Page 42 of Fortuity
Ever since I’d put a name to what I was feeling for Dillon while I’d been sitting in Sarah’s office, I’d come so close to saying those three little words to him. But there was a different four-letter word that kept holding me back. Fear. “What if he doesn’t sayitback?”
“You’re barely going to be able to get the words out before he tosses you over his shoulder andshowsyou how exactly how much helovesyou.”
“Areyousure?”
“Beyond a shadow of a doubt. Pinkie swear.” She let go of my arms and lifted one hand up with her pinkie finger sticking out so we could shake them. “If I’m wrong, I promise to run off to the circuswithyou.”
“You’re ridiculous,” I laughed, shakingmyhead.
“I am, and that’s never going to change.” She picked the letter up off the mattress and shoved it in my hand. “But it’s time for you to stop being ridiculous and go give your hottie the big news. Allofit.”
She practically shoved me out the door and dragged me down to where her junker was parked in the lot next to our dorm. Before I knew it, she’d driven me over to Dillon’s place and I was standing in front of his door. When it opened, she honked her horn and gave me the thumbsupsign.
“Hey, baby.” Dillon leaned down and pressed a kiss against my lips, giving Christine a wave before pulling me inside the house. “I didn’t realize you were coming over so early. I thought we were meeting up later tonight. Didn’t you need to finish that term paper and get itturnedin?”
“Yeah. It was easier than I expected, so it didn’t take as long as I thought it would. I emailed it to my professor about thirty minutes ago.” I followed him into the living room, running my fingers along the edge of the envelope in the pocket of myshorts.
“You want to do anything special tonight, now that we have more time?” He dropped down onto the couch and pulled me onto his lap, nuzzling against my neck. “Or are you still cool with binge watching a show and eatingtakeout?”
“It sounds perfect to me. My brain literally feels likeit’sdead.”
“With all the studying you’ve been doing lately, I’m not surprised. You need to relax, and I’m looking forward to helping you out with that.” I shifted on his lap, turning around to straddle him. “You’ve got that serious look in your eyes.Everythingokay?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, fiddling with a lock of hair that’d fallen onto his forehead and smoothing it back. “But there’s something I need to talk to youabout.”
I felt his body tense beneath mine, and his hands tightened on my hips. “We need to talk is usually code forbadnews.”
“This isn’t bad,” I reassured him as I relaxed in his hold. Christine was right. Dillon was as crazy about me as I was him. I didn’t need to be worried about how he’d react when I pulled up my big girl panties and told him how I felt. But that didn’t mean I was dying to do it, so I decided to give him my big news first. “Remember when I mentioned that I was applying to gradschool?”
“Yeah. Of course I do. When you talk, I listen.Always.”
I couldn’t help myself. I pressed my lips against his for a kiss because he somehow always knew exactly what to say to make me feel better. “Which is why you’re so damn perfect for me and shouldn’t worry when I say we needtotalk.”
“I can’t make any promises, baby. You’re too important for me to ever take you for granted. If you come to me looking worried and saying we need to talk, then I’m going to beconcerned.”
“Well, this isn’t one of those times when you need to be concerned. I have good news.” I pulled the envelope out of my pocket and handed it to him. “Or at least I think it is, and I hope youdotoo.”
He pulled the letter out, skimming it quickly before his head jerked up and he grinned at me. “Yougotin?”
“Yup. It looks like I’m going to be a gradstudent.”
“That’s fantastic, baby. I’m so proud of you!” He brushed his lips against mine and gave the bottom one a little nip with his teeth. “You’re going to kick grad school’s ass, just like you didundergrad.”
“It’s not going to be easy,” I warned him. “The tuition waiver program will cover me for grad school, but the stipend I get for living expenses only lasts until I’m twenty-three. I’m either going to have to take an accelerated course load to try to finish in two semesters plus the summer, or I’m going to have to juggle a job and my classes the second year. But either way, I’m not going to have as much time for you as Idonow.”
“And I’m going to be working full-time for my dad. I’m sure my schedule will suck, which is only going to make things more difficult,” he groaned, dropping his head against myshoulder.
“It might be hard, but we’ll figure it out.” We had to because I refused to thinkotherwise.
His head jerked up and he searched my face with dark eyes. “I might have a solution to ourproblem.”
“Oh, yeah? Whatisit?”
“Move inwithme.”
