Some Loves (10 page)

“I think I’m the one that’s supposed to be doing the work.”

I didn’t have time to ask him what made him think that. He took my hand in his, placing both of my hands over my head. He held them there with one hand while his other hand slid down, slowly, tantalizing, teasing. I arched my body up to meet him. As one finger slid in, I moaned and let my head fall to the side.

Another finger joined the first and my body began to move on its own accord. When his kisses slid from my neck to my breast I nearly came undone
. My hips thrust against his hand while he lavished attention on one of my breasts, then the other. Sucking, teeth grazing.

“I need—” I gasped.

“What?” he asked as his movement slowed. He nuzzled my hair and my eyes fluttered open. My body was throbbing, aching for him. I was so close to the edge but I wanted him to come along for the ride. “What do you need?” he repeated. His grip on my wrists loosened and I pulled a hand free.

It slid down his muscular back as I tugged at him, trying to reposition him so that he was on top of me. He laughed lightly at my effort as his fingers continued to lazily caress me.

“Tell me,” he commanded softly.

“I need more,” I said. My hand slid across his thigh, down, until my fingers circled his erection. It felt like velvet covered steel in my palm. “I need this. I want this,” I said as I caressed him once…twice…he groaned. I readjusted myself and guided him closer. “You want this too, don’t you?” I asked breathlessly.

“More than you know,” he said.

Without waiting for me to ask again, he thrust himself into me. He slid in easily in one hard stroke; I was so ready for him. I cried out as my fingernails grazed against his back. Our bodies
began to move in a rhythm that was familiar. Our breathing became erratic, bursting out in short pants and cries for more.

He continued to slide in and out of me, guiding us both closer to the edge. My legs tightened around his waist as I thrust myself upward to meet him, thrust for thrust.  When we finally came, it was even more blissful than I had remembered.

“I love you,” I whispered in his ear.

His arms tightened around me as he hovered over me. I closed my eyes, wanting and needing to soak up every last bit of emotion that I felt. He pressed a kiss onto my forehead as tiny tremors continued to course through my body.

“I love you too, Em. So damn much.”

I sighed
, happy and content because I hadn’t been sure if I’d ever hear those words again.

“
What are you all so busy with?” Melanie asked as she made her way to Casey’s bed. The suite was decent sized, for a dorm room. Still, the four of us in here, along with piles of books and other belongings, made it a bit crowded.

I knew I’d never be able to live in the dorms. Visiting was fun, but living here? Wasn’t going to happen.

“Just finalizing our schedules,” Casey said. She moved the nearly empty pizza box off of her bed and walked it over to her desk. “I know at least one of the classes I want fills up fast so I’m trying to find a few alternates just in case. It’ll be so nice when we finally get to register first instead of almost last.”

“I think I’ve got my schedule down,” Melanie said.

“I’m getting there,” Riley grumbled.

I knew her advisor had suggested a few classes to her that she was not looking forward to taking. My thought was that it was best to get them over with.

“I’ve almost got mine ironed out too,” I said.

“
So how are things with you and Noah?” Melanie asked.

Her question was unexpected and it caught me off guard.

“Things are good.”

“You haven’t looked this happy since I don’t know when. Maybe last fall?” Casey guessed.
She moved back across the room and landed on the bed next to Casey.

I shrugged and smiled. “Probably.”

I felt a little uncomfortable having this conversation with Melanie. So far, we’d managed to avoid talking about Noah. She’d said what she felt for him was just a crush, but I was pretty sure it had been a pretty intense crush, spanning at least a few months. She was a sweet girl and I didn’t like the thought of her hurting.

“I knew this would all work out,” Melanie said.
She moved a stack of Casey’s papers off to the side and scooted herself farther back on the bed. She pulled her legs up and crossed them. It looked like she was getting comfortable enough to stay for a while. “Noah seems pretty happy too. I talked to him for a little while today in Chem.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked as I
set my laptop aside.

She nodded. “I haven’t talked to him much lately but I decided today things don’t have to be awkward. Right?”

She looked at me pointedly. I realized that I had probably been the one making it awkward by so blatantly ignoring the subject.

“Of course not,” I decided.

“It all worked out for the best,” she assured me. “I’ve moved on.”

“With who?” Casey asked suspiciously.

“I’m not ready to say yet,” Melanie admitted with a laugh. “But let’s just say that I’m certain he has no attachments to anyone in this room. I do not want to go through that again. You can’t imagine how bad I felt.”

