Breaking Down Sydney (Sydney West #2) (5 page)

Chapter Eight

The moon was high and full. It shined into the open window and cast Jason in a heavenly light. His collarbones were perfection to kiss. Jason caught my chin with his fingertips and forced me to lift my head. His lips molded to mine, taking me in. I couldn’t help but giggle. I still couldn’t believe Jason was in my bed.

“So, how long do I get the pleasure of having you?” I purred.

Jason sat up against the pillows, moving his arm from around my shoulders to move his body a few inches higher. I felt lighter without his touch. To get comfortable again, I folded my arms across his chest and rested my chin on them.

“I’m here for a while…”

I tipped my head to the side. “What’s a while? I thought you came for a visit because the holidays seemed so far away.”

He rubbed his jaw, locking eyes with me. “It hurt too much to be without you so…I transferred.”

“Transferred?”

He couldn’t be serious. My heart did a flip, trying to get out of my ribcage.

“Mmm-hmm, I attend this university now, so you can’t get rid of me anytime soon.” He gave me the biggest grin I’d ever seen.

I backed away from him, sitting on the foot of the bed. “Are you telling me the truth?” It was too berserk to be real. Why would he move to Arizona for me? He loved me that much?

“When you left that day in California, I felt lost. After a while, I realized a piece of me was missing. I think you were right about the distance. It would’ve hurt us. Talking with you via texting and such was fun, but it only reminded me that I couldn’t touch you whenever I wanted. So I requested a transfer and didn’t want to tell you in case something didn’t work out. Plus I wanted to surprise you,” he said, reaching across the bed to toy with a strand of my long hair.

I closed the distance between us so we were nose to nose. “You sure succeeded in that. The distance was torture for me too, but you uprooted yourself…for me?” I lightly kissed his lips. I was confused, but I didn’t want to sound like I didn’t like him being with me.

He frowned, sitting back against the pillows to run his hands through his messy hair. “What do you want from me, Syd? Did you want me to fuck you for a couple days and leave again until Christmas?”

I wasn’t expecting anger. “You sprang this on me. It’s fantastic to see you, just hard to believe you were willing to move all the way to the desert to be with me. I guess I’m in shock.” I almost choked on the words. I hugged myself and turned my head to avoid looking at him.

He exhaled. With it went his frustration. “Don’t you remember that I love you? When you love someone, you’d walk through fire, through the Valley of Death, for them.”

Just then, my cell phone rang. I did a Superwoman leap for it. There was nothing awkward about standing naked across the room from Jason. Nope, not at all.

He moves across state lines for you and you freak. What’s wrong with you, Syd?

Damn that voice.

“It’s Amelia. Is it cool that I take it? I won’t be long,” I said while slipping on my light blue robe.

He nodded. “Go ahead, I’ll be here.”

For some privacy, I locked myself in the bathroom before answering the phone.

“Sydney! You’ll never guess what happened!” Amelia screamed in my ear. I had to pull the phone away so she didn’t break my eardrum.

“What?” I was afraid of the answer. She was too loud when she was excited.

“Hunter is here! He met me after class holding two iced coffees! I swear I feel like a princess right now.”

Well, that answered my question about whether Hunter came too. That also cleared up why I hadn’t seen Amelia.

I looked in the mirror. I had a strange glow that was fading. “Really? Where are you right now?”

“I’m at his place. Well, it’s Jason and Hunter’s apartment, but Hunter said Jason was with you so we got this place tonight. They transferred for us, Syd! I’m so happy I could die,” she said, sighing.

My blue eyes looked too deep. I turned away from the reflection. “I know, it’s crazy. I’m still—”

“Gotta go. We have a date night tonight. Just had to tell you not to wait up. Bye.”

She hung up before I could respond. Happiness bubbled in my blood stream, but I was still puzzled. I was never a romantic, so having two guys transfer to another state university for a couple of girls they met over the summer seemed like a great film or novel, but not real life. I exited the bathroom with my phone clutched in my hand. Jason smiled at me and waved my Scooby-Doo’s front leg as if making him say hello.

Shit, he found it.
I felt my cheeks burn in embarrassment.

“I found our old pal under your bed. Thought he’d like it better on the bed.” He sat Scooby next to him and locked his eyes on me. Jason pulled the blanket up to his waist. It was official; he wanted to talk.

I bit my fingernail and said, “Oh, yeah…he does like the bed.”

“Glad you still like him. I was afraid it was all an act.” He was testing me. His gaze was like a million needles in my skin.

The urge to run came over me. It scorched my legs. “Why would it be an act? I wanted him from the first time I saw him hanging above those vacuous games at the fair.”

Jason smiled, making my knees turn to jelly. I couldn’t escape if it was too hard to even stand. “I was only teasing you.” He hugged Scooby and tossed him to me.

“Whoa! Don’t throw him!” I held Scooby close, as if soothing a spooked child.

He put his hands up. “Sooorry. He smells like you.”

