Page 15 of The Pass
I pull it wide and Sydney stands there, phone to her ear, in a bright blue dress, blonde hair pulled up in a ponytail. Jesus, every time I see this girl, she legit takes my breath away.
Her eyes meet mine and she mouths hello while walking inside.
“Okay, Mom, I’ve got to go now. I just walked into a friend’s house.” She tilts her head side to side impatiently while I imagine her mom keeps talking. She smiles at me, but I’m stuck on the wordfriend.
It’s been two weeks since she stayed over the first time and we’ve hung out or talked almost every day. Things are easy between us and fun. So much fun. She said she wanted to take things slow and I’m good with that, but how long do I wait to make a move?
I scold myself, not for the first time. I can be patient. Very, very patient. The bits of information I’ve pulled from her about her past relationships have made her untrusting. I want to restore that trust, not just because I want to sleep with her but because she deserves that.
“Sorry,” she says after ending the call. “My mom babbles on the phone. I can barely get a word in.”
“Like mother like daughter.”
“Punk.” She takes a seat in the living room. “What are we doing tonight?”
“Oh, uh.” I glance down at my shorts and bare feet. Sydney’s dressed to kill, per the usual. “Did you want to go out?”
“Well, we could stay in and I could kick your ass at Tecmo Bowl again, your choice.” She kicks off her sandals and pulls her feet under her.
Let’s see, keep her to myself and only a fifteen second jog to my bed in case tonight is the night or go out where I’ll have to share her with a bunch of other people? Easy call.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, babe. I’ve been practicing.” I hand her a remote and settle back, ready to redeem myself.
As they always do, the hours go by too quickly. Nathan comes home, stopping in the living room. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Losing.” I groan as Sydney wins again. “How am I so bad at this game?”
Nathan chuckles. “You really are terrible.”
I really am. “What are you doing back so early?” I ask him.
“Early? It’s after midnight.”
Sydney and I share a shocked look and then both laugh. I sit up and my body protests. “Shit, I guess we haven’t moved in a while.”
“I should get home.” She stands and slips on her shoes. “I have to give a speech tomorrow morning.”
Nathan heads off. “’Night, guys.”
“Let me grab a shirt and shoes and I’ll walk you.”
Sydney and I make our way to campus slowly. It isn’t far, but by unspoken agreement, we stretch out our time together.
“What’s your speech about?”
She hooks her arm through mine. “We have to give a five-minute speech that teaches the class something. Something that we’re interested in and bonus points for uniqueness.”
“Oh man, I can’t wait to hear this.”
“Mine is about organizing clothes and accessories in dorm-sized closets.”
“I should have known it was related to your clothes somehow.” I pull at the soft cotton material of her dress. “I like this one.”
“Thanks.” She glances over at me. “I thought it matched the color of your eyes.”
“Yeah?” I think that’s a compliment. I know how much she likes her dresses though, and she has a whole bunch of them, so maybe each of them reminds her of something and her noting a dress matches my eye color is just a normal thing for her. This girl has me questioning all sorts of things that I never imagined I’d give a second thought.
I go with her inside Freddy dorm and up to her floor.
