SAM'S POV
The next afternoon, he gave her a long kiss goodbye and went back to his dorm. Devon had come back and they planned to go to lunch to talk about his trip. Besides that, Mercedes had all but kicked him out. She made him leave, insisting that they not see each other until the "date" and that she would be fine moving around on her own. He honestly could not wait-he was up to his ears in excitement and he wasn't doing a very good job of hiding it at breakfast.
"Why do you look like that?" Devon asked as he poured ketchup on his fries.
"Like what?" Sam replied as he lifted the bread up on his burger, checking for the bacon he'd asked for.
"Like you just swallowed a fucking rainbow," he said and Sam chuckled.
"I don't know what you're talking about,"
"Yes you do, don't lie." He paused as he looked at him. "What happened with you and Mercedes this week?"
"I'm gonna take 'none of your damn business' for 300, Johnny'," Sam quipped before taking a bite into his burger.
"Come on, dude!" Devon urged.
"Fine, fine," Sam began as he took a sip of his drink. "Tell me about Alicia first."
"Dude," Devon breathed and Sam shrugged. "Fine," Devon sighed. "I met her at this party in the pit towards the end of fall semester."
"You've been hanging out with her since fall?" Sam asked, shocked.
"Yeah, man."
"How come I didn't know about her then?"
"No one did. That's thing, she didn't want anybody to know 'cause she just got out of a thing with one of the football players so she knows a lot of people. She says she didn't want people to think she was 'getting around'." He said.
"Oooh." Sam replied.
"Yeah. She's cool though, I like her."
"But isn't she kind of hiding you?" Sam retorted.
"I don't think so. Not anymore. We were together at the party and there were plenty of people there. I think we're kind of out now." He said, a smile pulling at his lips.
"Well ain't that cute," Sam said, reaching over to pinch Devon's cheek. He laughed as he swatted his hand away.
"Alright, no bullshit, your turn." He told him. "What happened?"
"Why don't you just ask Alicia? She's got the surveillance cameras." He said and Devon almost spit out his drink.
"Oh, dude, I didn't tell you? The cameras were bogus. When I got there, Alicia told me to hook them up on the wall but I didn't plug anything up to anything. She was just trying to make Mercedes feel safe with your creepin' ass." He explained and Sam's mouth fell open dramatically. "So what happened?" Devon asked again.
"Nothing, really." He lied. He wasn't one to kiss and tell, not even with his friends. Something about even the thought of telling Devon about all the things they'd done that week made him uncomfortable. "We just talked and hung out." He shrugged. "I really like her, man." He said as he looked off, his thoughts roaming to her.
"You're staring off into the sun like the white boys in those dramatic movies-I can tell you like her." He replied and Sam could only laugh. "So what're you gonna do about it? The week's pretty much up, I think you can make your move now." He said and Sam smiled.
"Actually, we have a date tonight."
"What?" Devon almost yelled, his mouth packed with french fries.
"Yeah, at her place. She's gonna cook for me." He explained.
"What, to pay you back or-?"
"No, no," Sam almost laughed, remembering her expression of gratitude the night before. "It's just a date-our first date."
"Holy shit," Devon muttered. "What the hell did you guys talk about?" He asked.
"A lot," Sam chuckled out. "I feel like I really know her."
"Well you basically lived with her for a week so you probably should. Imagine if you spent the night-you guys would probably know all each other's secrets." He said before gulping down his drink.
"Actually..."Sam said, looking down at his food.
"Seriously?!" Devon exclaimed a tad louder than he'd intended. "You spent the night there?" He asked and Sam simply nodded. "She let you spend the night there?"
"Yeah, she did."
"Jesus Christ, what happened to being a gentlemen?"
"Hey, I was tired and she offered." He defended.
"But you said yes." Devon retorted and Sam shrugged.
"Couch was comfy." He shrugged again.
"So you slept on the couch every night?" Devon asked incredulously. Sam was quiet for a moment, choosing that moment to take another bite out of his burger.
"I'm not at liberty to say." He finally replied through a grin and Devon smirked.
"Sam," He said but Sam only shook his head.
"I can't say." He muttered and Devon scoffed.
