For a long time, he didn’t say anything.
What was wrong with her? Of course he didn’t want to go back to her dorm! He was a grown man and here she was this…redheaded eighteen-year-old virgin who cared more about differential equations than Wonderbras.
She was about to rescind her offer when he said, “Okay. Sure, let’s go study in your room.”
They walked across campus to her dorm in silence, which was already odd. Normally, the two of them always had something to talk about.
Ben settled in at her desk, while Jenna sat cross-legged on her bed. She hadn’t thought about how small her room was or how much of herself she was revealing to him by bringing him here. She cringed at the Justin Timberlake poster on the wall behind her head.
“So this is what the inside of a girl’s dorm looks like, huh?”
“A woman’s residence hall,” she corrected. “Is this really the first time you’ve been in the dorms?”
“Yep.” He opened the food container and took a whiff. “This smells great. Is there somewhere we can heat it up?”
She zapped the food in the microwave she and Kate kept on the shelf above the desk cubicle and dished it out onto a paper plate. “Aren’t you going to eat, too?” he asked.
“Go ahead. It’s all yours. I’ve done nothing all weekend but stuff my face.” The truth was, she was too anxious to eat. Ben was in her room! It was a scenario she’d pictured plenty of times but had never thought would actually happen.
He ate while she told him about her weekend, and things between them seemed more normal. He laughed when she talked about her family’s crazy antics at the holiday dinner table and listened with interest as she dissected last night’s traditional Florida-Florida State football game.
She held her breath while he tried the panettone. He took a bite then made a moaning sound that made Jenna’s cheeks go warm. Was this what he sounded like during sex?
More tha
n anything she wanted to find out the answer.
“Do you like it?” she asked shyly.
“I love it.” He quickly gobbled down the rest of the dessert, and Jenna couldn’t help but be pleased. Maybe one day, she’d tell him the complete truth about the panettone. And about her feelings for him, too.
He finished eating, then sat on the bed next to her while they looked over last week’s assignment.
“I’m nervous about finals,” she admitted.
“Why? You’re totally going to kill it.”
She sighed. “I wish I felt as confident as you.”
He stared at her, the same way he’d done a few times before. He was so good at keeping his feelings to himself. It was unnerving never knowing what he was really thinking.
“What?” she finally asked.
“Are you really this clueless?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re not just beautiful and nice, you’re probably one of the smartest people I’ve ever met.”
He thought she was beautiful?
She was too stunned to say anything.
Ben blew out a breath. “Sorry. I promised myself…that is, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”
“I’m always uncomfortable around you,” she blurted. At the look of sudden confusion on his face, she rushed to add, “And totally comfortable at the same time. I know, I’m weird, huh?”
It felt like forever before he said anything. “If you’re weird, then I’m weird too because I feel the same way, Jenna.”