Part Seven
I slam my bedroom door shut, locking it and fall back against it. The coldness makes me squawk as it hits my bare back. Seconds later I'm used to the sensation. I squeeze my eyes shut.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck." I mutter to myself.
What did I do? I just kissed Tyler Knight. I just grabbed him and kissed him. What have I done? Lord. At least in my defence I didn't actually know it was him. I did say I was going to kiss the next guy I saw and I damn well did. I actually kissed him several times, I even shushed him.
I cover my mouth to stop the laughter from bubbling out. I shushed him! Then proceeded to kiss him again, clearly displaying I was enjoying myself. God, how am I going to talk myself out of this one? Perhaps I can pack my bags and skip town, I'll never look back.
I think about my friends and the fact I'm beyond the halfway point of my studies. I can't leave all that behind just because I kissed a guy. A guy you really like!
A loud knock on my door startles me. The wood vibrates against my back sending a spark of terror down my spine. I turn to face the door wondering who on earth is banging on my bedroom door. Oh god did Tyler follow me?
"Nora, we need to talk."
Ugh, its Dexter. I groan, shaking my head. He is never going to get the message is he. Oh god. What am I going to do? I left my phone at the boy's house so I have no way of reaching anyone for help. I can go out my window and hope Dexter doesn't realise before I get away.
I'm afraid I need to enlist the help of the guys to get rid of Dexter. I also don't care how exactly they do it now, Dexter has pushed me over the caring edge.
I turn to face my window and let out a scream as I realise someone is already coming in through the window. I'm being surrounded! They're coming in through the window and banging on my door. God.
"Calm down, it's just me, Nora." Tyler lifts his hands up innocently.
"Tyler?" he straightens up so I can see all of him. "What the fuck?" I hiss.
"You took off before I could say anything." He drops his hands.
The kiss replays in my head and I gulp. "I shushed you." I mutter.
He grins, nodding. "Yeah, you did. About that-"
I shake my head, covering my ears. "I'm sorry okay, I wasn't kissing you just...just the next guy that came along. Dexter won't leave me alone and it was the only thing I could think of in that moment."
Tyler frowns. "What?"
"The guy can't take a hint, I was going to hide in one of your rooms until he left me alone. Then I was going to seek your help to get him to get the message."
"He won't leave you alone? Nora, how long has this been going on for?" Tyler walks forward as Dexter knocks on the door again.
"Not long, it's only been super bad tonight."
He gives me a look before pulling his phone out. He types away madly before shoving his phone back in pocket. "Jason's on his way."
I look at the door as Dexter knocks again. "Nora, I just want to talk."
I walk away from the door, leaning against the wall across from my bed. Tyler moves away from the door, sitting down on the edge of my bed. His mattress. I watch him curiously as he fiddles with jeans, picking at imaginary lint.
"I'm sorry." I whisper.
Tyler looks up at me, his hand stopping. "I'm not."
I frown. "You're not?" What does he have to be sorry for anyway? He's not the one going around kissing random people. Well, he's not really a random person but still, that was my intent.
"It's not exactly how I imagined tonight was going to go but I'm not complaining." He says.
My frown deepens. "How you imagined tonight?"
He nods, crossing his ankles. "I was hoping we could talk...I've had some things on my mind."
My stomach knots in a bunch of different directions. I remember Jason winking at me in the closet just moments before he mentioned my name to Tyler. Tia's words echo in my head. Does Tyler like me like I like him?
The look on his face tells me he's about to grant me my ever fantasy, bringing them all into reality but I'm scared shitless. What if we don't work together? What if we're not good together? What if we finally admit to each other we like each other and we lose that spark?
"You wanted to talk at the midyear party?" I ask.
He snorts. "I realise the timing is shit but I can't stop thinking about it...about you."
Butterflies join the knots forming in my stomach, driving my nerves up the wall. Jesus Christ. "I'm not sober." I whisper.
"I know, neither am I. I guess you could say I needed some liquid courage."
I laugh. Liquid courage, yeah, no kidding. I don't think I would've kissed him so many times if I didn't have alcohol coursing through my veins right now.
"What exactly did you want to talk about? Should we wait until we're sober?" I ask.
