Devoured Read online

  “That’s not what I meant. You don’t just kiss people like that and then move on to the next girl. Jeez, what am I saying?” she said. “That is exactly what you do. That’s what everyone has told me you do. I got the rundown the first day I moved in here from Zoe’s entire sorority. You’re a womanizer and I want no part of that.”

  If she really wanted no part of it, I doubt that she would be so jealous right now that her head was about to explode. I knew that I needed to tread a little lighter though, or I would completely push her away.

  “Emmi, nothing happened with that girl. She was here simply as a conversation starter.”

  She snorted.

  “A conversation starter, really?”

  “Yes, I was hoping you’d get pissed, just like you did, and that would force you to talk to me. You have to admit, I’ve been trying to talk to you all week. Nothing else worked.”

  She looked like she was thinking about that. I took that opportunity to get another look at those legs. Damn she was fine. I imagined them wrapped around my waist… It was almost illegal to expect me to not get turned on when I looked at her.

  “What about the girl you went out with last night? Is this her?”

  “Last night?” I said, genuinely forgetting that I had seen a movie with Jaslene.

  “Yes, the girl whose pants “fall off” with a look.”

  I had to laugh at that. She was actually asking around about me to know that I was with Jaslene last night. I could see the vein pulsing in her neck. She was really pissed.

  “Oh, Jaslene. We saw a movie, that’s it I swear. Her pants stayed right up around her waist. Emmi, I haven’t had sex since you’ve been here. That is the longest I’ve been without sex in years.”

  “Why?”

  I had to know that was coming. It was a valid question, one that I’ve even asked myself. I should have had an answer ready. Instead I fumbled through it…

  “I don’t really know. I’ve just lost interest in the other girls. You’re different… fun to hang out with. I had a great time at the lake, and at the zoo. I liked knowing you were in the audience at the fights. I don’t want to be bringing girls in and out of here, making you uncomfortable. I want to hang out with you, Emmi. Don’t you like me, just a little bit?”

  “Of course,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Don’t give me the boo-boo lip. It doesn’t work with me. I wish that you would have just started out asking me to hang out. All the sexual innuendos and forced kissing made me a nervous wreck, Braxton. My boyfriend cheated on me before I came here, and I caught him. A player is the last thing I want or need to get involved with.”

  “Let’s start over then… Hi Emmi, I’m Braxton. I’m glad you’re here to be my roommate and I was wondering if you’d like to hang out sometime. I want to add to that, I never ask girls to hang out. I usually want one thing only, and I’m not afraid to admit it. But I like hanging out with you. Oh wait, this is our first meeting… I’m sure I would like hanging out with you and yes I’m in my boxers.”

  She rolled her eyes again, but she grinned. Then she picked her book back up and went back to reading. I wondered if she was even going to answer me.

  Finally, without looking up from the book she mumbled, “Okay, we can hang out. If… you can keep your lips to yourself.”

  I snorted.

  “Sometimes they have a mind of their own, but I’ll try.”

  She looked up from her book and gave me a “this is not negotiable” look.

  “Okay, okay. I’ll keep them to myself,” I told her. She went back to reading again. “So, tomorrow?” I asked her.

  “Okay,” she said, simply.

  I had an overwhelming desire to kiss her again. At the very least I wanted to cuddle up next to her gorgeous body. I knew that either one would risk banishment once more though.

  “Okay then. I’ll see you in the morning. Good night, Emmi.”

  “Night,” she said, again without looking up.

  CHAPTER THREE

  EMMI

  He closed my door when he left the room and I finally got to let out the breath I had been holding. God, I wish he wasn’t so good-looking. He just emanated masculinity. Maybe if he wore a shirt once in a while it wouldn’t be free to ooze out of his pores. I’m sure that’s why he didn’t. Every move that man made was sexually calculated.

  I was relieved, I guess, that we finally talked. Hiding out was way too stressful and I was getting tired of cheese and crackers. It was nice that he said he liked hanging out with me. I hoped it wasn’t just a longer-term ploy to get me in bed. I liked hanging out with him too. I wasn’t ready to admit that to him yet. I fell asleep feeling better about things than I had since the night of the kiss anyway.

  It was a start.

  When I got up the next morning I found a note from Braxton in the kitchen.

  “Went to work out. Text me later if you’re not there when I get home and let me know what you would like to do today. It’s your choice. See ya soon—Brax.”

  I got that stupid tickle in my belly again and wondered what we should do. As I was pondering it, my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number. I thumbed the talk button.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, is this Emmi?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hi Emmi, this is Sarah Lewis. I’m the editor of the Blaze.”

  The Blaze was the school paper and I had sent in some photos over the summer and applied for a photographer job. I had carefully taken a lot of photos at the lake when I was working as a counselor. I thought they were pretty good, but since I hadn’t heard from them I thought they had passed me over by now.

  “Hi, Sarah,” I said, hoping she was calling to offer me a job.

  It wouldn’t be a real paying job but that was okay. I wanted it as experience to put on my resume.

