On The Floor (Second Story) (4 page)

“Uh, yeah. Just by a few minutes. So you’re moving in today, or…?”

“Yep. I have all my stuff in my truck. I was going to carry in all of my boxes and then I was planning to meet up with the RA.”

“Sounds good. I’m in room 201, right across the hall from your room. I’ll be in there so just come on over when you’re ready to meet. Or meet-up. Or talk. Or whatever” I say shrugging. Ugh.

“Will do.”

We smile at each other as he leaves the common room. I am instantly texting Jenna that she needs to come to my room ASAP. I finish copying the activity list and rush back to my room.

I lie on my bed and stare at the ceiling. My heart is beating so fast. I can’t believe I’ll be living across the hall from Mike. I mean, Jake. What am I going to do with myself? I will be a rambling, gaping mess every time I see him.

Luckily I only have a few minutes with my own thoughts before Jenna comes barging into my room.

“What’s the deal with that text? ‘Emergency. Need you now!’ I thought I was getting a booty call until I realized the text was from you.”

“Jake is the new AM," I blurt out.

"Who?" she asks confused.

"Jake. Well, Mike. From last night. Mike's real name is Jake. I heard him wrong last night." I hope I am making sense.

She looks at me, a small smile starting to spread across her face. “Mike is Jake? And Jake is the new AM? Oh my god!”

“Yep. He’s coming over to meet with me later about work stuff. What am I going to do?” I look at her, worry written all over my face.

“Um, duh? Bone. Bang. Do the nasty. Ride the stallion. Jump his bones.”

“No way! I can’t do that! We work together now. We practically live together! I am not having sex with him.” Even if I want to. Really want to. Plus, if he wanted it last night, he would have asked for it. That's what guys do. At least all the ones I have had the pleasure of meeting recently.

“It’s gonna happen eventually, Rachel. You don’t have that kind of chemistry and ignore it.”

“Jenna, I called you to help me avoid sleeping with him. Not for you to encourage it!”

“Ok, fine. Just know that inside my slutty little heart I am rooting for you to bed that fine man.” She smiles, puts her hands over her heart, and flutters her eyelashes.

“Fine. Whatever, Jen. Now how can I stop that from happening? My body seems to override my brain when I am near him. I feel like I am going to tackle him and start rubbing myself all over him! I can’t stop picturing his hands on my body. This is a problem, Jenna! Sexual harassment in the work place is not something to be joked about!” I am desperate for suggestions, because right now I am ready to jump him the minute he steps foot into my room for our little meeting later today.

“First off, I don’t think any guy would mind it if you rubbed yourself all over him.”

“Jenna!”

She laughs before she continues. “But I get where you’re coming from. So why don’t we set some guidelines for your interactions?” she suggests.

“Like what?” I ask her, begging that these guidelines are the key to keeping me in my pants and out of his.

“Hmm… Okay. When you’re in the same room, always keep the door open.”

“I like that. Door open. That will make sure our interactions are open for the world to see,” I say gesturing wide with my arms.

“That’s a little dramatic, but you get the idea. You can’t get private without privacy. Oh! Always stand an arms’ length away from him.”

“Open door. Arms’ length away.” I am repeating these rules like a mantra. These rules will keep me sane.

I swear I am crazy.

“Those are probably good enough. If you guys aren’t ever alone and you can’t touch each other, you can’t screw. I mean, the alone part wouldn’t really work for me, but you’re shy enough that public sex doesn’t seem to be your thing. And the distance, that’s just science.”

“I guess that’s logical.”

“Good. Anything else? I have a bunch of reading to do. And don’t get me wrong, I am here if you need me, but… ”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go read. Thanks, Jenna.”

“No probs! Let me know how it goes.” She winks at me as she walks out of the door.

I prop my door open and go sit at my desk. I am just about to begin my reading assignment for history when there is a knock on my doorframe.

I turn to look and it’s Jake.

Chapter 3

“Can I come in?” he asks.

“Sure!” I squeak. I am so embarrassing.

He steps in, closes the door, and goes to sit on my bed.

Oh no! Closed door. I repeat the mantra in my head. Open door. Arms' length away.