"Alright, fine. Keep your secrets." He said. "I wanna talk about me now anyway." He continued. Sam listened as Devon told him about his volunteer work in Thailand. Along with helping clean up, he'd visited a small school and helped teach the students English and even Arithmetic. Sam truly was interested, but he couldn't keep his mind off of everything that could occur that night. He wondered what she would cook, what they would talk about, what they would do after. And he missed her. Most of all he just couldn't stop thinking about her. He hadn't thought about a girl this much since he was a preteen after he'd had his very first kiss with Samantha Driscoll-a girl with red hair and freckles. It was all weird because typically, he didn't even know if Mercedes was his type. He wasn't even sure he had a type but he had never dated a girl like her before-someone so smart, driven, strong, and yet vulnerable all at the same time. He'd dated all kinds of girls before but it always seemed like they were all determined to do whatever it took to make him like them-never disagreeing with anything he said, never speaking their minds, never revealing anything honest about themselves unless they knew he would like it. His dad had always jokingly encouraged him to date soft girls-not a girl like his mom; telling him his life would be easier. And maybe that was true. But with Mercedes, he didn't care if they argued or if they disagreed a lot as long as he got to kiss her and hold her and have pillow talk with her when everything was over. He was so ready to see her again. Time really did move too slowly.
MERCEDES' POV
She had three hours.
After she'd gone out and searched three stores in the mall for a nice dress to wear to her cousin's wedding, she came back with only three hours to get ready and to cook. She decided to get ready first. She took a shower, shaved, and washed her hair. Afterwards, she wrapped her hair in a towel and painted her fingers and toe nails a hot red, blowing her hair out with the blow-dryer after she finished. She curled it and then quickly put on make-up-light foundation, blush, mascara, and gloss. She smiled at herself in the mirror as she primped, excitement suddenly rushing over her. In the bedroom she put on the medium-length purple dress that fit snugly around the waist and flared out a bit at the bottom. She couldn't wait for him to see her in it. She didn't care that they wouldn't be leaving the house-she wanted to dress up and she wanted him to be taken aback the moment he saw her. She wrapped an apron around herself as she entered the kitchen. She had all the ingredients for a good chicken parmesan/bake ziti dish so she got started right away. As she cooked, she thought deeply about the past week. It was still surreal to her how everything had worked out. She remembered the first time she saw him at the party and how he'd been watching her. She wondered how differently things would've been had she not blown him off at first. Everything that happened seemed to have happened for a reason and on a schedule that she had no control of. But she wouldn't change a thing. She liked the little history that they had already. She liked that she could now go to the bathroom with him on the other side of the door and talk to him at the same time. She liked that they bickered back and forth and that they didn't always agree on things. She liked how different and similar they were at the same time. She loved that she could be her own bold, honest, and slightly smart-mouthed self around him and not feel guilty about it because he was always prepared for it with a comeback that could make her cheeks hurt with laughter. She liked that from the outside, their feelings for each other would make no sense. She liked him so much. And as she looked at her phone, she found that there was only an hour before he would be there.
She set the table up with wine glasses, plates and silverware and with only fifteen minutes left on the oven timer, she heard a knock at the door. A large and wide smile spread across her lips as she walked to the door. When she opened it, she found him standing before her, looking as gorgeous as ever. His eyes widened at the sight of her, his gaze never leaving her as he walked through the door and she almost laughed.
"You were right," he said as he hugged her and her eyes rose in curiosity after he let her go. "You do look good in purple." He explained and she chuckled as she walked back to the kitchen. "Whatever that is smells amazing." He told her, following behind her.
"Should be ready in about ten minutes." She said and suddenly she felt his hand on her waist, turning her around to face him as he moved her back against the counter. Her skin heated beneath his touch immediately. His eyes burned into hers as she suddenly felt his hands slowly untying her apron. He lifted it over her head and dropped it on the floor before he abruptly lifted her up and sat her on the counter. Then he was between her legs, his lips were on hers, his hands roaming slowly up her thighs beneath her dress. Her fingers were in his hair as his lips, plump and sweet, moved against hers. When his hands finally reached her behind, he pulled her roughly forward and against him, rousing a quiet moan out of her. He kissed her lips for a moment more before moving to drop kisses on her cheek and her neck.
"Sam," she mumbled, the smell of the food suddenly strong in her nose.
"Hmm?" He breathed against her neck.
"The food," she said.
"Forget about it," he responded quietly and she laughed as she pushed him back, planting a quick kiss on his lips before sliding off of the counter. He groaned in response. "Hush. You know you'd be hungry." She said as she pulled on her oven mitten.
"I think I'd get over it," he replied as he reached to grab her hand again. She slapped it down quickly with the oven mitten covered hand and he chuckled as he pulled his hand away.
"Sit down," she told him and he threw his hands up in innocence.
