"We should really... get back... to studying," Olivia breathes between kisses, weakly trying to pull away.
"Mmm, five more minutes," I protest, running my hand up her spine to plunge my fingers in her soft, silky hair, deepening the kiss.
She giggles against my lips before a small moan elicits from the back of her throat when my tongue slips past her lips and starts massaging hers. With her knees planted on each side of my legs, straddling my lap, I tighten my hold on her hip, pulling her even closer. The small movement causes her to tantalizingly brush her hips against mine and I nearly combust at the contact.
Olivia gasps, breaking free of the kiss by pulling away and tilting her chin back, unintentionally giving me full access to her neck. I lean in and press my lips to the column of her throat, leaving a variety of delicate and open mouth kisses.
"You do know our lab final is in less than twelve hours, right?" she asks, her throat vibrating against my lips as she speaks.
"Mhmm," I hum, still planting kisses along her neck.
"We should really be studying," she says, despite tilting her head to the side, giving me more access.
"I am," I insist. "Trachea. Hyoid bone. Mandible," I list, getting closer and closer to her lips.
Before I can reach her mouth, she grabs my chin, preventing me from going any further. She gives me a stern look, but all I can focus on is her mussed hair and kiss swollen lips.
"We need to study," she states more sternly.
I groan dramatically. "I'm tired of studying. We've been studying nonstop all week," I point out.
It's true. All week—all month, really—we've been studying for finals. But thankfully that all ends tomorrow for me. Luckily, majority of my finals were Monday and Tuesday, and my last one is tomorrow for lab.
"Can't we have just have a little bit of fun?" I plead. "At the very least, I deserve some sort of reward for all the studying I've done."
She gives me a pointed look, raising a brow. "A reward?"
"Yeah."
"And what kind of reward, exactly?"
My grin is sharp as I grip her hips. "I was thinking something along the lines of you... Right here... In my bed..." Swiftly, carefully, I roll us over so she's under me, mindful of the limited space provided by the twin mattress. "Like this."
Her big eyes stare up at me, and her dark hair is splayed across my pillow. The image is so perfect I burn it into my memory to remember for a long, long time.
In awe, I lean down and seal my lips to hers, kissing down her neck, sucking on that tender sliver of flesh at the crook of her neck where her shoulder meets.
"How did you do on the final today?" she asks, breathless.
"Wow, I love it when you talk dirty to me," I mumble sarcastically against her skin.
She giggles, playfully shoving my shoulder. "Seriously, how did it go?" she ask, suddenly serious, concern in her eyes.
I huff, moment over. Of course she would be thinking about that right now.
Lying down on top of her, I make sure to put most of my weight on my forearms on either side of her so I don't absolutely crush her. "It was fine." I shrug.
She looks at me skeptically.
"Seriously, Finch," I chuckle. "I think it went well. I have a pretty great tutor, you know."
That causes a smile to tug at her lips. "So does that mean I get a reward?" she asks, a glint in her eye.
I grin, hovering my lips just millimeters above hers. "What do you want?" I ask lowly, huskily.
Her teeth sink into her bottom lip as she looks at me with vulnerability and restraint, her eyes shifting between my eyes and my lips. "Remember when you said for the next bet I could set the wages?" she asks, nervously fingering at the collar of my shirt.
"Uh-huh."
"Well, what if I said I want to go to Florida."
I blink, surprised. "Florida?"
She nods. "Over winter break. I've never been to the beach before... and maybe we could go see your grandma."
My body stiffens.
A flash of worry crosses her face, sensing my unease. "We don't have to see her or interact with your mom whatsoever," she insists hastily.
I will my body to relax. "I don't know, Finch," I admit, uneasy.
Her bottom lip juts out in an adorable pout. "Please? You said to come up with something crazy, something I never done before. I want to go to the beach. With you. Seeing your grandma was just a suggestion."