She turned her attention to me. I wondered if she was ever going to stop apologizing.

“It’s fine,” I assured her. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like you
knew
.”

“It
wasn’t
fine,” she argued. “Going after a friend’s boyfriend, ex or not, is just wrong. It shouldn’t be done. It’s like breaking some huge, moral code of friendship. Am I right, or am I right?” she asked as she looked around at us.

Casey shrugged and hesitantly said, “I don’t know.”

“You’re probably right,” Riley agreed.

“Enough about this,” I decided. “
It’s in the past. So, moving on. Does anyone know of a fun elective I could take at eleven? I have a gap in my schedule and I really should get a few of my electives out of the way. The rest of my classes are going to be tough.”

Riley turned to me with a smug grin. “
Does ten ’o clock work for you instead? I think I’m taking another Ethics class. Dr. Douglas has a class at ten that will work into my schedule. Do you want to take it with me?”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Do I need to be worried about you?”

Her eyes opened wide, a look of pure innocence. “Me? Why?”

“
I do believe,” I said with mock solemnity, “that you are a little too interested in our Ethics professor.”

“
Moi
?” she asked as she patted her chest and batted her eyelashes at me.

I laughed and nudged her shoulder. “Yes, you.”

She bounced around on the bed as she sat up straight. “Oh, come on! You have to admit that having Dr. Douglas to look at for an hour is so much better than having that stodgy old Dr. Clayton.”

“But he’s a
professor
,” I pointed out.

“Duh,” she said.

Melanie’s eyes opened wide. She leaned forward, a conspiratorial look settled onto her face. “Do you have a thing for Dr. Douglas? I totally wouldn’t blame you if you did. I haven’t had him yet but I know who he is.”

My head swung from Melanie back to Riley. That’s exactly what I’d wanted to know but had been too afraid of the answer to ask. Riley had a nasty habit of going after guys that were not worth her time.

Riley stared at Melanie as she chewed the inside of her cheek. It was a sure sign that something was going on in that head of hers.

“Are you going to answer the question?” I goaded with a smile. Now that it was out there, I wanted to hear what she had to say.

Her cheeks heated as she realized that the three of us were looking at her. With a skin tone as pale as ours, the blush was impossible to miss.

“Maybe,” she finally said with a small shrug. Her tone was light, as if it was no big deal.

“Is he the reason you’ve taken a break from dating?” I demanded. I had to wonder how serious this was. Surely, it was one-sided. He was an Ethics professor; she was a student for crying out loud.

“What?” she asked. “What do you mean?”

“Last fall you set a personal dating record for yourself. But it’s been months since you’ve gone on a date. Or if you have, you haven’t mentioned it. It just doesn’t seem like you,” I said lightly.

“Is it so strange that I want to keep my personal life private?” she asked with a laugh. It seemed a bit forced to me and I frowned.

Melanie jumped in, not seeming to notice the change in Riley’s demeanor the way I did. “It’s very strange,” she said. “Who are you and what have you done with our guy-crazy Riley?”

The look Riley gave Melanie melted the smile right of off Melanie’s face.

“Can we just drop it?” Riley asked. “Because who I’m dating is really none of your business. Any of you,” she said as she looked around the room at our startled faces.

She
slid off of her bed and darted across the room. She swiped her car keys off of her dresser and she was out the door before any of us grasped what was going on.

“Riley!” I called but the door had already slammed shut.

“What was that about? I was only teasing. I didn’t think she’d get so upset,” Melanie quietly said. She looked like she was close to tears. I could understand why. It wasn’t like Riley to lose her temper.

I adored my cousin but I would be the first one to admit she usually loved to flaunt her private life. Blowing up over it had taken us all by surprise.

“I don’t know what’s up with her,” I admitted. I got up from Riley’s bed and hurried to the door. I pulled it open and went out into the hallway. I wasn’t sure if she’d taken the elevator or the stairs. Regardless, I saw no sign of her.

I stepped back into the room, searching for my purse and keys. “I should go after her.”

“Actually, I don’t think that you should,” Casey said firmly.

I stopped my search to look at her. “Why not?”

“I think Riley just needs some time to herself. No big deal,” she said lightly.

I didn’t buy it. “You know something, don’t you?”

She held her hands up in the air. “I’m staying out of it.”

