12. Owen.

I heard her asking what was wrong with me but how could I tell her?

"I, um, I'm just nervous." And apparently I'm a big pansy.

"Why?"

She sat on the couch and patted the seat next to her. I sat, stiff as could be and let out a huge breath.

"Well, I've tried to get your attention in cla.s.s and ended up asking you for gum."

She giggled at that and it made me relax to hear her laugh, even at my expense.

"And then this morning I may have chased you out of the diner forgetting to pay my bill. I probably would've gotten picked up for petty theft. I don't know. It's kinda surreal being here."

Now she was really laughing. Then she threw her head back and as she did she winced and groaned, but never stopped laughing.

"Ow, that hurts." She stopped and stretched this way and that.

"I'm glad my stalking is entertaining you."

"I'm just glad you found me. You are way to pretty for prison."

The doorbell rang and she got up slowly and went to her purse to get money I a.s.sumed.

"Hey, I've got this." I took out my wallet and opened the door and paid the delivery guy.

I turned to her with questions written all over my face about the amount of food she had ordered.

"So, yeah, I saw you at the diner way before you saw me. You ordered enough food for three people so..."

"You were stalking me? d.a.m.n it. I thought I was the stalker."

"Um, I think we both are." We laughed together and it was so easy to be around her.

I let her walk in front of me on purpose, mostly to be a gentleman, but a lot had to do with the view. I reminded her to take some pain medicine before we ate.

We sat at her small table and ate while we talked. All of my nerves had calmed. We sat joked and laughed until she looked like she might fall over at the table. We stared at each other as we both realized that the night had come to a natural end. I cleared my throat to tell her to get some rest and to somehow weasel her phone number from her. But she beat me to the punch.

"Wanna know something weird?" She half laughed half whispered.

"Yeah." Was she kidding me? I wanted to know everything.

"I just met you, officially, but I'm not ready for you to leave yet. Amber won't be back for a while. Can you stay?"

"You have no idea how much I wanted you to say that." And I meant every word.

13. Nellie.

I felt so incredibly relaxed with him around. Like he had been here all along. And I had been waiting for him to arrive.

We sat in the living room on my beat up thrift store couch and decided on a reality TV show. I giggled as he groaned at the really awful parts and somehow through the hour my head ended up leaning against his arm. And then as if we had known each other forever he raised his arm and I curled into his side knowing my place by heart. The soft rhythm of his chest rising and falling under my cheek rocked me to sleep before I could attempt to stop it.

I felt myself being jostled around and then covered with a blanket but I was exhausted and I couldn't open my eyes. I heard the door close and whimpered the tiniest weary whine in protest of his absence but never opened my eyes.

The next morning I stretched and realized that I was in my bed when I fell asleep on the couch-with Owen. I covered my face and almost squealed like a girl at the extremely heroic gesture of him carrying me to my bed. The act alone was the sweetest I could imagine. And then it hit me.

"Son of a bi..." I didn't get his phone number or give him mine. I found out his last name was Black last night so I could look him up in the student directory, but how lame was that?

I flung back the covers in aggravation and went to use the bathroom and brush my teeth. I grabbed my toothbrush and as I met my own reflection in the mirror I saw a note sticking out of the side of the medicine cabinet. I smiled and grabbed it.

Nellie, Couldn't bear to wake you. You looked so gorgeous and peaceful. Hope I put you in the right bed. My cell number is at the bottom of this note.

Thank you for dinner and letting me spend time with you. Feel better.

O.

P.S. I snuck a kiss on your forehead. Couldn't help myself.

I sat on the side of the tub and read the note again and held it to my chest like a goon. I finished brushing my teeth and went directly to my phone to text him.

N: Thx for putting me in my bed.

I waited a few minutes and just when I put the phone down to resume getting dressed I heard the message tone.

O: Ur welcome. How r u feeling?

N: Sore.

O: :( Got plans today?

N: Study @ library then work.

O: I sit in the back by the law books if u wanna join me around noon.

N: K.

I didn't say yes or no, I wanted to let him stew a little. I put on a raggedy jean skirt; it was raggedy on purpose, and a light blue tank top. I straightened my hair and left it down. I went out into the kitchen to get some breakfast and noticed that Amber's room was open. She hadn't spent the night here. But I knew that Dylan lived in the same dorm room as Owen. I texted him again.

N: Amber's not home.

O: I know.

N: Dylan?

O: Yeah. Slept in the Bronco.

I didn't answer that one. I felt awful that he had to sleep in his car because my best friend was so inconsiderate and so was his roommate.

N: Breakfast?

O: With you?

N: Y.