He shakes his head, pushing off the bed. "I'll never get it out if I wait."
I nod. I think I understand what he's talking about. He opens his mouth to say something but stops when we hear thudding on the stairs outside my bedroom door.
"Dude, you need to leave now." Jason's muffled voice is on the other side of the door.
"I need to talk to Nora."
"Not tonight you're not. Or any other night for that matter." Jason tells him.
I hold my breath waiting for Dexter's reaction but it never comes. I hear loud thudding on the steps that slowly fade and the front door slams shut, making me flinch. A much nicer knock sounds on my bedroom door.
"Nora? He's gone." Jason says through the door.
"Thank you." I say, looking at Tyler. His face is completely unreadable, I have no idea what's going on in his head.
"Bryce is currently telling him what'll happen if he shows his face at this house again."
I smile, looking back at the door. I make a move towards the door but Tyler steps in the way. "What are you doing?" I whisper.
"I need to get this off my chest." Tyler says.
Jason makes a noise on the other side of the door. "Anyway...I'm heading back to the house. You two have fun in there."
My eyes widen. Jason knows Tyler is in here? What exactly did Tyler put in his text message? Tyler shrugs and moves away from the door. I don't make another move to leave the room. Jason's steps fade down the stairs leaving me alone with Tyler.
I'm alone with Tyler in my bedroom. The amount of fantasies that started out like this, none of them ever becoming reality. Until tonight. Oh my god, no, stop. I blush at the thought but thankfully my room is dark enough that he can't see that.
"I'm just going to come out and say it..." Tyler trails off, dropping onto my bed again.
I wait for him to say it, but he doesn't. He's staring at his hands in his lap. Maybe I should say it, I mean I've had the balls to kiss him several times tonight why not say the words too. Less than twenty four hours ago I told Tia the words I want to say. Well I didn't exactly say the words, rather I agreed to the words but its technically the same thing.
I open my mouth to talk but he interrupts my words. "I like you, Nora...as in I really like you. I like you so much I can't wait to see what prank you've pulled on me. I don't care what it is because I know it means I'll get a chance to see you again. And the way you smile, you get all cocky when you rub your victory in my face...I look forward to seeing that smile so much..."
The butterflies and knots in my stomach ease immediately, my heart swelling to twice it's size. He looks forward to seeing me smile?
"I was going to tell you after the first couple of pranks but then we got carried away and then it felt like we'd gone beyond liking each other...I had no idea if you felt the same..."
"I do." I say immediately, nodding.
He smiles. "You're giving me that look."
"What look?"
He pushes off the bed. "The same one you've been giving me for the past six months...I only realised what it meant tonight."
I raise a brow, stepping closer as he does too. "And what does it mean?"
He tucks a stray hair behind my ear as I step even closer to his warm body. "You want to kiss me." He says without a single fault. Since when is he so confident and sure about this kind of thing?
"You sound so sure of yourself." I step back but he follows keeping the distance between us minimal.
"Or maybe I just really want to kiss you again." He whispers.
My mouth tilts up at the thought of kissing him again. I could most certainly get lost in kissing him, hell I could do it all night. "We should get back to the party." I tease, stepping out of his bubble.
He stares at me, confused. "The party?"
I open the door but instead of leaving I lean against the wall, the cool temperature making my back arch away. "One kiss...but we need to have a proper talk when we're sober. It's not a good idea to hang around my bed though." I jut my chin in the direction of my bed.
He laughs, looking over at my bed. "My mattress, my rules."
I laugh, pushing off the wall. "It's my mattress now." I walk out of the door.
He grabs my hand pulling me back from the stairs. "I thought you said one kiss?"
"You're taking too long."
He doesn't need a second invite to kiss me. His cups my jaw, bringing his lips down onto mine. His hand glides along my jaw and into my hair, tightening on the back of my skull. I groan, pushing up into him for more.
He walks me backwards until my back hits the wall. His lips move from my lips to my jaw. I turn my head to give him more room and he kisses my neck. Oh god. He kisses my collarbone several times before he pulls back, keeping his face just a breath away from mine.
"Do I at least get my clothes back now?" he asks.
I grin, sinking my teeth into my bottom lip. "Nope." I shake my head.