“Yeah?” I felt myself smiling back at him as I hugged Scooby tighter. “What do I smell like?”

He beckoned me to return to the bed. I abandoned Scooby on my desk and climbed on top of Jason, looking down at him it was if I was staring at a Greek god carved out of marble.

Jason pulled me down into a kiss and released me. He entwined his fingers in my hair. “You smell like vanilla and rock ‘n’ roll. How do you manage that?”

I sat up, pinning him to the bed with my body. “That’s a secret I’ll take to the grave.”

The next thing I knew, Jason was tickling me by jabbing his fingers into my ribs. I wasn’t ticklish, but having Jason around always made me act like I was tipsy. Laughter poured out of me, and I collapsed onto the bed next to him.

When I was able to breathe again, I asked, “What classes are you taking?”

I changed the subject. If we kept talking about us, I felt like I’d say something stupid that would upset him.

Jason folded his arms behind his head. I rolled onto my side. With my elbow resting on the bed, I was able to cradle my cheek. It took all my self-control to listen to Jason and not jump his gorgeous bones again.

“Just a few computer graphic classes and the last of my math courses,” he replied matter-of-factly.

My lips puckered in disappointment. “That’s all I get, a brief sentence?”

He smiled, brushing my lips with the tip of his finger. “Why talk about that now when we haven’t seen each other in
so
long?”

That was a valid point. “What do you want to do to me then?”

“Why don’t you demonstrate some of those moves you described over our many phone conversations?”

“You sure you can take it?” I teased.

He brushed the pad of his thumb down my jaw. “Baby, I want everything you can give me. I’m addicted to you.”

My lips found his and soon we were all skin, hands, and sheets. How did I ever live without someone like Jason around?

***

“You gotta go,” I said, getting out of bed.

“Why? We were just getting to the next lesson. I may even need tutoring.”

I rolled my eyes as I slipped into my robe. “You’re too good for that, but I need to work on my essay. It’s due in a couple days and it’s not even halfway done.”

His forehead wrinkled when he frowned. “Why did you push it back to the last minute?”

“I was working on it in the library when some hot guy came and ruined everything.” I tried to give him a straight face, but a wicked smile stole my lips.

“Yeah? I should kick his ass.” He made a fist and punched his other hand.

“He’s big…could you take him?” I looked Jason up and down, as if seeing if he was a good opponent.

He snorted, puffing out his chest. “If you only knew.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Interesting…I am sorry, but you do need to go. You can return when my essay has been successfully submitted.”

“Fine.” He pouted the entire time he got dressed.

“I’ll text you as soon as I’m done,” I said, turning my laptop on.

He was at the door. “You better, I’ll be waiting. Probably go to the bar and cry…”

I playfully shoved him. “You’re such a child.”

Jason winked at me. “You know you love me.”

“Of course I love you, jerk,” I said blithely, pointing to the door. “But this essay needs to be finished. It’s worth twenty percent of my grade.”

He sighed and held his chest, acting like his heart was breaking. “You send me away. I don’t know if…”

I grabbed him, wrapping my arms around his neck. We kissed deeply, our tongues tangled. “See you soon.” I gently pushed him out the door.

“Even though you’re mean, I love you.” He winked at me and walked down the hallway toward the elevator.

I sunk into my bed and wished it would swallow me whole rather than facing this beast of an essay. All I wanted was Jason. How bizarre was that? Love was a strange feeling. There wasn’t much time to sulk. Once my essay was finished, I could do as I pleased. Jason had become a need, a desire.

With my laptop open, I fell back into my essay. It was going to take a few hours of research and typing, but with Jason as my prize, I was willing to work. As I read articles, I kept scanning parts about love. Some facts liked to slap me in the face. One claimed love can be both a long-term state of mind as well as a momentary feeling. More than one talked about how building a lasting relationship took work and communication.

I loved Jason, but I still feared the thought of giving myself completely over to him. If I did, would that mean I wasn’t me anymore? Love was confusing. Who invented it? It must have been created so every human being could be stuck in wonderment, in a type of purgatory. I was high on life when I was with Jason. Could we last forever? That was something I didn’t know yet.

Chapter Nine

Only one day stood in the way of our weekend getaway. I couldn’t wait to escape on a mini-vacation with the summer boy who followed me home. Amelia told me that everything was planned out, but she refused to tell me what we’d be doing. She was up to her old tricks again, and I loathed being out of the loop.

With Jason so close, it was hard to concentrate. All I wanted was to be with him, mold his lips to mine, and have his body pressed against me. I wanted to smell sex and fall asleep exhausted, but classes kept calling and homework never seemed to cease.

I closed my eyes, imagining all the things we could be doing to each other. A smile crept across my face. For a moment, I wasn’t in Intro to Statistics.

“Miss Sydney, do you know the answer?” Professor Hassel asked. He pointed his dreaded yard stick in my direction.

All eyes were on me. Of course he called me out when there were one hundred other students to pick on.

“The answer?” I replied lamely, hoping he’d drop it and move on.