"Alright, alright." He muttered as he backed away from her, taking a seat at the dining room table. She pulled the ziti out of the oven, placing it on the stove top before using a knife to cut it. She retrieved the plates from the table, leaning down to kiss him quickly as she passed him before returning to the kitchen. She placed a large portion of the pasta on his plate before taking a piece of chicken parmesan from the tray on the stove and placing it alongside his pasta. After she made her plate, she took them both to the table, placing his in front of him and hers in front of the seat across from him. They prayed together and afterwards he bit right into his ziti. She smiled as he complimented her and kissed her hand softly. He poured them wine from the bottle that sat on the table and they toasted.
"To broken legs that magically heal in a week," he said and she giggled.
"To white boys with strangely large lips," she quipped, making him burst into laughter.
"To girls like you who make them useful." He added as their glasses collided and her cheeks instantly warmed. She groaned suddenly as she remembered all the toasts she'd have to endure at the wedding the next day. "What was that for?" He asked, as he finally took a bite of his chicken, his eyes rolling at the taste. "This is amazing. I may have to break off the engagement with Devon." He joked and she laughed.
"I'm glad you like it," she replied.
"Love it," he corrected it. " So what was the little sound for?" He asked again and she groaned again.
"The wedding-I just remembered I have to go tomorrow." She said and he nodded.
"Why do you seem so unexcited for it?"
"Because weddings are pretty unexciting." she retorted.
"Are you kidding me? You got free booze, good music, lots of wom-wonderful people," he corrected as one of her eyebrows shot up and she chuckled.
"I'm just not into it. I think it's a little bit over the top."
"How so?"
"I mean marriage in general is just kinda pointless," she said and his his eyes widened quickly. "What's the point of it really? It's just a piece of paper and it just makes it harder for people to part ways when they decide it's time." She said and Sam shrugged.
"Sometimes that time never comes. Sometimes people actually stay together." He told her and she sighed. "Wait, so are you saying you're never getting married?" He asked her, his eyes narrowed. She looked at him, his face clearly shocked.
"Well, I don't know." She said honestly. "I tried my hand at a love that I thought would last forever." She shrugged. "And I lost." She almost whispered. The room fell silent for a moment before she felt his hand on hers under the table.
"Hey," he said quietly and she looked up to meet his deep gaze. "You won't always," he told her and she smiled. She didn't know if she believed him or not, but she liked the way it sounded on his voice. "Why don't I come with you?" He suddenly asked.
"What?"
"To the wedding. We can make a date of it." He said and she smirked.
"I don't know about that,"
"Don't you have the option for a plus one?"
"Does a country boy like you even have a suit?" She asked.
"I've got three," He replied quickly. "Watch your mouth," he said and she laughed. She had to admit that the night would be more eventful with him around.
"You realize that this means you'll be meeting my entire family, right?" She clarified.
"Of course," he nodded. "Should be fun."
"And what-," she cleared her throat. "How exactly should I introduce you? As the guy I just met a week ago but who I've also basically lived with and given a blowjob?"
"Okay, that seems a bit suggestive." He said and she rolled her eyes as she chuckled. "Just introduce me as whatever you want." He told her and she sighed.
"That helps," she said sarcastically. She honestly did half expect for him to say something-to put some sort of label on them. She inwardly scoffed at herself.
"Well what do you want to introduce me as?" He asked.
"What do you want to be introduced as?"
"I asked you first."
"I asked you second," She replied quickly and he chuckled.
"Fine," he said. "Why don't you tell them," he began as he pushed his clean plate away, resting his hand against her cheek, "I'm the guy who is completely smitten with you, who thinks about you all the time, and who wants to kiss you pretty much every minute of the day-including right now." He told her as he leaned over the table, moving closer to her, his mouth only inches away from hers.
"Kinda lengthy," she replied, her eyes already slowly closing.
"Shh," he breathed and then he closed the space between them. He kissed her slowly and deeply. It wasn't long before he was pushing the table to the side and out of the way so that he was right in front of her. Their lips tugged at each others as he moved her back against the wall behind her. His arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her into him and his other hand resting on the back of her neck. She didn't know what to do with her hands. She was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to touch him everywhere. She kissed him for a bit longer-it wasn't until his hand moved from her waist and instead cupped her ass-that she parted her lips from his, her brown eyes meeting his lustful green before she whispered;
"Bed."
