“We don’t?” She asks, tentatively. She leans into me, clearly wanting to give in but something is holding her back.
I kiss her neck once. “Nah.” I kiss her neck again on the other side. “I have a much better idea of what we can do with our mouths.”
Before she can respond, I capture her lips and kiss her like we didn’t just eat a huge meal and dessert. She falls into me and lets me take control, something she doesn’t usually do but it seems like she realizes that I need this. I’m distracting us from the real conversation and she’s letting me.
Danika wraps her arms around my neck and I scoop her up, resting her bottom on the edge of the sink. This, we can do. This, we’ve done now dozens of times. This isn’t scary. At least not for Danika.
For me? Being this close to her and not being able to call hermine? That scares me more than anything.
Chapter Forty-One
Danika
Ihavenochoicebut to take him at his word that he doesn’t want to talk about what’s going on between us. And it’s absolutely fine by me because I have no idea what I would say anyway. I love being so close to him. Hooking up and cuddling has been amazing. But I also love eating dinner with him and cleaning up after. I love sitting on the couch fighting about what movie to watch. I love when he wakes me up to drive me to campus. It’s all very confusing and I really don’t know what I’m feeling.
By Wednesday, I’m exhausted but we’ve made a deal and Wednesday nights are tutoring nights. Grabbing his textbooks, I place them on the table, then I pull up a chair and have a seat. He should be walking in the door any minute. I know his last class on Wednesdays ends at four-thirty and it’s almost five now.
Might as well be productive as I wait.
I pull out my textbook and study materials for immunology and get lost in the work ahead of me. Before I know it, my eyes are straining to read the books and I realize I’ve been sitting in the dark for quite some time. Looking at the clock, it’s seven pm. I also realize that Arden hasn’t come home yet.
I try not to panic. It’s not like we ever really picked a time for our study sessions. It’s just always Wednesdays and Sundays. And maybe he considered the studying we had done while he was cooking took the place of today. But wouldn’t he have said something?
Either way, the question remains. Where is he? It’s not like him to stay out after class.
He doesn’t owe me any kind of explanation, we are only roommates after all, but still, I thought he’d want to tell me what he’s doing. Especially if it's different from the norm.
I start packing up my books when the door finally opens.
Arden stops short when he sees me at the table.
“Shit, I forgot.”
I give him a toothless grin. “No worries. I got a lot of work done.”
He scratches his head looking guilty as hell.
“Where were you anyway?” I try to sound as nonchalant as possible but I’m not sure it’s working.
He doesn’t say anything, hanging up his coat then pulling his shoes off. He walks into the kitchen and I follow. “Arden?”
“Huh?”
“I asked where you were.”
He opens the fridge door, glancing inside for something even though we both know that fridge is basically empty as always.
“Just hung out with some friends after class. Am I not allowed to do that?”
I rear back as if he’s hit me.What the hell?He closes the fridge, squeezing his eyes shut. He looks…torn. Guilty. Like he wants to tell me something but he can’t.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean that. Just…” His phone dings with a notification that he looks at then stuffs his phone back into his pocket. “I’m just distracted today. Got a lot going on. I’m gonna order chinese? You interested?”
“Sure,” I nod even though I’m not actually sure what I’m agreeing to. Chinese food for dinner? Okay? What is going on? Why is he acting so dodgy?
Is he…dating someone else?
His phone pings again and this time he opens it and checks the notification, looking intently at something on the screen for a while. I lean in to take a peak but he pulls the screen away.