The Hidden (The Hidden Trilogy) (20 page)

I closed my eyes and hung my head. “Oh my god,” I mumbled. “This is so embarrassing.” Was this
really
happening to me? I prayed that I would wake up and it would all be a dream…

No such luck.

“What?”

“Nothing, I–
God
, I don’t even want to say it.”

He brushed my hair aside. “What is it, Em?”

“I thought that maybe you liked me, so I...” Mauled you.

God, this was such a mistake.
 
Fucking rum and cokes…

Thomas put his hand under my chin and forced me to look at him. His lips brushed against mine and he kissed me, slow and deep.

Several moments later, I pulled away, feeling dizzy. This time it wasn’t from the liquor. He pressed his forehead to mine and I closed my eyes, slowly breathing him in as my head spun.

“I
do
like you.” He kissed my forehead. “That’s why I stopped.”

My eyes opened as I smiled. “I like you, too,” I said, resting my head on his shoulder. “So what now?”

“Now I ask you on a real date, and you say yes.”

I gnawed on my lower lip. “Will there be kissing on this date?”

He grinned down at me. “There’d better be.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Sunday, September 6
th

For our first date, Thomas and I saw the latest horror flick,
Zombie Island
. Bodies were ripped apart and devoured onscreen while we snuggled in the theater’s oversized seats. It was awesome. 

After the movie, Thomas drove us to a small clearing in the woods, not too far from his house. He killed the engine and turned the headlights off.

I looked out the passenger window, but I couldn’t see anything. “What are we doing out here?”

He grinned and said, “I want to show you something.” He climbed out of the car and went around back.

I got out, right as he popped the trunk. The moonlight barely illuminated the pitch-black forest, and I held my hands out in front of me as I attempted to make my way over to him.

He was quick to steady me as I wobbled on the uneven ground. With something tucked under his arm, he closed the trunk and led me into the woods. He held my arm, but my feet kept catching on things. His never did, though. He walked through the darkened forest like it was broad daylight.

The trees thinned out until we got to another clearing. I peered past Thomas’s dark outline to see a large pond, the moonlight reflecting off its still, black water. He let go of me once we were level, then took the thing under his arm and spread it out on the ground.

It was a blanket, apparently.

Was all this really necessary? He could’ve shown me his “something” back at his place. We didn’t have to sneak off to into the pitch-black woods.

My eyes narrowed on him, even though he couldn’t see it in the dark. “What are we doing here?”

“You’ll see,” he said as he motioned to the blanket.

I kicked off my flip-flops next to the blanket and sat down, just as he did the same.

“Lie down,” he said.

I rolled my eyes, but did as he said. “You’re going through an awful lot of trouble for–
Oh my god
.”

It looked like white Christmas lights were strung up in the night sky. I’d never seen so many stars in my life. And they were so
bright
. “It’s beautiful.”

“They’re harder to see in big cities because of the lights.” He pointed to a bunch of stars in the shape of a ladle. “There’s the Big Dipper. It’s actually an asterism, not a constellation.” He put his hands behind his head as he lay next to me. “It belongs to a constellation, though, called Ursa Major. It means the great bear in Latin.”

As I looked up at what must have been thousands of stars, I shivered.

Thomas lifted his head. “Are you cold?”

“A little.”

He scooted over until he was right next to me and wrapped his arm around me. I rested my head on his shoulder, continuing to look at the stars. I pointed to a “W” shape of stars in the sky. “What’s that?”

“That’s the constellation Cassiopeia. It was named after a Greek myth. Cassiopeia was a queen–a very vain one. She boasted that her beauty was unrivaled, and that pissed off the sea nymphs, who in turn complained to Poseidon…”

I listened as he spoke, his words reverberating through his chest as he told me about the constellations above and their various tales. Nuzzling closer to him, I breathed him in, relishing the sweet scent that could only be described as “Thomas.”