  “Emmi I was calling to offer you a position as a photographer for us. It’s a new position that involves taking photos off campus and on. For this first assignment there’s a new trail that starts on campus and then winds up through part of the foothills and around a creek. We wanted to get some photos of it for this week’s edition of the paper.”

  Excitement ran through my body.

  “Yes, I would love that,” I told her. “When would I start?”

  “Would today be too soon? I have a camera here ready for you to sign out.”

  I thought about Braxton. We were supposed to be hanging out. It might be fun to take a picnic lunch and walk the trail with him. Either way, I couldn’t pass on this opportunity.

  “That sounds perfect. I’ll be there in half an hour.”

  I texted Braxton instantly and told him about the call. I asked him if it would be okay to hang out up there and maybe have a picnic. He texted back while I was changing and said he would meet me there. I had a good feeling about the day. It was nice to have one without all the anxiety for a change.

  I put on a pair of shorts and a tank top with my running shoes and then I walked over to the campus. Sarah was waiting for me at the newspaper office. She was a senior and she seemed to know everything about the newspaper business as she showed me around and answered my questions. She told me the photos that I’d sent in were just what they had been looking for, and if these worked out they would have plenty more work for me. She even asked me if I’d be willing to take some pictures at the next underground fighting match coming up in a couple of weeks. That made me think about Braxton and the kiss again.

  “Sure,” I told her, hoping that my thoughts weren’t turning my face flush red.

  She gave me an amazing camera to use. It was a professional one, Nikon DSLR, and a lot nicer than the one I had at home. A thousand dollars nicer. I thanked her and then before going to the trail I stopped at the University sandwich shop.

  “Do you have picnic lunches?” I asked the girl at the counter.

  “Yeah, what do you want in it?” she asked.

  I picked out some sandwiches, cut fruit, boxed juices, and bottled wate
r. She packed it all up nice in a little wicker basket and I paid for it and set off on my way. It took me about ten minutes to get to the start of the trail and I was surprised and happy to see that Braxton was already there.

  “Hey. Have you been waiting long?” I asked him, trekking over to him.

  “Nope, just got here. You look cute.”

  “Thanks.”

  I should have told him the same, but cute wouldn’t cover it and I thought drop-dead gorgeous was probably laying it on a bit thick.

  “Ready?” I asked him.

  “I’m ready,” he answered.

  He took the picnic basket out of my hand, freeing it up for the camera. I guess he did have a few gentlemanly bones in his body and they weren’t all just for looks. We walked for a while until suddenly the trail opened up into a gorgeous green clearing full of trees that were in full bloom. They were pink and white and some were even a deep purple color. I snapped a bunch of pictures of them. It was the kind of photo you would see in a travel brochure. We couldn’t see the creek yet, but we could hear it bubbling nearby.

  “Wow,” Braxton said as he looked around. “It kind of takes your breath away.”

  I smiled. He looked like he was in awe of the nature of it all. That was a good sign. A person who was impressed by nature was a good person in my book.

  “It is really pretty. This is going to make an awesome layout.”

  “Yeah, nothing better than the great outdoors. This is a cool job you got.”

  I talked as I snapped photos, “I didn’t think they were going to call. It’s been two months since I applied. I sent them all the photos I took over the summer. I thought they were pretty good, but I doubted myself until I talked to Sarah today. She said they loved them.”

  “Do you have copies?” he asked.

  “Yeah, on the hard drive of my computer.”

  “Maybe you can show me when we get home. I’d like to see where you’re from.”

  He sounded genuinely interested.

  “Sure,” I said, snapping another photo of a willow tree that looked like it might be a hundred years old.

  The trail was incredible. The views were like those you would see in illustrations in fairy tale books. Past the open meadow that was sprinkled with wildflowers, we walked an easy up-shoot of about half a mile, and then traversed a pretty old wooden bridge that extended across the cold, clear creek bed. There were so many things for me to take pictures of that I was snapping away and had almost forgotten that Braxton was following me until he spoke again.

  “Why aren’t you majoring in photography, or photojournalism?”

  I stopped what I was doing and thought about that. It was a fair question.

  “I never really thought about it honestly. I love to take pictures, but I’m not sure they’re good enough to get a full-time job doing it.”

  “That’s the point in majoring in it, to learn how to do it better. Besides, I’m sure you’re better at it than you think you are. You don’t give yourself a lot of credit.”

  “Thank you,” I said, forming my lips into a smile. “It’s something to think about I guess.”

  We were suddenly in another little parkland. This one had gently rolling little grassy hills and a lot more wildflowers than the other. They were fanned out everywhere, and they added color to the grassy carpet. I was snapping like crazy again. So much material. Suddenly Braxton’s face was in my lens. It was way too close, and a little scary. I pulled my eye back from the camera.

  “Can I help you?”

  He smirked.

  “I’m hungry. Can we eat?”

  I rolled my eyes, but the truth was I didn’t mind, I was kind of hungry too. I just liked to give him a hard time after everything he had done to me. We found a nice, flat grassy spot and spread out my tablecloth and set the food out. Then we both sat down in the soft grass and ate. Lunch was delicious and about halfway through his sandwich Braxton decided that there had been enough silence.