I let out a sigh, contemplating. I haven't been to Florida in forever. That place doesn't hold any good memories for me, and the thought of taking her there unnerves me a little.
I have a feeling, in her head, the trip will be some sort of nostalgic, bonding experience. That it will make me see where I grew up with fresh eyes and reconsider.
Looking at the hope in her eyes, I realize maybe going back won't be so bad with her...
And I made her a promise, after all, that she could set the wages. I won't back out on that.
"Fine. If you get an A on the final and I get a B, we'll go to Florida," I bargain reluctantly.
A wide grin breaks across her face. "Really?" she asks excitedly, her voice raising a few octaves.
I chuckle. "Really. So you better hope you didn't flunk," I tease.
She rolls her eyes, looping her arms around my neck and drawing me closer. Gladly, I reconnect our lips and kiss her eagerly.
As we kiss, her hands slide around my shoulders, stroking down my chest to my abdomen. Electricity shoots through my veins when her hands hesitantly slip under my shirt, her cool fingers touching my bare skin, running along the plains of my stomach.
I growl at the contact, kissing her harder and grabbing her left leg, hooking it around my waist. Unable to restrain myself, I lean my weight in my pelvis, pressing it against hers. Slowly, tantalizingly, I gently rock my hips against hers.
Olivia gasps at the feeling of my arousal pressed against her, and I take advantage, slipping my tongue between her parted lips to brush against hers, loving the little sweet noises coming from the back of her throat. Her legs tighten around my hips and she surprises me by gliding her hands around to my back, her fingers pressing into my skin, pulling me closer.
Just as I grab the collar of my shirt, ready to yank it off, an ear piercing shriek goes off, nearly giving us both a heart attack.
We both pull away, panting heavily from the kiss and sudden surprise.
"What the hell?" I mumble, unhooking Olivia's leg from my waist and jumping off the bed, the shriek of the fire alarm persistent and ear piercing.
I crack open my door and stick my head out, watching the warning lights flash in the hallway with the alarm, and people unenthusiastically file out of their rooms, heading outside.
I groan out in agony, looking back over my shoulder to see Olivia already slipping on her shoes.
"Fucking fire drill," I mutter, grabbing the nearest hoodie and slipping it on with my shoes.
Once Olivia has her coat on, I grab her hand and lead her outside to the front parking lot where everyone else is standing, freezing their asses off.
I stand behind Olivia and pull her back against my chest, wrapping my arms around her to huddle together for warmth. Plus, her body acts as the perfect shield to hide my boner from all the surrounding spectators.
Everyone stares at the building, annoyed that there's a fire drill this late at night during finals week. Especially when it's this cold out. It's kind of cruel, really.
A few minutes later, the sound of an engine can be heard along with sirens, and a firetruck comes rolling up, the fire crew hopping out.
I furrow my brow. Normally, firefighters don't show up if it's just a drill. They only show up if it's a real deal emergency, and I don't see any flames or anyone seriously injured.
Then again, it's probably just some drunk idiot that set their microwave on fire by cooking ramen without adding water. Sadly, that's actually a pretty common occurrence. But who's getting that drunk during finals week?
The lights on the truck bounce off the building and cast shadows across faces as we all stand around impatiently in the parking lot, waiting for the all clear.
Out of curiosity, I fish around for my phone in my pockets, wanting to text Brennen to see what the hell is going on. He's working the front desk tonight so he probably has some sort of insight of what's going on, but to my dismay, I can't seem to find my phone. I guess I forgot it in my room.
Waiting, I catch a flash of hot pink out of the corner of my eye, and I turn my head to see Adrianna standing at the other end of the parking lot, talking with one of the guys from the hockey team that lives on the floor above me. She catches my gaze and gives me a slow, wicked smirk, one that sends an uneasy chill up my spine.
Ripping my eyes away, I look back at the building to catch the fire crew walking out, the chief giving the all clear to go back inside.
