Chapter 14

THE WEEKEND goes by quickly and I'm back in class, yet again Miles sits next to me. It's sort of nice having him next to me although I wish it was Jacob instead.

I keep thinking about my conversation with Chrissy and why this black-clothed boy won't even buy his girlfriend flowers. As the professor begins his lecture I feel someone walk past me.

„Did I miss much?" he asks, sitting down right next to me. I gulp before shaking my head.

„No much of a talker today are you?" he asks with a slight chuckle but I ignore him. Why is he like this? He acts as if he's already forgotten about the ugly words that came out of his mouth. The teacher rambles and my mind wanders further with every word. My mind travels to Miles, the boy who wears nothing but black and refuses to buy his girlfriend flowers.

"Oh, thanks for correcting me I was just seeing if all of you were paying attention." The teacher says, disrupting my thoughts. The class starts to laugh. Miles leans in and whispers; "It was funny the first six times." I chuckle.

"you didn't even laugh those six times."

"exactly." He says and leans away.

„See you around Madison," Miles says turning to me before turning back and exiting the classroom. I decide to start my assignment since I only have a few days to turn it in and I'll need all the time I can get.

My eyes scan around the large building, trying to look for any signs of the bookstore and after what seems like twenty minutes walking around I finally find the stairs leading me to the place I'll probably spend most of my time in.

The list of books we have to buy is too long. I start shifting from one foot to the other as the cashier scans all of my books. I hope I have enough.

"That'll be sixty-three ninety-nine." She smiles and I pay her. At least now I know where the book store is. Lost in my thoughts I bump into someone.

"Oh, sor--" I say cutting myself off.

"Hi, Madie."

"Jacob . . .?" I say quietly with a big smile.

"Yeah, I was looking for you all over campus. Want to grab Lunch, babe?"

"babe?" I say quietly and blush.

"you don't like it? I'm sorry."

"I do." I smile.

"Perfect. Let's go then . . . babe." He grabs my hand. I can't help but smile seeing all of the eyes on us. He smiles showing me his perfectly white teeth. He starts the car and it warms up in seconds. He drives faster than allowed and we arrive in mere minutes.

"You like IHOP? I thought we'd get some pancakes since it's still kind of early."

"Yes I do." my stomach growls. I didn't have time to get breakfast and this is perfect. We both order pancakes with syrup and butter on top.

The waitress hands us our food and we smile before digging in.

"Chrissy invited us to a double date with them, I was wondering if you'd like to g-" he cuts me off and I swat his arm.

"what's your problem?" He asks and laughs.

"I'd love to g-"

"Perfect!" I jump in and we both chuckle.

"I know it's only the first week of school but I thought we could skip and do something fun?" He asks nervous of what my answer will be. Skipping a few classes won't hurt right? Miles does it all the time and so does everyone at some point . . . right?

"Sure," I say unsure.

"Great, we'll go swimming." Does he just carry swimming trunks everywhere?

"I don't have my swimsuit with me . . ." I say as he pays the cashier.

"We'll buy you one there, they sell those things you know." I giggle.

THE SWIMMING BUILDING is huge. As we enter, the smell of chlorine hits my nose, it's satisfying and disgusting at the same time.

He buys me the plain black swimsuit I wanted despite his expression when he saw the bikinis.

The changing rooms separate us and I'm glad to have some time to myself before Jacob sees me like this.

I've never owned a swimsuit no matter how weird that sounds. My mom never got me one, she always said they were too expensive and unnecessary.

The women's locker room is empty and I take a deep breath before heading into the showers. The pink walls surround me, making sure I'm hidden in my own space and comfort. I step out of the women's locker room and into the pool area.

Jacob is there waiting for me, he pushes his blonde and wet hair back before looking at me. The water drips off of his chest and into the pool. The muscles on his stomach and arms are as apparent as ever. He pulls his trunks up with one hand, revealing less of the perfect 'V' sculpted on the end of his torso. He looked good before but now . . . I almost can't take my eyes off of him.

„Madison . . . you look . . ." he continues with a bite to his lips whilst his eyes travel up and down my body.

„You look beautiful." His eyes shine into mine like blue diamonds.

"so do you." I smile before jumping into the pool.

"I look beautiful?" he asks, pulling me closer.

"yes." I giggle.

Jacob laughs and I splash him with water, only to make his giggles increase, he grabs my hands in his and holds them tightly. As our gaze intensifies, he lets go of my hands, letting them run through his wet hair.

„You're something else Madison," he says. I smile at his words before his veiny hands travel to my waist, drawing me closer to his sculpted body. His breath hits mine and we stop in our tracks, gazing at each other. The wetness from both of our faces drips into the water as our eyes shift from looking at each other's lips to each other's eyes.

His lips press against mine as his hands slowly and hesitantly run down my body and onto my butt, making me slightly gasp. My tongue pulls him in closer, It's as if my body recognizes his touch and how he makes me feel and wants every drop of what he can give. My hands hold onto his shoulders, helping me to stay on my feet. Jacob's strong body pulls me up to sit on the end of the pool. His hands being on my waist like this make my legs tremble. He stands in between my legs before putting his hands on my thighs. He pulls his lips away, leaving me wanting more.

„I don't want to take this too far, Madison . . . you know . . . if you're not ready." He says and my eyes go wide for a split second. I didn't think he'd bring anything like this up . . . at least not now, not so soon.

„I—„ I stop, I don't know what to say, he caught me so off guard just like Miles did. I can't help but feel surprised at his words. My body starts moving away from him without my knowledge, I feel like my head is swimming.

„I need to go." My mouth says for me. My feet pull me away from him and into the dressing rooms. I take a deep breath before turning on the shower. The scolding water feels good against my skin, slowly washing all the tension away.

The last thing I expected him was to bring up sex . . . kissing him in the pool doesn't even have anything to do with sex, why did he choose to bring this up now? I knew the conversation would be inevitable but I never thought it'd happen this soon. I didn't know what to say and I still don't, my head is cloudy and all I want to do is forget this, between this and what Miles said to me yesterday feels like nothing but chaos.

I take a deep breath before exiting the shower and finding my clothes. All I want to do is talk to Jace which reminds me that my phone has been turned off all day and left on my bed. I need to remember to bring it with me everywhere I go, the thought of having a small device with me everywhere feels difficult. I want to stay in this large pink room as long as I can; I'm far from being ready to face Jacob.

„Ready?" Jacob asks as I step out of the dressing room. His eyes look up at me with his mouth slightly open. His fingers twirl the black bag he's holding.

„Yeah." I want to say something more but I can't.

„I'm sorry," I say but he shakes his head.

„Nah, I got to get to practice anyway."

„practice?" I ask confused.

"yeah, you know, football." He smiles.

"Right." I simply say.

The car ride is slow and agonizing, we both stay silent until Jacob finally parks his car.

„Listen, Maddie, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have brought anything like that up, we just started dating and I shouldn't hav—„

„it's okay," I say, resting my hand on top of his.

„I just . . ." he sighs before continuing.

„I've never felt this way about anyone else." He admits with a serious look on his face and I can't help but smile.

„I haven't either, Jacob . . . but I need to take this slow . . ." I look down at my lap.

„I've never been . . . intimate with anyone."

„Hey," he says, lifting my chin to look at him.

„I get it, and I'm not going to force you into anything, taking it slow is probably better." He smiles and I nod.

His blue eyes pour into mine and I know I need to tell him about just how long I plan to wait, but I can't. My mouth won't let me no matter how much I try to disappoint those blue eyes . . . I just can't.