If I hadn’t been worried about her before, I definitely was now.
Casey’s words confirmed that Riley was definitely mixed up in something that I wouldn’t approve of.

***

The heated, bubbling water in the hot tub was doing little to relieve my stress. I closed my eyes for just a second as I willed myself to relax. When Noah’s pinky latched onto mine, my eyes fluttered open again.

“So just ask her,” Noah said.

We had been talking about Riley. I admitted to him that I knew something was going on with her, I just didn’t know what. She had even cut class this morning. I wasn’t sure if that was in an effort to avoid me, or Dr. Douglas. Or both of us? Maybe. It was probably me that she was avoiding because she hadn’t shown up at lunch, either.

“Emory! Watch this!” Tyler cried from the other side of the pool area.

“I’m watching!” I called back.

He bent his knees and with a huge amount of effort, he sprang upward, pulling his knees to his chest.

“
Cannnnnnonballlllllll
!” he yelled as he splashed into the water. A few seconds later his head popped out of the deep end. He scrubbed water out of his eyes as he tried to focus on Noah and me. “Did you see that?”

“That was awesome, buddy!” Noah called back. “I think that was the biggest splash I’ve ever seen! You should try to see if you can top it!”

Tyler grinned at the praise before paddling his way over to the edge. I loved being here this time of day. Once again, we had the whole pool area to ourselves. I knew we needed to enjoy it while we could because soon enough school would be out, tourist season would be starting up, and this place would be overflowing with people.

But for now, it was all ours. I was glad that Noah hadn’t hesitated when I’d asked him to join us. Ty had been excited as well. He’d talked Noah’s ear off the whole ride over, questioning him about the upcoming baseball season.

The three of us had hit the pool at first, but Noah and I eventually moved onto the hot tub so we could actually carry on a conversation. Tyler had joined us but had quickly bored of sitting still.

“If she’s having an affair with a professor, I’m not sure that I even want to know,” I admitted.
I would feel compelled to do something about it because I would hate for her to get found out. Surely, there were repercussions for that? Especially if you happened to be in that professor’s class, right? I thought so and it worried me. Maybe it was best if I didn’t ask until the semester was over and we were safely in the midst of summer break. “The thing about Riley is that she doesn’t listen to anyone. She just does what she wants to do. So if she admits it, I’ll just stress myself out over it.”

“So don’t ask her,” Noah relented.

I gave him a shove as I laughed. “You’re no help!”

“That’s because you’re kind of being impossible,” he admitted with a smile.
“But seriously, just give it time. If I know Riley, she’ll be moving on to someone else soon enough.”

I thought that over. “You know what? You’re probably right.”

Noah nodded in Tyler’s direction. “His limp is barely noticeable.”

“I swear, it’s getting better by the day,” I admitted. “At first, I was really worried. The doctor had said there was a chance he’d never walk normally again because of the breaks. But we’ve kept up with his physical therapy routine. Swimming really seems to help strengthen it.
He has a check up in a few more weeks. We’ll know then if he has clearance to play ball this summer.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Noah said. “Keep up with the swimming and he’s practically good as new.”

Tyler waved his hands in the air, demanding our attention once again. We watched a few more cannonballs before he tired of them and moved on to playing with a beach ball that I’d packed.

I eyed up my phone. It was resting halfway across the pool area on one of the plastic tables. I wondered if Riley had answered any of my messages yet. To be honest, I was feeling a bit annoyed. It wasn’t like her to avoid me. And it wasn’t as if she hadn’t meddled in
my
personal life plenty of times. Worst of all, we hadn’t really been meddling. We’d just asked a question or two.

It also kind of pissed me off that she’d obviously confided in Casey when she hadn’t confided in me. Sure, they were roommates. But she was my cousin. We’d been best friends ever since sixth grad
e. It had been our first year of middle school and we’d ended up in homeroom together.

Since then, I thought we shared everything.

I winced as that though took hold. I was wrong. I hadn’t shared the problems I’d been having at home with her. That was something huge and I’d shut her out. Was that why she was shutting me out now?

Was she holding a grudge?

That actually sounded like something that Riley would do. I had to wonder if it was best to confront her or if it would be best to wait it out.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Noah asked.

I shook the thoughts away and gave him a smile. I didn’t want him to know that I was obsessing about Riley again. There were so many other things I could be thinking about. Like Noah, who was right beside me. I should be thinking of him. “I was just thinking about our mini vacation here.”