Lifting my head, I looked up at him. Thomas was full of surprises and had quickly turned out to be someone else entirely, but in a good way. To think I’d almost passed this up…

The moonlight seemed to make his profile glow. I took in his shining eyes looking up to the heavens, the outline of his straight nose, and the curve of his full lips as he talked of ancient myths and long-forgotten gods. His beauty was otherworldly, sending a pang through me that told me this was too good to last.

But oh, how I wished it would.

Outside my dorm, I fiddled with my keys as Thomas and I said goodnight.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said.

My eyes never left his mouth as he spoke. Even now, when he said nothing, I couldn’t tear my gaze away from his lips. Remembering how they tasted, how they felt on mine, I flushed.

“ ’Kay,” I breathed, finally looking away from his lips, but to the worst possible place instead. His pale blue eyes seared into mine, heavy with lust.

There was only one thought running through my mind:
want.

Thomas stepped forward and snaked his hand around the back of my neck, bringing my face up to meet his as our mouths crashed together. I moaned, feeling and tasting his tongue against mine as I knotted my fingers through his hair.

He released my neck to grip my waist, pushing his hips into me as he pinned me to the wall. I sucked his lower lip into my mouth, nipping him with my teeth. He groaned and thrust against me. I broke away, panting, as he licked and kissed my neck. My hands wandered down to the hem of his t-shirt and I slipped them under, feeling the warmth and hard muscles of his abdomen.

“We should stop,” he rasped against my neck as his hands found their way under my shirt, rubbing my stomach.

I nodded. “We should…but I don’t want to.”

“Me neither.” His mouth met mine again, enveloping me–

The elevator dinged as the doors slid open. Thomas immediately pulled away from me as a girl stepped out of the elevator. She halted when she saw us, a surprised look on her face as she glanced back and forth between the two of us.

Thomas’s face and lips were a little red, his hair was a mess, and he’d folded his hands in front of his crotch. I’m sure I didn’t look any less guilty.

The girl smirked before going on her way.

“And that’s my cue to leave,” he mumbled with an embarrassed smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He bent down and planted a soft kiss on my lips.

I watched him walk away, mesmerized by his backside. Shaking my head, I went into my dorm.

Man, what I wouldn’t give for a glimpse of that ass...

Chapter Thirty

Wednesday, September 9
th

THOMAS

“I don’t know… I can’t just ask him, can I? That’d be pretty lame.”

At the sound of Emily’s voice, I lifted my head from my desk. Even over the din of the classroom, my ears singled her out easily. She walked down the aisle with Beth, her eyes searching the rows of seats until she found me.

My face brightened–and I swear to God–if I had a tail, it’d be wagging profusely.

Beth looked thoughtful. “I think you guys are, ’cause that’s an awful lot of work he’s putting in. If it’s just sex he wants–I mean, c’mon, let’s face it–he can get that anywhere.”

Wait, were they talking about
me
? My ears pricked up, drowning out everything except Emily’s response as I watched their conversation.

She bit her thumbnail, deliberating Beth’s answer. “I guess…”

Beth patted Em on the shoulder. “Well, you know what they say. Virginia is for lovers.” She winked at Emily and waved to me before making her way down the aisle to find a seat.

Em’s face was unreadable as she came towards me. Giving me a small smile, she sat down and dropped her bag on the floor. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure what transpired between her and Beth, but I got the gist of it. And I didn’t like it.

Did Emily think I was only after sex? Because I wasn’t. I wanted…
more
. I didn’t quite know what “more” entailed right now, but I’d figure this shit out as I went along. I’d
have
to if I wanted her to stick around.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

She nodded, avoiding eye contact.

“You don’t
seem
okay.”

“It’s nothing.” She flushed. “Beth was just” –her blush deepened– “asking me some questions.” She bent down and pulled out her books.

“About what?”

She huffed out a quick breath. “About
us
.”

“What’d she want to know?” My heartbeat picked up as I waited for her response.

“She just wanted to know if we were like…dating.” She squirmed in her seat, her face aflame as she scribbled in her notebook.

“Oh.”
Ohhh
. “What’d you tell her?”

