I graded three quizzes, but the numbers wouldn’t stick.
At 9:45 p.m., I heard the keycard followed by the opening of the room door.
I was across the room in two seconds.Luke stood there.He looked exhausted.His hair was messy, his eyes shadowed, but when he saw me, his whole posture loosened.
“Hey,” he breathed.
“Hey.”
He stepped inside carrying his equipment.I closed the door.I locked it.
The click of the deadbolt was the loudest sound in the world.
“The guys gave me a hard time about this room only having a single bed,” Luke said, dropping his bag by the closet.“It appears they are right.”
“If you’re worried about someone walking in, I can sleep on the floor.I mean it’s your room, and you’ve got a game tomorrow.You need spinal alignment.And…”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Luke said, looking at me, wrapping me in his arms for the first time.“The only difference between this place and the dorm is that we have a lot more pillows and more room to spread out.”
Luke went still.He looked at me and informed me, “Ryan knows, or at least he suspects.”
“He knows?”I asked.“Are you okay with that?”
“I’m okay with the truth.Even if we aren’t screaming it from the rooftops.”
I looked up into his eyes.“I’m okay with anything as long as I’m in your arms.”He reached touched the collar of my shirt.
“I missed you,” he said.“On the bus.I kept wish you were with me.”
“I was in a Camry on I-90 listening to a podcast on topology,” I said, my voice shaky.“I would have preferred the bus.”
He laughed, a low sound that vibrated in my chest.He stepped closer, closing the gap until the toes of his sneakers touched my socks.
“Presentation tomorrow?”he asked.
“Eight a.m.Have to wear a tie and everything.”
“Sounds sexy.”
“It’s incredibly dry,” I whispered, tilting my head back to look at him.“Distract me.”
He reached up and cupped my face.His hands were warm, rough with calluses.
He kissed me.
It wasn’t the tentative, careful kiss from the dorm room.This was hungry.It was the relief of being three hundred miles away from campus, behind a deadbolted door.
He backed me up until my legs hit the edge of the mattress.
I sat down heavily, pulling him with me.He landed on his knees, pinning me between his thighs, his hands tangling in my hair.
I made a noise—a low hum in my throat—that I didn’t recognize.
“Luke,” I breathed, gripping his shoulders.“Game tomorrow.”
“I know.”
“Energy conservation.”
