Next thing I know I'm in bed, but not my own bed. I sit up, confused. "Where am I?" I ask groggily, while wiping my eyes.
Two arms grab my waist and wrap around it tight. They pull me in close, forcing me to lie on my side--- my back against the person's chest.
Suddenly, I'm wide awake.
"Don't go," the voice of the person's arms grumbles closely in my ear.
Now I remember: the movie date with Nick, but how did I get here? HOLD UP, IS THIS NICK? WHAT IS HE DOING?
I roll over on my back, the arms still tight around me. This time a leg wraps around one of mine.
Then out of nowhere, something wet hits the skin on my neck.
"Hm, you taste good." Nick says.
'WHAT?'
He licks me again, but this time in a semi-circle around the back of my right ear. A sensation shivers down my body.
His grip tightens around my waist even more and pulls me closer. Now both my legs are under only one of his.
"U-um, Nick?" I say quietly.
"Hm?" he says groggily into my neck. I quiver at the sensation.
"I mean, Barlowe. Are you awake?"
Nick then jerks his head up, his eyes closed. Relief flows over me like a river and I exhale. Maybe he'll come back to his senses now?
"Huh?" he says, then looks up at me. In the dark room with only street light from the window coming through, I can't really tell if he looks surprised or not.
All of a sudden, he grins at me and pulls me under him. "Hey sugar." Then the unthinkable happens: Nick Barlowe kisses me.
My eyes widen and I try to speak but all that comes out is a muffled, "Mm."
Nick stops kissing me and softly drags his tongue up from the corner of my jaw up to my earlobe. The back of my neck tingles.
'WHAT IS GOING ON??' I think rapidly.
"W-why am I here-" I inhale abruptly mid-sentence at a sudden, slow stroke of Nick's tongue on my neck.
He kisses the tip of my nose. "You fell asleep during the movie so I had to take you back to my place."
"But I have to get back to my dorm before-"
"Shhh." Nick looks me in the eyes and then buries his head in my neck again. "Don't worry about them."
I look away and mumble, "How could I not? All the girls at this school want to kill me because of you."
"What?" He sounds surprised.
'This dude is either really dumb or super clueless.' I think for a second.
"I'll fix that. Don't worry," he says.
There's a hint of concern in what he said. I wonder why.
Suddenly, for some reason feeling sad for him, I awkwardly wrap my arms around him.
Caught off guard, Nick looks up at me weird and I immediately look away. I take his head and place his ear where my heart is in my chest.
Hopefully he'll fall asleep to the sound of my heartbeat just like I did with his.