This story is evolving as I write it, the characters are stumbling from my fingers onto the page. So, if it seems slightly disorganized, I apologize. These characters have been warring with themselves in my head for a while, it was time to let them out. Keep up with me here. Thanks for reading, and enjoy.
Chapter 2
Over the course of the next few weeks, I found myself spending more and more time with Adam. It got to the point where my girlfriends were asking if I'd started dating him yet. The answer was always no—aside from that first time we'd studied at Espresso'd, Adam had never expressed interest in dating again. I didn't mind, though. It was nice to have someone to sit next to in all of my classes.
It was slightly strange how I hadn't noticed Adam before he introduced himself to me. I'm not the most observant person in the world, but that day in the parking lot, Adam's face was completely foreign to me. Couple that with the fact that he was in
every single one
of my classes, and you had yourself a real puzzle. I noticed that people seemed to ignore him unless he spoke to them first. He had a couple other friends that I had seen him walking around with, but he was more or less a loner. What completely baffled me was the lack of girls following him around. Adam was probably the most attractive man on campus, and nobody seemed to notice that. I was grateful that he had come around, though. With his help, I had passed my last test in microbiology, and we were working on studying for the final, which was coming up in the next week.
My evolution professor stopped droning on as the class came to an end and I started packing up my things. I shouldered my bag and glanced up at Adam; he was waiting at the door for me, as usual. He gave me the grin I was starting to know all too well.
"Wanna do lunch?"
I grinned and nodded, flipping a curled strand of hair over my shoulder. "Sure. There's that new sushi place..." I trailed off at Adam's face when I mentioned sushi.
"That stuff just smells nasty," he said. "But I'm willing to give it a try."
I smiled at him as we walked out of the building and out into the sun. It had snowed recently and the ground was a glittering field of white wherever students hadn't trampled a path. I turned to face Adam—he already had his shades on. "Let's just walk there. It's close and we're done with class for the day," I said, and Adam nodded.
We walked quietly in the bright light, Adam's footsteps and mine crunching into the snow as we walked. Bare branches hung above us, covered in the white powder. Everything was still quiet and serene, all sounds except for our footsteps muffled by the snow. Adam and I had grown used to walking quietly together. Silence was never tense—it was comfortable, and I appreciated that he wasn't one of those people who always had to have a conversation going on.
He was wearing a worn leather jacket with his shoulders hunched over, his hands in his pockets. Though in most people his posture would reek of low self-esteem, Adam pulled it off effortlessly. His gaze behind his sunglasses was direct, no matter where he looked, whether it was to make sure no one was coming before we crossed the street, or glancing at someone else as they passed by us on the sidewalk. His grin was always ready, hiding behind his lips. It was times like this that Adam stunned me—his masculinity was so attractive it made me feel like a foolish teenager.
As we arrived at the restaurant, he opened the door for me and ushered me in. I switched the shoulder that my bag hung on and walked up to the counter, Adam right next to me. Pointing to a few freshly-made sushi rolls, I had them plated up and walked to the register to pay.
I was rummaging through my bag, looking for my wallet, when Adam spoke up, "I've got this, Em." I looked up at him, surprised.
"You aren't even getting any food for yourself. Why would I let you pay for me?"
Adam laughed as he handed the cashier $10. "Too late, Em. I already did." As I stood there, staring at him, unsure of how to respond, he took my plate and ushered me over to a table, sitting me down.
"Where's your food, Adam? Not going anorexic on me, are you?" I picked up a sushi roll and shoved the entire thing into my mouth.
Adam just chuckled, "Nah. I'm just not that hungry. Nerves, I guess."
His sentence stopped me mid-chew, "Nerves? What are you nervous about?" I blushed when I realized that I probably should have swallowed before I asked that.
Apparently Adam didn't mind though. A little noise issued from his throat that almost sounded like a groan. I refused to believe that he was getting turned on by the sight of mashed-up sushi in my mouth and swallowed.
I shouldn't have let my mind wander in that direction. The image of Adam, turned on, was almost too much to bear. I could just see, in my mind, each piece of clothing coming off to reveal a body underneath that was too much like a god to be real. I gasped, blushing furiously, unwilling to let myself imagine his lower half. Taking a gulp of water, I tried to cool myself down, but it was too late and the image of his shaft, hard and throbbing rose unbidden into my mind. I felt myself getting wet.
For the love of God, I was fantasizing about a man who was sitting right in front of me. To be fair, he had his eyes closed and was breathing slowly, as if he was trying to calm himself down. I took a couple of deep breaths and felt myself relax.
Adam cleared his throat. "You have to stop doing that, Em."
I looked up at him. "Sorry. You just surprised me. I meant to swallow first, I swear."
Adam chuckled. "Not that. The blushing. You blush a lot."
As he mentioned it, I felt the heat creeping up my neck and rising into my cheeks. "It's not something that I can help, you know." I was embarrassed, and it made me irritable.