I get up to open the door trying to follow my rules for dealing with Jake, but he takes hold of my hand before I can pass him. Great. I've broken both of my self-imposed guidelines in a matter of seconds.

“Can we keep it closed, Rachel? We have some things to talk about that I don’t want anyone else to hear.”

Looking into his deep, brown eyes, I nod my head and go sit back down at my desk. Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves (and libido), I turn my chair to face him and smile.

“So what did you want to talk about?”

He smiles back. “I’m not really sure how to bring this up without sounding like an asshole, so I’m just going to start. I meant what I said last night at Sound.”

“Um, okay.” Where is he going with this? He seems so nervous talking about it.

“It was the best dance of my life. I felt this connection with you that I haven’t ever felt before.” Oh my god! Sqeeee!!!

He pauses and closes his eyes, then looks up at my ceiling.

“Jake,” I say trying to get his attention. He looks back down at me with a question in his eyes. I respond. “I felt it too,” a small smile curves on my lips. He returns it with a dazzling smile of his own.

And then it starts to fade as he starts to talk again.

“Rachel. I don’t know what to do about this. If we weren’t working together, almost living together, there wouldn’t be a question. We would be falling into bed together. Right now.”

My breath catches. He wants me just as much as I want him. Screw the rules. Now that I know he wants me, rubbing myself all over him might not be embarrassing. It might be hot. Who is this sex-crazed girl who has taken over my brain?

He continues. “And even though I know we shouldn’t, I’m still having a hard time not finishing that kiss we never started. But since we
do
work together, I think it may be a good idea to keep things friendly. Don't you?" he asks, looking a bit unsure.

So that’s it. It’s over before it began. Though I guess that's a good thing since that was my goal all along.

“Uh, yeah. Of course. There is probably even a rule about it somewhere. So yeah. We can be friends. Definitely. Friends.”
Only friends
.

I smile at him but it doesn’t reach my eyes. He gives me the same in return. Why do I feel so let down? I barely know this guy and I feel like my heart has been trampled by a herd of elephants. Maybe it's worse because I never even got the opportunity to really explore our attraction towards each other.

“So now that we’re friends, we should get to know each other a little better. I’ll go first.” He gives me a big goofy smile and points at himself with both thumbs. “I’m Jacob Price, but I guess some people know me as Mike," he says laughing a little.

"I thought you said Mike! It was loud!" I defend, laughing a little myself.

"I know. I'm just messing with you." That smile will kill me. Or melt me into a big puddle of lust. "Anyways, I grew up in San Diego with my grandparents. This is my last semester before I graduate. I’m getting a double major in Music and Special Education, which I think Judy probably already told you. I play a couple of instruments, but my passion is really teaching music. I tutor some kids and when I finish school I have a job lined up at that program. I also play guitar and sing lead in a band.” He shrugs when he finishes and looks at me expectantly.

“Well that seems to be a very thorough overview,” I laugh. So he is gorgeous, works with kids, and sings in a band. Is it possible to die of attraction?

“Your turn,” he says as he looks at me and smiles back.

“Okay. I’m Rachel Harris,” I say mimicking him and pointing at myself. “I grew up about an hour north of here. I went to community college for three years before transferring here last semester. I’ll be graduating next Spring with a degree in Music Education, so it seems we both have similar passions.” I smile, and he smiles back. “I spend most of my time either here or with my friends. I can also play the piano and sing. I think that’s it.”

“And don’t forget you’re a great dancer,” he says throwing a smirk my way. I return his with one of my own. “Piano and sing, huh?”

Ugh. Why did I mention that? “Well, only when it's required for classes. I don’t really play or sing for pleasure anymore.”

“Why not?” he asks.

“No time.” I miss my music, but sometimes real life gets in the way of the life you wish you were living.

“Too much clubbing?” he asks me with laughter in his eyes.

“You caught me,” I respond smiling.

