James's POV
I watch as Carramel's face goes from beat red to deathly pale in second. I bite my lip warily, worried I may have accidentally killed my Mate with her own embarrassment. I step foreword to apologize and the next thing I know, her eyes are rolling to the back of her head and her knees buckle. She fucking fainted. Fuck me.
Those still in the hallway gasp, a couple even reaching out to grab her, but my arms wrap securely around her waist before she even has the opportunity to fall. I sink down to the floor, embarrassment coursing through me.
'Haha you made her faint. I would too if I had to look at you.' Sloan snickers in my head, ever the fucking comedian.
'You're in my body, dummy, so what does that make you?' I shoot back, leaning against the lockers so Carramel has somewhere to lean on.
'Difference is, I'm only borrowing the body. I'm a fucking goddess, Jamie. Put some respect on me, baby.' I roll my eyes at his cockiness but quickly forget it when Carramel begin shifting slowly and her eyes start fluttering.
It only takes a moment for her eyes to open, but when they do they shut back immediately after seeing my face above her. I hold in the chuckle that tickles my chest at the hard blush that shoots across her face.
"I'm dreaming, right?" She asks shyly. As if any other answer of possibility would lead to her dying of embarrassment. And after all that I've seen and noticed about her, I don't think it would be much of an exaggeration.
"No, not a dream." I promise her, though it's not much of an assurance. She instantly scrambles away from me, going to stand up quickly clearly embarrassed.
"I'm so sorry." She presses, voice squeaking to show just how uncomfortable she is in my presence. "I keep embarrassing myself around you." She mumbles shyly, her head lowering in shame. I shake my head as I get up slowly, bending down to pick up my bag from off the floor below me.
"No, I shouldn't have asked. I hadn't meant to make you uncomfortable, Carramel. I'll see you around, okay?" I assure her, and though it kills me, I turn on my heel and make my way down the hallway, my smile falling flat on me face as soon as she can't see it anymore.
Much to my surprise, I hear quick footsteps come after me, small feet pattering on the titles floor. I can't help the twitch of my lip that comes when I hear her stumble a couple feet behind me. Simply adorable.
"Wait!" She calls out, though her shyness prevents her from speaking loudly, it's loud enough for me to stop in my tracks and turn towards her.
"What's wrong, Carramel?" I ask, worried I might have said or did something wrong again. But her fluttering smile has my worries sputtering out slowly.
"I, uh, I mean, the offer is it, can I …" She stutters out a question that I can't really make out. Her hesitation to meet my eyes making me and Sloan coo at her sweetly inside. My encouraging smile finally reaches her when she looks up for a second, meeting my eyes. It has her taking a deep calming breath before she mumbles a sentence so fast, I barely catch it. "Is the offer to go out still on the table?"
I blink stunned at the small beet red bean that just swallowed her fear and natural submission to ask me to go out with her. Well see if my offer to take her out still stands, same difference I believe.
She takes my silence as disapproval towards her and it has her back tracking unnecessarily. "I mean if not, I-I understand. I can leave n-now. I'm sorry." Before she can leave me high and dry I step in front of her the smile on my lips threatening to crack my face in half. Her eyes slightly glaze over when she see it and it has me puffing out my chest, to know she likes what she sees.
"Of course the offer still stands, little one. If you're sure." My body is practically vibrating at the thought of having her so close to me for any period of time.
"How else would I make up my embarrassment?" She asks, coming up beside me slowly. Though that's not exactly the answer I wanted or needed to hear, I'm happy all the same she decided to say yes.
Once she is beside me, I begin walking again towards the exit. I see her watching my walk as we continue down the hall and I can't help the jerk of my dick against the strain of my jeans at the sight of her admiring me.
I quickly strike up a conversation with her, trying to distract myself from her soft curly hair, her creamy caramel complexion, and her pink pouty lips that are sending me in a trance at the moment. I shake my head trying to clear it, though it only makes me dizzy, sadly.
"How's classes going?" I ask stupidly. What the fuck am I doing? I'm trying to get her to love me and I'm talking about school?
"It's going good. My Health class is giving me a hard time, though. They think it's cute when I panic, I just think they're rude." She mumbles, a furious blush touching her cheeks sweetly at the idea of discussing her body to anyone. Her arms wrap securely around herself.
"No one knows how to respect personal boundaries anymore. Trust me, I would know." I give her a lopsided grin, my cut eyebrow raised. She giggles at me while nodding making me damn near stumble down the steps outside the school. The walk down to the Cafe is uneventful and we talk about the pack, school and mundane things that grab our attention.
Once we reach the Cafe, I hold the door open for Carramel, the blush that never really left her cheeks reappearing with a fierce vengeance. I lead her to the counter and we both get hot chocolates both agreeing it's never too hot or cold for the delicious hot beverage.
Once we both have our drinks, we sit down in the back corner and people watch. We play a game called, Guess Who? The game is simple, you see someone and try to guess their life, there no winner but the most interesting stories are always entertaining.
"That girl right there. She's a Vampire coming back from her Slip, she's grabbing a coffee with chocolate chips for her best friend and a black coffee for her. Her favorite color is Tulips and she likes punk rock." Carramel says giggling away at the expressions I send her. It's good to see her with her walls down, her hands fluttering about as we play. I know my long strong body trained to be an Alpha always gets me looks of fear and respect. But I'm one of the softest people I know, but many are too prejudice to see behind the Alpha aura and power my eyes hold.
As I go to answer her with my own counter story, a familiar smell of jasmine and honey reaches my nose and I immediately want to die. Right then and there, the how doesn't matter it's only the when that's important.
"James!" Jessica's squeal of excitement has me wanted to punch someone in the face … or speed up my death date. I'm not entirely sure which option I prefer at the moment.
"I'm busy Jessica." I say, keeping my eyes on Carramel who's earlier happiness has deflated entirely.
"I think I'll go home now, thanks for letting me make it up to you. I wouldn't want to ruin your date." Carramel says solemnly and before I can stop her, she's walking out of the Cafe doors. I stand to follow her, wanting to tell her that I don't care about Jessica and that we are not dating, but Jessica's small frame interrupts my steps. My Goddess, if I didn't have the self control I did, the smug little flat chested bitch would've ended up on the ground clutching her cheek.
'Let me at the bitch, females can catch my acrylics, too.' Sloan huffs. His response almost makes my lips twitch in amusement. Almost.
"Now that we're alone, maybe we can talk, James." Jessica says. And the way she says it so sweet and innocently has me moving around her hurriedly, because the more time I spend with her, the more my hand twitches to mark her in a way she won't like.