O: Name the place I told him to meet me in the diner where we had stalked each other the day before. And a half an hour later I sat across from him staring into eyes that were the color of a dark green forest. He barely fit into the booth and he ordered one of everything. I felt like a pixie in comparison to his stature. I only ate half of my waffle and when I saw him eyeing it I pushed the plate over to him. He lined it up with the rest of the plates and ate all of it. I was working on my second cup of coffee when he finally finished.

"Sorry."

"For what?" I couldn't imagine what he was sorry for.

"A girl once told me that the amount of food I ate was sickening."

"She was nuts. I want some pom-poms so I can cheer you on. It's mesmerizing."

"Mesmerizing huh? You know what else is mesmerizing?"

"What?" Who knew what this boy was going to come up with.

"You-snoring."

I scoffed at him and put my hand to my chest feigning insult.

"I do not snore."

"Oh yeah, you do. But it's a really quiet feminine snore, so it's ok."

"Um, you know that makes you a creeper, right?"

"Creeper?"

"Yeah, one of those weird guys who watches girls sleep. Creeper."

"I didn't watch you sleep. I heard you snore and I looked down and you were asleep so I picked you up and carried you to bed and covered you up. So, not a creeper."

"And?"

"And what?" He shrugged his shoulders like he forgot the most important part.

"You kissed me."

The waitress came and he smiled broad as he knew he'd been saved from admitting anything even though we both knew. He paid again and gave me a stern frown when I protested.

We left the diner and made plans to meet at the library.

I saw him park but I was already inside. I snuck in the side entrance and went to where the law books were. Eeewww, gross, please don't want to sit at this icky table.

He came up and stood beside me. The smell of cedar enveloped me. The same smell I fell asleep to last night.

"Are we going to study standing up?"

"No smarta.s.s. I hate these tables. I never, ever sit at these tables."

"Why?"

"Because they are always sticky and I don't know what made them sticky and it freaks me out."

"Ok, so where do you sit?"

"On the floor in between rows."

"Well, lead the way."

I went to the very back row and as stealthily as I could bent my legs sideways and sat down. He sat diagonal from me and I stretched my legs out so that my feet were next to him. I took off my flops and let my toes play with the cold law books.

I pulled out my reading for History and he pulled out his Biology book. He read and made notes and I read more and more about the Civil War than I ever wanted to. My toes started to get cold so without thinking I nudged them behind his back and he huffed out a laugh.

"Come on." He whispered while patting his thigh. He put his book off to the side and propped it up on his backpack.

"What?"

He, soft as a feather, grabbed my feet and put them both in his lap and started to lazily rub my toes and the bottoms of my feet while reading his book. I was only skimming my book at this point. Rubbing my feet was stirring all kinds of thoughts and none of them were about history. Not even close.

He stopped rubbing my feet sometime later and then he did the most heart melting thing I had experienced since being put in my bed. He pulled his shirt up and pulled it on top of my feet so that my soles were up against his abs and put his hand on top of them to keep it in place. I hope he knew that he was warming up a lot more than my feet.

14. Owen.

I kept turning the pages in my book like a moron even though I had no idea what the h.e.l.l was on those pages. My hands were now on the tops of her feet and her feet were under my shirt. So then I started rubbing the tops of her feet. I just couldn't help myself. Those feet were connected to her legs. And her legs were just begging to be touched. And after watching her last night from the sidelines I knew why. The girl was a wicked skater. There was one time when she flew past me and I could feel the wind move my hair. And even when she screwed up her face and contortioned her body to block another player, she just took my breath away. She was putting off this bad girl vibe, but I caught on quick. Because it was just that, an act. She was sweet and caring and she sucked in a breath every time I touched her. Complete innocence.

And I am a jaded jacka.s.s.

As much as I needed to stop touching her, I couldn't. And as much as I needed to leave her alone and let her find someone good enough for her, I wouldn't. She deserved so much more, but the thought of some other guy's hands on her was crippling.

I looked over to her and smiled. She smiled back at me and then both of our smiles faded and I nearly expected the books around us to catch fire. I needed to stop what was happening, but I couldn't. I lacked the sheer strength.

I put her feet back on the floor next to me and scooted closer. My hands moved of their own accord. My left hand combed through the softest hair I'd ever felt. My right hand started at her knee and splayed against her thigh and moved upwards until it met its nemesis in the form of a blue-jean skirt. G.o.d help me, her legs were like silk underneath my fingers. Her icy blue eyes stayed frozen with mine as I moved even closer but widened nonetheless.

I moved in slower because I wanted to make sure I remembered this moment in case she ever figured out who I had been. I needed to keep this moment. My eyes had moved to her lips, which were opened the tiniest bit like a door opened to let me in. They flickered up to see her eyes on my lips. They met for just a second, just enough to make my entire body come to life. I pulled away, only an inch or two, and she c.o.c.ked her head to the side and smiled. And then my innocent girl grabbed me by the front of my shirt and went for it.