It’s in that moment that our eyes connect. We keep each other’s gaze and I see desire start to light in his warm brown eyes. I can tell he is thinking about our dance. My heart rate starts to pick up and I feel butterflies whirling around in my stomach. He bites his lower lip pulling it between his teeth, drawing my attention to his mouth. I look down at the ground, and it’s all I can do to keep myself from devouring him like my body is begging me to do. To keep him from seeing the want and need reflected in my eyes. I want him. Bad.

When I look back at Jake, I find him staring at my lips. My breathing speeds and my tongue darts out to lick my lips. I shift in my seat as I feel that same longing for him that I did last night. I look back down and close my eyes as I hear him clear his throat. I take a deep breath.

We decided on friends. What would a friend do right now? Jump on top of him and maul him for hours? Probably not. A friend would talk to him. With words. About things not including his lips on my lips. His hands on my body. My mouth on his…

Luckily, my wayward thoughts are halted by his question.

“What happened to the AM before me?”

“Oh, Ty?" Thank goodness for the distraction. The mention of Ty puts a halt on all the lusty thoughts and feeling that were swirling around inside of me. "I honestly don’t even know how he got the spot in the first place. He never showed up to any activities on time, if at all. And he never helped plan them. He didn’t tutor a single one of the freshmen or give them any sort of guidance other than which bars around campus don’t card. And he puked on my shoes.”

He starts laughing. “Wow. He sounds pretty terrible! I hope I get a better review from you by the end of the semester.”

“Based on the fact that you haven’t tried to grab my boobs yet, you’re already one up on him!”

“He actually did that! I mean, I can’t say I haven’t thought about it, because I definitely have.”

I feel my face turn hot and I look down at the ground. If he tried to feel me up, I’m pretty sure I would let him. Who am I kidding? I’d return the favor. Who is this girl with these thoughts and where did she come from?

“Rachel. Look at me.” And I do.

“Sorry if that embarrassed you. I was just messing around. I won’t say stuff like that anymore. Okay?”

“Um, yeah. Sure. It’s fine, Jake. I wasn’t embarrassed, you just caught me off guard.” I smile at him.

“Anyways, that guy was terrible. I’ll do better.” He says it like it’s a promise.

“I’m sure you will, Jake. Also, I was wondering why you applied to be an AM mid-year.”

“I applied to live in the dorms a few weeks ago when my roommate moved back home because of family problems. I was staying temporarily with a friend, but it wasn’t a permanent thing. I was looking for anything, even a single dorm would have been good. Judy saw my housing application and called me with an offer for the job, which gives me room, board, and a little money. It worked out better than I expected.”

“Sounds like a good friend to let you stay with him while you were looking for something else,” I say smiling.

“I guess. She was pretty cool, but she started to get a little possessive so the timing of this position was perfect. Trying to find someplace to live mid-semester is killer.”

She?! Was she his girlfriend?

“So she was, like, your girlfriend?” I ask him. Real smooth, Rachel.

He seems a little uncomfortable with the question. He looks down and runs his hand through his hair, a nervous smile on his face. “No. Not my girlfriend. That’s not really my thing. She is just a girl that is a friend. We, uh, hang out, every once in a while.”

Hang out? I’m not dense.

Friends with benefits.

Hook-up.

Fuck buddies.

I can tell by his nervousness that he cares what I think about this arrangement. I wonder if that is normal for him. It certainly isn’t normal for me.

“Well, however it worked out, I’m glad you got the spot,” I say hoping to break the uncomfortable silence that has settled over us. “It sounds like you actually want the job, unlike the former occupant,” I reassure him with a smile.

“I
do
want the job,” he says finally looking back up at me. “So, I saw some activities listed on the board. Were those things we are going to plan this semester?”

I nod my head. “They were. Did you have any questions or anything?” Whew. I fumbled through that conversation. At least now were are onto safer topics. Work talk is something I can handle.

We spend the next half hour talking about different activities to plan for the floor. There are no more sexual comments or lust filled gazes. Just work talk and friendly smiles. And even though on the outside I have started to have normal human responses to Jake, my body still craves his touch. I still want him. Bad.

During a lull in the conversation, he starts to open his mouth to say something, but stops.

I look at him and ask him what he was going to say.

“Well, I was thinking that maybe we could do a trip to the center that I work in. What do you think?”