When he lowered me to it and held himself above me, he looked at me for a long moment. He seemed to be absorbing every inch of me. I felt ready to burst and reached for him to pull him down.

He blocked my hand and shook his head, a small grin appearing as he held it down on the bed. He positioned my other one above my head and I was now pinned beneath him.

He still continued to study every inch of me.

“Jesse,” I rasped out. I tried bucking my hips up to touch against his, but his grin only grew wider.

“It’s been too damn long, Alex. I’m going to make this last a long time.”

The throbbing burst inside of me again. I gasped out, huskily, “Touch me, dammit.”

Then he bent over me and I closed my eyes.

His lips were coming.

Knock, knock

“Jess-” I started again, but then the door started to open and I heard instead, “Alex, I thought I heard some-oh!” It was slammed shut. The sound echoed in my head. Everyone had heard. Everyone would wake up and come to see what had happened.

Then my eyelids lifted. What had just happened?

Jesse had frozen on top of me with his head turned to the door. In slow motion, he turned to look at me. “Some girl came in here.”

“Really?” I rolled my eyes, frustrated and pissed about the whole thing. “No shit, Jesse.” Shoving against his shoulders, I groaned, “Get off.”

He sat on the edge of the bed.

When he made no move to put his shirt back on, I scrambled off the bed and threw it to him. At the same time, I threw mine on and hopped around as I tried to pull my pants up, as quickly as possible. When I was covered, I checked one more time. Everything was good and then I bolted out of the door. They’d be milling around, looking for where that door slam had come from, but I came to a halt instead.

Nothing.

The lights were still low. The doors were all closed.

Then the bathroom door was opened and light flooded the hallway before it swung shut again.

Beth strolled back to me with a caddie in hand. She was in a robe and a towel. As she saw me, she grinned. “I thought you were in bed.”

I paused, was there something more in that question? Did I hear her insinuating that I’d been in bed?

I wanted to slap myself. Get it over with. “You saw?”

The grin widened and she nodded, a sparkle came to her eyes now. “Oh yeah. I saw. And I know who that is.”

“You can’t say anything.”

She snorted. “Like hell. You were with Jesse Hunt. Is he still in there? Does Kara know? Is that why she said we should be friends?”

My head dropped and I wanted to crumble to the floor. This couldn’t have started on a worse note. But she said not to judge. In the back of the cab, those were her exact words. Hope stirred in my gut again. “You can’t say anything. Please, Beth. That would be horrible for me.”

The realization of who Jesse was on the campus and how many knew him was settling in. Mortification and horror was starting to take root and I felt like smacking myself in the forehead. Going to his house before had been a horrible idea. I wanted to demand answers about Ethan’s death, but if someone else had been there and not just Chandra, I gulped. It could’ve been bad. Really bad. I was starting to think the best way to start life as a student at Grant West was for no one to know about our relationship.

Goodness.

Our relationship.

What was our relationship?

Images of him above me flashed in my head and lust sparked again. My throat went dry and I knew he was in my room still, waiting for me. What the hell was I doing?

“You okay?” Beth frowned at me. “Don’t worry. I won’t say anything. I was just playing with you. Sucks to be on the receiving end, huh?”

I nodded. It did. It really did. I shook away the desire and any remaining terror. “You won’t say anything?”

“No, but I think it’s cool you know Jesse Hunt. It’ll be nice to see Tiffany knocked down a peg. Finally.” She started back towards our rooms and I fell in step beside her.

“What do you mean?” Different dread formed now.

She stopped again, before glancing in the direction of my room. “Is he still in there?”

I jerked my head in a nod. My limbs felt like lead.

She touched my arm and tugged me back closer to the bathroom. Lowering her voice, she said, “Tiffany’s dating Jamie Striker. Do you know who that is?”

I frowned. “Just that Cord laughed at me when I asked about him. I have no idea why.”

“Well,” she searched for her words. “Let’s just say that Jamie’s not the brightest bulb in the group, or the nicest, or the one with morals. Okay. Jamie doesn’t really have any morals.”

“What does this have to do with Tiffany and Jesse?”

“I don’t know. Hannah’s sick of her attitude, but I think Tiffany mothers Jamie and so that goes to the rest of the guys too. She’d try with Derek and Cord if they didn’t have girlfriends.”

“Cord doesn’t have a girlfriend.” Or he hadn’t said he did, but as I remembered, there was more between them. I picked up on that immediately.

“Trust me. He is taken. Chandra’s been working him for three years, since they were freshman.”

A dull headache was forming in the back of my head. I felt it growing bigger and bigger. The pounding would start in a moment. “How old are they all?”

“Tiffany’s a junior, so’s Jamie. I think the rest are too except for Hunt. He’s a sophomore.”