I push off the wall and head for the stairs. He lets me move pass him, watching me. I can feel his eyes burning into my back as I descend the stairs.
"When do I get them back? I do get them back, right?" he asks, taking the steps slowly.
I lick my lips. "Tia said you can have them back after twenty-four hours, her words not mine." I shrug.
He frowns, joining me on the way to the front door. "Tia?"
"She dared me to take them in the first place." I admit.
He laughs, shaking his head. "Yeah right."
"I'm being serious. We played truth or dare last night; Tia dared me to do it. I even had to do it in my underwear."
He looks down at my dress briefly before walking out of my house. "Really?"
"Actually there is something I should say...and just so you know I'm only totally saying this because I've a few to drink." I explain, closing the front door. Thank the lord for liquid courage.
"What's that?"
"Ah I was hiding in your walk in when Jason asked for a shirt." I blurt out, walking by him as he stops suddenly.
"Wait...what?"
I grin, looking over my shoulder. He stares at me for a beat before moving to catch up with me. "So that means you heard...you heard what we were talking about."
I shrug. "Jason knew I was there."
"He did?! What the fuck? I'm going to kill him."
I laugh, walking up the steps to the front door of his house. The loud music pouring out of the house. He gestures for me to enter the house first. I walk inside and make a beeline straight for the kitchen, I need a drink.
A drink and a moment to process the fact Tyler knows I like him. And I know that he likes me. I need to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. I pour four shots of vodka and slide two in Tyler's direction. He clinks one with mine and we down them in unison.
I look out the window to find Tia and Nicola playing beer pong again with some randoms. No idea where Emily is though. Tyler hands me the second shot with a bright smile on his face. I don't think I've ever noticed the small splatter of freckles over his nose. I've never been this close to his face before to notice the soft brown spots.
"You have freckles." I say.
He raises a brow. "What?" he ducks down, talking directly in my ear.
I shiver as his warm breath fans across my ear and my neck. "I said you have freckles." I yell loud enough for him to hear me.
He nods, grabbing my hand before pulling me out of the kitchen. I manage to snag a bottle of whiskey on the way. He pulls me upstairs and into his bedroom, the noise omitting just enough to hold a conversation without yelling at each other.
"You've got me in your bedroom." I comment, leaning against the door where it's safe.
I'm bewildered by the fact in less than an hour I've gone from not knowing if he liked me to now being in his bedroom. He laughs, picking his blanket off the ground. "It's noisy down there."
"Good observation skills."
He grins, dropping onto the edge of his bed. My mattress. "What's that?" he points to my hand.
I lift the bottle of whiskey up and smirk, pushing off the door. "Night cap. Maybe we can talk a little, I'm not drunk enough that I'll forget everything tomorrow."
"I highly doubt I'll ever forget tonight."
I laugh, walking over to the bed. I flick the cap off the whiskey bottle. "I do hope you've been treating my mattress well." I pat the mattress before I sit down, taking a swig of the bottle.
"It's been treating me pretty well." He jokes, reaching for the bottle.
I chuckle, letting him take the bottle. "You know I was planning to steal my mattress back soon."
He frowns. "Why?"
"What do you mean, why? It's my mattress, that's why." I tease. I've thought about stealing my mattress back, but I don't think I'd actually do it. His mattress is surprisingly a nice comfort that I like having. Makes dreaming about him easier too and I don't want to take that away from myself.
"You know sometimes it still smells like you then I think nah don't be ridiculous Tyler, she's probably just been in your room messing with your shit."
I grin. "How often do you think I sneak into you room?"
He takes a gulp of whiskey, spinning the bottle in his hand. "Often enough."
I push off the bed, taking the bottle out of his hand. I draw in a deep breath, thinking about that kiss again. A warmth spreads throughout my body as I relive it in my head. I fold my bottom lip into my mouth, turning to face him. "Maybe I'll have a new reason to sneak into your room." I taunt, dropping the bottle onto his dresser.
I saunter over to him, his eyes following my every movement. His gaze settles on my stomach before slowly shifting up to meet mine. "Maybe." His voice is so quiet I almost miss what he says.
"I really want to kiss you again." I admit, settling myself in his lap.
He leans back to give me room. "Okay..."
**