𝐑𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞

R E E D

"Oh sure. Wanna write this down?" I ask and he nods, pulling out the Notes app on his phone and listening. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Farris standing off to the side, not too close so that it looks like he's waiting for me, being patient as I explain the directions. That all stops the second the guy speaks again.

"Can I get your number? Just in case I can't find it. The library." He clarifies and I make eye contact with Farris briefly, and that's all it takes for him to stop whatever he was doing on his phone and walk up to us. His arm immediately slides around my bare waist, gripping above my hip and stealing all of my attention.

"Ready?" He asks, completely ignoring the other guy.

"Yeah," I say to him. "Hope you find the library," I wave to the guy and let Farris lead me off to the cafeteria by my building. "Morning!" I say with way too much pep, so I try to tone down my excitement.

"Cute outfit," He says, looking me up and down without ever taking his hand off of me and I look ahead as I blush, but use the opportunity to lean into his side for a second. It only makes him hold me tighter.

"Thanks," I reply quietly, trying to tuck my hair behind my ear but not finding any because I'd forgotten that it's clipped up.

"Doesn't look like much of a leg day outfit," Farris notices and I nod.

"Yeah, since we're not hitting it together, I decided to do cardio instead. Working on my long game because my practices have been getting longer." I explain and he nods.

"You should come to my practice later," He says and I look away as a smile tugs at my lips. I'd already planned on it.

"I'll have to see. I have a paper, two assignments, and then whatever else we get assigned later." I lie, referring to the projects I've already completed in anticipation of today. My hand shakes at my side until I finally lift it, placing it on Farris' stomach and looking up at him with a regretful smile. His eyebrows go up but I'm already taking my hand off of him as he reaches for the door, finally walking in front of him. Just like on Halloween, I can feel his eyes on me, and it makes my confidence skyrocket, knowing that in a room full of people, Farris is looking at me.

"What are we getting?" I scan the cafeteria full of various food places with a smile, trying to make it a casual rather than conniving one as Farris takes his time joining my side. "Fare?" I ask, and sure enough, when I turn around to catch his eyes, they have to make their way up from my ass to make contact.

They're wide but I play dumb, pinching my eyebrows together and waiting for his answer. It doesn't come. I almost laugh, but instead, I repeat my question.

"Oh. Right. Uh, your pick today?"

"Alrighty then. I want buffet-style." I say, leading us over to the breakfast bars laid out with a variety of foods. Ignoring Farris as I do, I load up my tray with oatmeal, a banana, some kind of whipped chocolate pudding, and a waffle with whipped cream and strawberry sauce. I don't wait for Farris before making my way to a table, only looking over my shoulder to make sure he saw which way I went, but I didn't have to worry because his eyes are already on me.

I can't help the smile that takes over my face. I start by cutting up half of the banana and putting it into my oatmeal before eating the other half and feeling a piercing gaze on my face. Farris is just setting down his tray when I look up at him through my eyelashes, heavy with the mascara I'm not used to wearing.

He shakes his head as he sits, digging into his food. By the time I make it to the waffles, I can't help but moan quietly at the taste. "Oh my god, Fare. You need to get one of these. Or five. It's so good, here." I put a piece up to his mouth that has a little bit of everything on it, hovering there as he makes eye contact with me. He takes the bite into his mouth, his jaw clenching as he chews.

The corner of his bottom lip is white with whipped cream and before I realize it, I'm taking my thumb and collecting it before putting it in my mouth and sucking it off. Seconds later, I look up, both of our eyes widening as understanding sets in, my hand pausing in mid-air.

Thankfully, he immediately laughs it off. What the fuck did I just do? My cheeks have never felt hotter and all confidence from earlier extinguishes like steam from my skin.

I laugh. "That did not just happen," I say, briefly able to make eye contact with my best friend. He nods solemnly, mocking me with a little smirk. I go back to eating my food while he does the same and the two of us sit in companionable silence until each of us is finished.

"So...I'll walk you to class?" I ask as we stand to clear off the table and he bumps my side, smiling.

"Hell yeah. Escort away," His smirk is now full, teasing me right back. As we walk, I notice a few looks between us from familiar faces, people in classes with us, teammates, and even one from my lab partner, who trips over air and I realize that Farris and I are holding hands. Naturally, as I become aware of the publicness of it all, my hand attempts to slip out from his grip, but it only causes him to give me a little squeeze and pull our hands forward a bit, making me stumble into his side but allowing him to slip his arm around my waist once again and hold me close.

The heat radiating off of his body paired with the smell of his body wash and cologne makes me a little dizzy, not because of the strong scent, but because my heart races at our proximity. My ability to breathe Farris in like this is different than our usual closeness, and I'm having trouble adjusting to it despite being the one out of the two of us that has been in love with the other for over a year.

"Bye beautiful," Farris says as we stop outside his lecture hall. Facing him, Farris slides both hands around my waist and pulls me in for an almost hug, except my chin rests on his chest and the two of us stand like that, looking at each other in silence.

"You smell good," I admit, smiling sheepishly.

"So do you. Look good too." I scrunch my nose at his words but I murmur that he does as well. "Now walk away, I gotta go to class and I won't be the first to let go."

I can't help but grin. "Sure it's not because you wanna check me out?"

"No, that's definitely why." He nods and I giggle, my eyes widening and my hand raising to flick him on the arm for his audacity.

"I'll allow it. See ya later," I say, pulling him closer with my arms looping around his neck, brushing my lips against the skin there the same way I did at the Halloween party. I can feel the way his abs tighten against my stomach at the action and I smile to myself before pulling back and walking off, swinging my bag with one hand and waving over my shoulder without looking back with the other.

He hates to watch me leave but loves to watch me go and that's exactly where I want him.