“Yes. We’re all waiting.”

Damn, he was insistent.

“Can you repeat the question, please?”

He gave a heavy sigh. “A card is drawn randomly from a deck of ordinary playing cards. You win ten dollars if the card is a spade or an ace. What is the probability that you will win the game?”

I thought for a moment, doing the math in my head. “Is it four thirteenths?”

He seemed to lighten up on me. “You’re correct. Now let’s move on to…”

I forced his voice out of my head. He wasn’t going to call on me again anytime soon. The clock above the board claimed we still had fifteen minutes left of class. Why did the last few minutes seem like the most stretched out and torturous minutes of my life?

***

Amelia and some of her friends from Russian class talked me into going to the mall with them. They were a nice distraction from my daydreaming. Besides, I needed to shop for something “special” to wear for Jason. Even though I didn’t know what Amelia was planning for the four of us to do, I could at least spice up the night.

“Damn. Look at those spikey high heel shoes!” Cat pointed to a pair of shoes displayed in the window of American Love.

All five of us swarmed the window, admiring the shoes. Most gushed about wishing to be able to walk in them. Jasmine was the exception. She was the six-foot-tall volleyball champion of our little group.

“I don’t know why girls wanna walk on pencil thin heels. All they look like to me is pain.”

Cat snarled back, “It’s called fashion! Maybe if you were more into
Cosmo
than sports magazines, you’d know that.”

“What
ever,
” Jasmine said, turning her back on us and walking toward,
shocker
, the sports store.

To avoid further arguments, when we walked by windows displaying beautiful high heels we silently made sure Jasmine was the farthest away.

During the two hours of shopping, I bought a little thong and a matching black lace bra. Afterward, we decided to get a bite to eat.

We all ordered Chinese food and sat at a round table near the balcony on the second level of the mall. At first I tuned out the girls and watched the people passing by below us. Sometimes it was fun to watch people. It was one of my favorite things to do.

I was staring at a blue-haired girl clinging onto a tall mountain of a man who seemed to be covered in ink when I heard someone say the name Jason King.

“What about Jason King?” I blurted, interrupting their conversation.

Cat bit her lip. There was a hint of a blush on her cheeks. “He’s this new transfer student from California.”

Bridget guffawed, fanning herself. “He’s delicious with a capital D.”

I looked across the table to see why Amelia wasn’t telling them who Jason belonged to when I found her seat empty. I scanned the fronts of restaurants and saw her buying a refill on her soda.

“I’d let him do
anything
to me, if you know what I mean,” Cat said with a wink.

Even Jasmine seemed to be interested in
my
Jason. I had to put a stake in their love affair.

“You know he’s taken, right?” I failed to keep the venom out of my words. I prayed I didn’t sound petty or jealous.

“He is?” Bridget frowned. She acted like the puppy she wanted was already adopted.

“Mmm-hmm.” I popped the last piece of orange chicken into my mouth.

Cat gave me the stink eye. It was funny; she was trying to be intimidating when she was a five-foot-two girl with no muscle. It was like she was expecting the spider to fear the fly. “How do you know?”

A smile stole my lips. It was too rich that I was the one who put a mark on the man they were all drooling over.

“Because…” I stopped to dab my mouth with a napkin. “Jason is
with
me.”

All of the girls stared wide-eyed. For a minute I thought they were going to jump me.

“No. You can’t be,” Cat murmured.

Bridget leaned in closer. “Do you have feelings for him?”

I licked my lips. “Feelings? I guess you can say we have
strong
feelings for each other. We’re together, just like Amelia and Hunter, but we’re more on the down low.”

These girls need to know to keep their hands off Jason. I’ve never defended a relationship before, but it feels rather…good to know I can stand up for Jason and me.

“Hunter is the other transfer,” Cat said to the other girls, informing them of info I think they may have already known. I wasn’t sure.

Bridget leaned back in her chair, eyeing Amelia. She was still standing far away. “I think Amelia is deeply in love. I mean, more so than my parents.”

“This sucks. Two hot transfers and they’re both taken.” Cat placed her head on the table, defeated.

“You’re acting like our university is low on men. This is college. There are guys from every damn country. Live a little and stop moping about one guy you can’t have.”

In the back of my mind, I noted that they all wanted
my
man. If they so much as batted one eyelash at him, they were dead meat. That wasn’t overly protective, no. I was fighting for what was mine.

“True,” Cat said more to herself than to anyone else.

Amelia came back and sat her drink down next to her food. Everyone looked down at their plates. “Did I miss something?” She scanned the table with a troubled look on her face.

I took a sip of my drink. “Only that these girls have the hots for my boyfriend,” I said matter-of-factly.

Cat flinched and poked at what was left of her rice with a fork.

“Hmm, I see,” Amelia said, locking eyes with me. She seemed to be studying me like one of her paintings.

The rest of lunch was quiet. We drove back to campus, listening to the radio, and not a soul mentioned Jason again.