He waited for me.
He used to wait for his girlfriends in high school too.
Giddy. I was fucking giddy.
He smiled and rushed over to me. “Hey, good morning.”
“Hi.” Damnit, I blushed again.
He closed the distance between us and kissed me,a simple one,and hummed. “Better than I remembered.”
“Jeez, I didn’t take you for a sap.”
“With you, Ivy Lee, I’m a mess.” He chuckled. But he said the words with his serious tone. Like he actually meant it.
He scanned my outfit. “You look great. Do you want coffee before classes?”
“Esme made me one, but thank you. Are you—waiting for me?”
“I knew you didn’t get into the stadium until midday on Fridays, so I assumed you had a lecture. I checked the schedule online and anyway, figured I’d walk you to class.” He gripped the back of his neck as his ears turned pink. “I wanted to see you.”
My chest got all warm and squishy. “I’m glad you did.”
His muscles relaxed. “So did you get yourself off last night?”
“Callum! Oh my god.” I shoved him, making sure no one was around us. “We are in public.”
“We’re outside, and no one is near us.” His eyes twinkled. “I’m taking it as a yes, since you’re avoiding the question.”
“Did you?” I fired, not thinking about it.
“Absolutely. I thought about the little gasp you made when I sucked on your neck. Then, I thought about how you ground into me when I kissed you.”
“Shit.” I gulped. “I’m not supposed to get turned on before classes.”
“Should’ve taken care of its last night then.” He slung an arm over my shoulders. “You’re in Foller Hall, right?”
“You really did spy on my classes.” I laughed. “Were you always this much of a stalker? I don’t recall you doing this with other girls you dated.”
“They weren’t you.”
Oh.
What a sentence. Those three words had me rethinking our entire past, where each moment could’ve had a different meaning.
“Hey, I actually wanted to talk to you about something.” I slid his arm off me, and his face fell.
“Okay, yeah.” His jaw flexed, and he gripped his backpack straps tighter.
“Don’t look so nervous.” I smiled and cupped his face. He leaned into my hand and closed his eyes, like my simple touch made him feel better. I loved the strength of his jaw and the slight stubble of hair. He didn’t have that in high school. “I wanted to remind you and ask that we tonethisdown at the stadium. I’m already nervous about disappointing Henry, but until the season is done, we have to keep it quiet.”
He ran his lips together. “Quiet everywhere or just at the stadium?”
“I mean, like we could go on dates and stuff.” I gulped, as if that sentence was super chill, like oh yeah, I could just ask Callum on dates, and it was no big deal. I had so many flutters.
He nodded. “I’d like that.”
“But when I’m work, we act like friends. Peers. Professional. Not a single sign we’re doing this. I’ve worked my ass off for this opportunity, and I won’t risk it.”
