The tension in the car was thick. Adrian said nothing as he drove, one hand gripping the leather wheel, the other resting on his thigh, fingers twitching like he was holding himself back. I sat beside him in silence, hands clenched in my lap. “Adrian,” I finally said, my voice cautious, “what are we doing?” He didn’t answer. “You said you wanted us to talk.” Still nothing. He just kept driving. Minutes later, we were pulling into my dorm lot. I expected him to say goodbye. I expected him to stay in the car. He didn’t. He got out, rounded the front, and opened the door like it was his right. I stepped out without saying a word, my heart pounding. His hand brushed the small of my back as we entered the building. At the door to my dorm, I hesitated. “Sloane might be close now,” I murmured, fishing out my keycard. “We won’t be long,” he replied, taking the key from my hand and opening the door for me. I stepped in. So did he. Then, he turned. Click. The lock slid into place
The day after... Sloane and I stepped out of the lecture hall, its door swinging shut behind us. My arm looped through hers, and I couldn't stop smiling. My cheeks actually hurt from how long they’d been pulled into this dumb grin. “And then,” I said, squeezing her arm for dramatic effect, “he brushed my back. Just a soft stroke. Sloane, my brain short-circuited, I swear. I couldn’t even hear what you were saying anymore.” Sloane let out an exaggerated groan, tugging me slightly as we walked down the front steps of the building. “Oh my God, Kim. What is this? Since when did Alexander become your personal kryptonite? You barely tolerated this guy before!” “That was then, Sloane. And I wasn’t tolerating the guy,” I said, trying not to sound too defensive. “He was just... there. But now? It’s different. He’s different. Like, have you seen the way he looks at me?” She scoffed. “I’ve seen the way a lot of guys look at you. Doesn’t mean anything. But suddenly you’re acting like he walk
I’d been seeing more of Alexander lately. Not because I planned to, but because he always managed to find a reason to be around. Whether he was holding the door to my lecture hall open for me, texting me to ask if I’d eaten when class ran late, or showing up with coffee when I forgot to eat breakfast. I wasn’t sure when it stopped feeling unexpected and started feeling... comforting. Midterms were around the corner, and campus felt like one giant anxiety attack. Everyone was buzzing, cramming, and overdosing on caffeine. I had my notes sprawled across my bed with textbooks and highlighters. Organized chaos, or at least I convinced myself of that. I had tossed my phone aside after reading the same sentence three times in my macroeconomics textbook when it buzzed again. I rolled onto my stomach and picked it up. Alexander: Are you studying yet? Or pretending to, like everyone else? I smirked, typing back quickly. Me: If flipping pages and zoning out counts, then yes. A reply cam
A few days later... The lecture hall was too bright, too still, and far too quiet without Sloane beside me. She had woken up early this morning, cursing her uterus and swearing off her existence for the day. Cramps. She gets them bad. So, it was just me and a professor who had clearly mistaken himself for a TED speaker. I tapped my pen against my notebook, eyes half-lidded, my mind miles away. Still replaying everything I had no business remembering. Adrian’s mouth, his hands, his voice, and how it sounded low and sinful in my ears. My body still ached in places I couldn’t confess. I hated that I missed him. The class ended before I was ready for it. I gathered my book slowly, reluctant to step back into reality. As I stepped out of the building, I froze. Alexander was leaning casually against the wall beside the door, one foot propped against the bricks, arms folded across his chest. He looked infuriatingly calm, like he hadn’t just startled the breath from my lungs. My steps
The door creaked wider with a low groan. Adrian’s lips froze just a breath away from my pussy lips, and I snapped my head toward the entrance. My heart racing, pulse hammering in my throat. But luckily, it was just a stranger. A woman. Wide-eyed, clutching a phone to her chest as her gaze darted between Adrian and me. And I realized the scene we made. “Oh! I—I’m so sorry!” she gasped, eyes going even wider as she stumbled backward, nearly tripping on the door. “I didn’t mean to. Please, carry on. God, I swear I didn’t see anything.” But she had. The door clicked shut behind her, leaving only the sound of our heavy breathing and the low crash of waves outside the building. “Please let me down,” I said, tapping him on the head softly. Adrian let me down slowly and gently. My heart now slamming for all the wrong reasons. Guilt, embarrassment, adrenaline. They all swirled inside me like a storm I couldn’t calm. “Kim,” Adrian started, reaching for me. But I was already smoothing
“Okay, but seriously,” Gen said, tipping her head toward Alexander with a teasing grin, “how does a guy like you end up at St. Bellamy’s instead of Stanford or MIT?” Alexander chuckled, glancing sideways at me. “You make it look like St. Bellamy’s is a bad school. But let’s just say I like keeping things... interesting.” Gen smirked, clearly amused, while I tried not to smile too hard. I could feel Adrian’s gaze from across the picnic table, even though he hadn’t said much since we sat down. His fingers moved absently as he picked at the charcuterie board, his mouth chewing, but his eyes never left me once. “Is it true you already launched your own app?” Gen asked Alexander. He nodded modestly, “Two actually. The first one was a flop.” “He says flop like that isn’t still in six figures,” I said, nudging his arm playfully. Alexander smiled. “I’m moving forward into AI tech now. Dad has the bio and space tech world under his palm, but I want to thrive in something that feels very