ten
Kiss Test, Take Two
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Jax says in my ear, shouting over the music as we enter the Theta Kappa Gamma House the most popular sorority on Greek Row.
I know this is a bad idea. Still, I’m going through with it. Yup, I can be stubborn like that. Besides, if my friend Emerson managed to attend and enjoy one of these events than so could I. Although Em was on the arm of a rockstar’s son, but whatever here I am.
It’s a Friday night and their TGIF parties are supposed to be killer, at least that’s what I’ve heard. From the swarm of people crammed into every bit of available space, to the tacky, red Solo cups being filled with beer, nothing about this party scene is me. It’s worse than I imagined. Luckily, it’s not one of their themed nights. Even so, I already boasted about my asinine plan to both Cal and now Jax, so I can’t very well back down now, right?
Right! My foolish pride demands that I continue. At least the tight, green, snakeskin print mini dress I’m wearing is in line with the other barely there outfits in the room. Jax picked it out for me from one of her TikTok wardrobe try-on discards after announcing that the color makes my green eyes pop. She’s the fashion guru, not me, so I followed her advice for a change.
I actually bothered to use my hair iron this evening too, and the stilettos I have on are giving me a few extra inches of confidence. Problem is, it’s my first time taking them out for a spin, and the slingback straps are cutting into my skin already. I’ll be putting on Band-Aids tonight. Speaking of which, it’s time to rip one off. My lack of kissing experience, that is. One way to find out how I feel, once and for all.
It’s just lip smacking, no biggie, I repeat to myself, hoping I’ll eventually believe my own head trash. My kiss barometer might be broken, but my bullshit detector isn’t.
Scanning the room, I search for a possible candidate and encounter the exact pair of brown eyes I’m trying to forget. From across the room, Cal’s gaze roams up and down the length of me, and it sends a thrill through my entire body. When he finally returns his stare to mine, his eyes are narrowed and my stomach tightens. I squelch the urge to flee. Instead, I shoot him a similar glower back.
Cal is standing next to Morgan Hyatt, the gorgeous Theta Kappa Gamma president. We’ve shared a class together, but I’ve never spoken to her. She’s tall, gorgeous, vivacious, and everything I’m not. Still, her shallow reputation precedes her. Even her own sisters are eager for her to graduate this year. With a laugh she shoots Cal an inviting look that I can read from over here.
Why do I even care if he’s here talking with attractive women? And why am I crossing the room toward him? Jax stops my progress by pulling on my arm. She then shoves a filled, red cup in my hand.