Wait–she said
 “
I don’t know.
”

“What would…you…tell her?” she asked, glancing up at me.

I’d
tell Beth it was none of her damn business, but that’s not what Em wanted to know. She wanted to know if we were dating.

Were
we? Did
one
date count as dating?

These were uncharted waters for me, and I was drowning. All I knew was that I wanted Emily, and
only
Emily. Going with the “honesty is the best policy” approach, I said, “I don’t want you to date anyone else. Just me.”

Her head whipped up, eyes full of ire. “I don’t want
you
to date anyone else either.”

Too late, I realized I probably should’ve said “
I
don’t want to date anyone else.” Whoops.

I reached under her desk, grazing the outside of her thigh. “I won’t. I just want you.” Good God, her skin shouldn’t be allowed to be so soft and smooth. How was I expected
not
to touch it every second of the day?

She placed her hand on top of mine, holding it underneath the desk. “I just want you, too.”

Okay then, it was settled. Emily and I wouldn’t date anyone else. We were…exclusive.

Holy
shit
. I just landed my first girlfriend.

Chapter Thirty-One

Tuesday, September 29
th

Beth laughed and continued telling me about her Biology lab today. Apparently her crude sense of humor got her into a little trouble with the TA. “He said, ‘You have to spread the lips to find it.’ I mean, come on, how was I
not
supposed to say it? He totally set himself up for a ‘
That’s what she
–

“Whoa.” Beth grabbed my arm and stopped walking, her animated face going slack.

Gabriel stood several feet in front of us, under the shaded part of the sidewalk right before the entrance to our dorms. Immaculately dressed in a suit and open-collared shirt, he removed his aviator sunglasses and smiled. “Just the person I was looking for,” he said to me.

Beth looked up at him with a face I’d seen on nearly every woman in his presence. One I hoped
I
didn’t have every time I was around him.

I cleared my throat, tearing my eyes from his dazzling smile to look at Beth. “Beth, this is Gabriel. Gabriel, this is my roommate, Beth.”

“Ah,” he said. “Nice to finally put a face to the name.” He winked at her.

Beth smiled. “Yes. You…as well.”

They stared at each other for several seconds, completely having forgotten I was–

Oh, no. I recognized that look on Gabriel’s face. I saw it every time a pretty girl walked by. “
So
,” I said, shifting my bag as it started digging into my shoulder. “What’s up?” I asked him.

Unfazed, he set his gaze on me. “Just wanted to see if you were free for coffee.”

“Yeah, sure. Let me drop my bag off upstairs and I’ll be right down.” I turned to Beth. “You coming in?”

She shook her head. “Can’t, I’m meeting Hayley in ten.”

“ ’Kay, well… I’ll be right back,” I said to them, eyeing them warily before heading inside. I had no idea what just happened between the two of them, but I didn’t like it.

I fiddled with the long, delicate stem of my water glass, turning it around on the white linen tablecloth. This place was über fancy, and I was seriously underdressed. Gabriel had changed his mind and
insisted
on taking me to lunch, but why did it have to be to the nicest restaurant in town?

I shifted in my seat, growing uneasy. I agreed to coffee, not a date, and the way his eyes watched me made me think maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. I looked around, trying to focus on anything but him, when I saw him lean forward out of the corner of my eye.

His green eyes smoldered as his fingertips grazed the back of my hand and up my arm. “You want to go to my place after this?” His voice was low and sultry as he traced the lightest touch across my skin.

My breathing hitched as my arm goose bumped, though I felt anything but cold. I swallowed and withdrew my hand into my lap, looking away. My skin still tingled where he’d touched me.

Yep,
so
not a good idea.

Why did he wait this long to make a move? Up until now, he hadn’t shown any interest in me. None.
Zero
. So why now?

He scoffed, and my head jerked up. “Relax, Em. I’m fucking with you.” He leaned back and took the last swig of his scotch, then motioned to the waiter for another one.

I blinked. Then blinked again. “Excuse me?”

His eyes narrowed as the muscle along his well-defined jaw clenched. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a boyfriend?”