SAM'S POV
She was so beautiful. From the moment he'd laid eyes on her, he knew that but something about seeing her in that all dressed up and barefoot in that purple dress, her hair curled, her lips plump and glossed, stirred something else up in him. Or maybe it was just the simple fact that he'd missed her throughout the day. For the past week she'd been constantly within his reach and he'd gotten used to that. So after spending almost half of the day without her, when he finally got to see her again, every thought he'd had about her throughout the day came to a head. He wanted to talk to her, laugh with her, kiss her, make love to her. He wanted it all. And he was relieved to know that she did, too.
He laid her softly on her bed, his hand moving her hair behind her ear as he hovered over her. Then he was kissing her again, shortly on the lips and then down to her neck as he reached beneath her to unzip her dress. He pulled each of the shoulders on the dress down as she unbuckled his belt. She pulled it from the loops and tossed it on the floor beside them as he pulled her dress down. He moved to the foot of the bed, pulling her dress off completely and removing his pants and underwear afterwards. Beneath her dress, she wore a black lace bra and matching sheer black panties that made his erection twitch.
"Do you like it?" She asked and he nodded as he climbed on top of her again.
"I do," he said. "But I think I'll like it a lot more when it's on the floor," he continued and she smirked, biting her bottom lip. She sat up to unclasp her bra but he quickly grabbed her hands and placed them at her sides, wrapping his owns hands around her to unclasp it himself. She moaned as he kissed her neck, pulling her bra from her shoulders and dropping it off the side of the bed. He kissed and sucked softly on the supple skin of each of her shoulders as she pulled his shirt up. He sat up a little so that she could pull it over his head. His hands cupped her breast as his shirt joined the rest of their clothes on the floor. She whimpered softly as his hands pressed against her nipples. He didn't waste time-sucking and licking slowly on each one of them, rousing moan after moan out of her. Her hand reached down to grasp his erection and he groaned against her breast as she stroked it softly. He wanted her so badly. He looped his fingers around either side of her panties and removed them quickly. She reached into the drawer of the end table next to them and retrieved a condom.
"Where did you-"
"-Alicia stocks it every week." She explained and he almost laughed. She removed it from the wrapper and dropped the aluminum to the floor. And then she was rolling it slowly over his length, her eyes never leaving his. He was already tingling from just the contact. He reached down to rub his hand against her sex, his fingers entering her and he groaned at the wetness that waited there for him. She was more than ready. He kissed her again, his tongue searching for something in her mouth. Then he set himself up at her entrance, sucking air in between his gritted teeth as he filled her. Her lips parted from his and her head rose. She moaned as he moved slowly in and out and the sensation rocked his body until he was almost weak. He pulled out completely—only to slowly push back into her seconds later. He repeated this motion until her back started to arch up inwardly and her toes curled. In and out, in an out, gently and slowly so he could make this last. She groaned as he filled her over and over, only to leave her empty and breathless for him every moment afterwards. She reached out, trying to grab his back, pull him deeper into her and keep him there. He loved the way she looked when she was hungry for him. And he would've wanted to keep her there-ravenous and on edge. But the desire coursing through him was just too strong. He swiftly lifted her hips, slipping himself completely inside of her and then he quickly pulsed. She was panting only moments later, his heart rate quickening and her eyes closing as she moaned loudly. Her breathing matched his pace and he could see her coming apart beneath him. He pushed deeper into her, stretching her open more and more until he could feel her everywhere. He could tell she was getting close, and with every pulsation combined with the sound of her delicious moans, he got closer, too. He bent to kiss her hard as he continued to move. She whimpered against his mouth as he kissed her, his hands gliding up her thighs. And then he could feel her tightening around him as she came, calling his name. The sound of his name on her voice was his undoing-he came hard only moments later, kissing her as he did so. He fell to the side of her, his lips never leaving hers. He pulled her thigh up to wrap it around his hip, his hand sliding up and squeezing her behind.
"Oh my god," she breathed once his lips parted from hers and he laughed.
"By the way," he began as he stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Could I have your phone number?" He asked and she burst into a fit of giggles, and he kissed her as she laughed because frankly he couldn't help it. Afterwards, he went to clean himself and she joined him the shower where she bathed him slowly and they playfully threw the suds-filled sponges at each other. And that was when he knew. He wouldn't say it, but he knew in that moment that this was something more than like. He couldn't label it just yet but he felt it. He lay in bed that night next to her, watching her as she slept peacefully. He didn't know much about what it was he was feeling. But what he did know was that she held a piece of him somewhere within her and he wasn't sure if he would ever get it back-or if he ever wanted to.
