It was safer for me from that day on to avoid the gymnasium and to stick to my classes and my own reading for cheap thrills.
The sight of a man like that up close was enough to make me rush back to my room an-
Well. I don’t really know what I would’ve done if I’d followed through on my instincts.
But I never forgot that day and often use him in my mind as a reference for what makes a real man.
And for the next three days, I don’t intend on doing much else apart from catching up on my latest novels and putting a dent in the stack of microwave food I’ve hoarded for the event.
It’s sweat pants and pumpkin spice latte’s as I shield myself from the world and the fall weather, which actually only gives me allergies for some reason.
Especially this extended weekend, with the grounds of the college having a scheduled major cleanup this weekend. Mowers, weed whackers, and leaf suckers having all started work mid-week.
Fortunately for me, they’re down on the other end of campus now so the next few days should be nothing but my favorite romance writer Flora Ferrari and plenty of rest for me snuggled up in bed.
There are the dying sounds of the dorm, the last few stragglers who either have someone collecting them or have waited for the lasts buses.
The halls echo with the final door slamming shut and then… silence.
I feel like it’s the only time I can truly relax. When there’s nobody for at least a hundred yards from the dorms.
Not wanting to rush, I take my time to relax, surfing my phone for a bit and pretending I’m checking for anything important.
Like I have friends or even family close by that needs to know something.
Pretending I have a life.
The rabbit hole of the web sees me watching a bunch of videos I have no idea how I got to when I hear the dorm doors open and close again.
I huff a breath out, screw my face up, and thrust both my arms down to my sides like a spoilt child.
Ugh, I thought they were all gone!
I shouldn’t be so mad, at least I’m not reading yet.
I haven’t really been interrupted.
The knock at my own door almost makes me shriek, a loud gasp escaping me as I cover my chest with my comforter.
Trying to hide from the world that little bit harder.
Another knock comes, and then a man’s voice.
A voice that seems to travel right through the door.
Right through me, and to my sweat pants.
All the way deep inside me.
“Uh… Hello? Anyone home?”
It’s a deep, rich voice.
Firm and commanding, with a smoky edge but also something soft in it.
Something that has me hooked and sets my mind racing.
A voice I know I’ve heard somewhere before.
If it was anything else, anyone else, I’d hide. Pretend I wasn’t here.
Pretend I’d gone like the rest of the girls from the dorm.
But it isn’t just anyone. It isn’t just any voice.
I feel myself moving up and out of my bed, watching my feet as they walk towards the door and turn the handle.
I feel my breath catch before I even open it all the way.
Sensing the presence, inhaling him, and feeling him inside me, savoring his cologne mixed with his own manly essence.
My eyes close, or do they roll back into my head?
By the time I straighten my head and open the door all the way-
Empty.
There’s nobody there.
I feel my hand go to my heart, a gap where the feeling he’s left should be.
Feeling cheated, I dart my head around the door frame, making a sort of squeaking sound once I see the back of him.
Hearing it turn to a low purr as he stops in his tracks and starts to turn, finally facing me.
There’s a second of recognition in his eyes, my eyes fixed on his until they stray down.
Straight to something I thought I’d never see again.
His perfect man bulge, right there in the hall.
And me, all alone for three whole days.
What on earth’s brought him here?
Who cares, just don’t let him leave without saying something.
Say something smart.
“It’s a girl’s only dorm,” I hear myself say loudly, sounding like a complete idiot.
Like someone who’s triggered in a very different way by the thought of a man.
He furrows his brow, then smiles to himself for a second before those intense dark eyes scan me up and down, settling on my chest as he lets out a low sound.
“I can see that,” he adds, his feet moving a little further apart as he stands his ground.
He’s not coming to me, I can feel it and I watch him getting closer as I gravitate towards him, sensing his eyes all over me as I move.
“I had campus security try to call you, let you know I was on my way over,” he adds absently. “Only staff here by the looks this weekend, apart from myself.”