Adam just laughed, then took a deep breath, "I know. Besides, it's sexy."
I sputtered a bit, "Sexy? You think I'm sexy?"
His eyes widened, "You don't?"
"I don't really...I mean I look alright, I suppose...God I don't know!" His comment wasn't helping the blushing at all, and it was a terrible cycle. The more I blushed, the more embarrassed I got, which caused the blood to rush to my face all the faster.
Adam was just looking at me with a cocky little grin on his face. I could feel his eyes following the red up my neck until he met my eyes. His gaze made my knees go weak and I could feel the heat pool between my thighs—it was a good thing that I was sitting down. I bit my lower lip and broke the gaze, looking down at the remnants of rice on my plate. I started pushing them around a bit, unwilling to look back up, until Adam placed his hand over mine, stopping the motion.
"Well you are. Sexy, I mean. The way you act all shy and demure—so innocent. It's sexy because it contrasts the perfection of your look and creates an irresistible combination that I find myself extremely attracted to. I've been trying not to come onto you too strong, but god, Em. You make it hard to do."
I could feel my eyes widening as he spoke. He seemed serious about what he was saying, telling me how he was attracted to me, but all I could concentrate on was his fingertips tracing along my skin leaving a trail of heat in their wake. This man was attracted to me? God, what was I supposed to do? He was perfection itself—I'd had one boyfriend previous to this, and it wasn't anything serious. Aside from a little making out, I was still a virgin. I'd never even felt this way for a guy before, and suddenly I'm fantasizing about a man who obviously had more experience than I did. And that damn heat was still pooling between my thighs.
Adam leaned across the table until his nose almost touched mine. My eyes closed gently and I felt his breath, soft, across my lips. I heard him inhale softly and could barely distinguish a slight groan, "You smell so good, Emma. You always smell. So. Good."
I wanted to kiss him so badly. I could see it, in my mind. Closing the last inch of distance between us and pressing my lips to his. The table would disappear and I would mold my body to his, clinging to him as our lips locked. He would taste like everything I'd imagined, and those little groans he'd been making all day today would get louder as our tongues got bolder. I could see it until I no longer felt his breath across my lips. Opening my eyes, I saw him sitting across the table, looking at me. His eyes were dilated, and he was breathing as hard as I was.
He cleared his throat, "We should...eh hem...go back to campus."
I nodded silently and stood up slowly, shakily, my legs still weak. Adam came to my side of the table and put a hand on my shoulder, steadying me. "You ok?" he asked gently, and I nodded, unable to look him in the eyes. As if he would be able to see into my mind and pick out every fantasy I'd had about him.
We walked out of the sushi bar and Adam seemed distant. He glanced over at me and gave me a wry grin, "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable Em. I guess I'm more attracted to you than I thought. Sorry about that...smell thing."
I couldn't help the smile that crept across my face. "Yeah. That was weird. You're kind of a strange guy."
Adam glanced down at me and gave me his trademark grin. "Glad you think so, Emma." He reached out and took my hand, watching my face for a reaction. I felt my heart flutter and I gave his hand a small squeeze. That seemed to be the sign he was looking for and he gripped my hand tightly, entwining his fingers with mine.
I was unsure how I felt about his hand wrapped around mine. Granted, we'd been seeing each other almost every day for a month now, but my emotions about him were still scattered. He wanted to date me, he had said so. And dear lord, he was an attractive man. But other than that, I didn't know too much about him. He was smart, funny, confidant...he seemed genuine, but how could I know that for sure? Our main topic of conversation during all of our little 'meetings' wasn't ourselves, it was science. He helped me study and that was it. With his help, I would breeze my final.
Outside, walking through the cool air, my fantasies inside the sushi bar seemed silly. Adam was a friend, a great one. I looked down at our hands. How long was that going to last?
Adam looked down at me and gave me a smile that I hadn't seen before. It was tender, solid, and I felt warmth envelope me from my head to my toes. A chill travelled up my spine after that—this was moving too quickly. I tugged my hand away from his; when he looked down at me, I couldn't see any emotions behind the sunglasses covering his eyes.
I was unsure of what to do with my hand as it swung between us; eventually, I just shoved it into my jacket pocket. Adam had done the same with both his hands a while ago.
We walked back to campus, to where my car was parked. I stood in front of it for a moment, unsure of what to say. Was this ruined? Had I lost him because I didn't want to hold his hand? I turned to look up at him and he was looking down at me, his lips quirked in a small grin. I still couldn't see his eyes, but I knew that behind those shades, those strange colored eyes would be dancing. I felt the blush coming on and I turned away, rummaging through my bag looking for keys. Just as my fingers closed around them, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I glanced up at Adam, and his little grin had become a full smile.
"You don't have to hide your blushes, Emma. I didn't mean what I said about stopping. I like them. I like you."