  “Good lunch.”

  We continued eating and talking. Then he brought up my major again.

  “You told me you’re a business major, right?”

  “Yep,” I said softly.

  “So why not just do a major in business with a minor in photography. Then when you’re finished, you can open your own studio or something.”

  That actually sounded appealing to me. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it and Casanova did.

  “That might be a good idea,” I told him. “It might take some cash though, which I have none of.”

  “Of course it’s a good idea, I thought of it,” he laughed and then a big grin spread across his face.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “But seriously you could get investors so you don’t have to come up with the capital yourself.”

  “I guess I’ll learn how to do things like that in my business courses. I would have no idea where to even start.”

  “I could always help. Your business courses will help, but it also helps to get your name out there and make as many contacts as you can.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  He was definitely a lot smarter than he looked. Not that he looked stupid, but most guys that good looking didn’t have it going on upstairs as well. After we finished our lunch we packed the trash up into the picnic basket and set off along the trail again. There were several turns along the trail and every one of them provided a spectacular far-off view of the mountains that rose up in the distance. It was a perfect clear day so I was able to get some really amazing shots of them. When we were almost to the top of the hill and the end of the trail, Braxton suddenly veered off into some tall grass and sat down.

  “Let’s take a break,” he said.

  I looked at the deep grass he had sat down in.

  “Are you sure there aren’t any snakes in there?”

  He glanced around nervously like he hadn’t thought of it and I laughed. I remembered how freaked out he had gotten about the snakes at the zoo.

  “I’m kidding.”

  I sat down next to him and he was still looking around like he expected one to attack at any moment.

  “You really are scared to death of snakes aren’t you?” I asked him chuckling.

  “I’m not scared,” he said with false bravado.

  “Why don’t you lie down and get comfortable then?” I teased.

  He looked around again and said, “I’m comfortable right here.”

  I laughed and I could tell he was worried that I doubted his manhood so he suddenly just dropped onto his back.

  “See,” he said, so proud of himself.

  He looked incredible and I couldn’t resist snapping a picture of his long, muscular frame against the grassy green backdrop. He wasn’t fazed in that by the least. He actually turned on his side and struck a pose. I snapped a few more, reminding myself to delete them before I turned the camera back in. Or download them to my computer for future perusing was more like it.

  “Nicest looking shots you took all day, huh?” he said.

  The guy wasn’t hurting for self-confidence that’s for sure.

  “Look at that cloud. It looks like an old Buick.”

  I couldn’t see it so I laid down next to him.

  “Which one?”

  He pointed at a big, white bumpy cloud that looked like a hippo to me. I didn’t see a Buick at all, and I told him so.

  “I see a hippo.”

  He laughed.

  “Look,” he said, pointing again like maybe I was looking at the wrong one. “You can see the torpedoes and the Delta wing bombers.” He was tracing the cloud with his finger as he talked.

  “Torpedoes and wing bombers?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “I thought we were talking about a car.”

  He put his arm under my head and pulled me closer to him.

  “My dad used to have a ’58 Buick that he fixed up and showed at car shows. Her name was Lucille. Torpedoes are the torpedo shaped headlights. See?” he pointed again,
and I could kind of make out what he was saying. “The Delta wing bombers are those things that go from just behind the door panels to the rear end. My dad’s were chrome and he kept them polished to the point of almost blinding you when you looked at them. Can you see it now?”

  “I guess,” I said. “I still think it looks more like a hippo.”

  I was trying to concentrate on our silly conversation, rather than the fact that we were lying so close. He smelled like soap and some kind of cologne and I couldn’t help thinking back to that kiss we had at the fights. I leaned my head into his chest and while we lay there he slid his hand down my hair and rested it on my neck. Little chills spread across my skin and my heart was drumming in my ears from his touch.

  “Have you ever been to a car show?” he asked me, rubbing his fingers lightly across my skin.

  “Not really. I’ve been to places where they were having them like street fairs and stuff, but I was always more interested in the booths and other things that were going on.”

  “I have tickets to the really big one they have at the fairgrounds every year in two weeks. You want to go?”

  “Will they have booths for me to shop at while you look at cars?” I laughed.

  “That would defeat the whole purpose. Besides missing out on all of the beautiful cars, you would be missing out on the pleasure of being on my arm all day,” he laughed and winked.

  “Your mama must really love you,” I told him.

  He breathed a soft chuckle.

  “Yes, she does, but why do you say that?”

  “In my psychology class we learned that men who are… how do I put this nicely? Borderline narcissistic were typically very spoiled and fawned over by their mothers.”

  “Borderline narcissistic is putting it nicely? Man, I’d hate to hear what you’d say if you insulted me,” he said, laughing. “I was spoiled by my mother, yes. But I didn’t always have a good self-confidence.”

  “I have a hard time believing that,” I argued.

  “It’s true. I was the smart nerdy guy in middle and high school. The girls literally looked through me sometimes. It was not conducive to a good self-esteem. There was some other stuff going on at home during that time too. They were definitely not “the best years of my life.” What about you? I bet you had guys following you around since you hit puberty.”