Like a heard of wild animals, everyone charges forward in an unorderly fashion, desperately wanting to get out of the cold. I stand firmly planted, wrapping my arms tighter around Olivia to wait it out, not wanting to get shoved around in the crowd.
Subconsciously, I keep my eyes peeled for a bright pink coat, but it seems as if Adrianna is long gone.
When I feel it's safe enough, I lead Olivia back inside and stop at the front desk to see Brennen standing around with some officials and university staff. I catch his gaze and he excuses himself, coming over to the edge of the desk to talk.
"What's going on?" I ask, eyeing everyone behind the desk.
Brennen shakes his head in annoyance. "Someone pulled the fire alarm."
I feel my eyebrows shoot up a fraction.
"Why would someone do that?" Olivia asks, her brows furrowed in concern.
Brennen shrugs casually. "Probably just some asshole trying to be funny. It's not going to be so funny though when they catch him and his ass ends up in some deep shit."
"Do they know who did it?" I ask.
"Nah, not yet. They're reviewing the surveillance footage now, but all they can see is some kid in a black hoodie with the hood pulled up," Brennen says, thumbing behind him.
Olivia shakes her head in disapproval, and someone behind the desk calls Brennen back over.
Saying our goodbyes, Olivia and I head back to my room.
"Now, where were we?" I say, smirking, closing the door behind me and locking it.
Thankfully, I don't have to worry about Chase barging in this time. His lucky ass finished with finals this afternoon and he headed straight home after.
Olivia gives me an amused but warning look. "Uh-uh. We have to study."
Slowly, I stalk towards her.
"Bronx," she says lowly in warning, pointing a stern finger at me.
Abruptly, I charge her, grabbing her by the hips and pushing her down onto the bed, falling on top her and straddling her hips.
"Bronx!" she squeals, giggling uncontrollably. "No!"
"Please," I whine, leaning down and peppering kisses along her neck.
She places her hands on my chest, pushing me away. "Study," she demands sternly.
I let out a huff, rolling off her. "Fine. But it's not like you even need me to study, anyway. You could literally ace that entire final by yourself in your sleep," I tease.
She rolls her eyes. "No, because I need my partner to help me since this is a partners final," she emphasizes, giving me a pointed look. "You need to carry your weight, mister."
"Oof, call me mister again," I tease.
She grabs my pillow, smacking me in the face with it.
"Alright. Alright!" I grab the pillow out of her hands. "Damn. I promise to carry my weight. I may just need you to double check some answers for me, though," I admit sheepishly.
For the final, we decided to split it evenly. She would memorize the top half of the skeleton while I memorize the bottom half. But I know as well as she does that she's going to memorize the whole thing to ensure we get an A. I know I should be offended that she doesn't trust me to memorize my half, but I guess I can't blame her with my less than model student track record of skipping class and not getting the best grades.
Olivia gives me a softer look and grabs her study sheets. We study for about thirty minutes until she has to go home, wanting to get some quality sleep for our earlier than sin final.
"I'll see you tomorrow," she says as she slips on her coat, ready for me to walk her out to her car. "Remember, our final starts at 8:00 a.m."
"Already got my alarm clock set," I assure her, gesturing to the digital clock on my nightstand. "Got my phone set, too."
She gives me an appreciative look, some of the anxiety dissipating from her eyes. I can tell she's nervous about completing the final in pairs. I know if it was up to her, she'd prefer to do this solo, not having to rely on anyone. Again, I can't blame her. I know I'm a liability.
Admittedly, the old me probably would have just expected my partner to carry my ass, pass or fail. I wouldn't have cared or tried. But for her, I really want to.
"I promise, I won't let you down," I whisper, rubbing my hands up and down her arms.
After a short kiss, I walk her out to her car and watch her drive off.
Once her taillights are out of sight, I walk back to my room and get ready for bed. Crawling into bed, I double check my alarms one last time before letting my head hit the pillow, Olivia's sweet, vanilla scent clinging to the pillowcase, helping me drift off to sleep.