Bailey
"I swear I felt a fish sucking on my toe!" Eli throws his head back as he laughs and I playfully hit him with my shirt "I'm not lying"
I try to sound serious but I'm holding in my own laugh, I stare at him with a big smile on my face as his laugh dies down and he glances at me with a lazy grin that cannot quite go away after a good laugh "Why are you looking at me like that, Bailey?"
"You have the most mesmerising laugh I have ever heard." The words are out of my mouth before I can stop it and I tense waiting for him to say 'this is a professor-student relationship' but he doesn't.
His grin turn into a soft smile "You have the most captivating smile I have ever seen."
I bite my bottom lip to hide my smile and I put my top on before asking "Do you always do things like this for your students, Mr Matthews?"
"Not at all." He steps closer and move my wet hair out of my face "You happen to be different, Miss Harper."
"Different how?"
He whispers in my ear "I like you"
A shiver runs down my spine as his breath fans over my skin and I swallow as he dips his head to press a kiss to my neck. My lips part and I tilt my head to give him better access, he hums in approval "Good girl."
My breathing starts getting heavier as he continues pressing open mouth kisses to my neck "Eli." I breath "Kiss me."
He freezes and stares at me as he asks softly "Are you sure?"
"Positive."
That's all it takes for him to press his lips against mine and butterflies erupt in my stomach as my heart rate picks up. His lips are so soft. At first he kisses me gently like I'm his most prized possession but then it gets rougher, like it's trying to claim my breath as his own. Without warning he breaks the kiss and turns away from me and I blink as I try to get out of the daze his kiss just put me. "Is something wrong?"
He shakes his head and turns back to me "We should take it slow. I don't want to rush something this great with someone so great only to mess it up."
I tilt my head as I smile "I'm fine with going slow."
He lets out a long breath "Good." He gently takes my face into his hands "We should head back, I wouldn't want you to be late for my class tomorrow"
I scoff a laugh "Fair enough"
He smiles and presses one last kiss to my lips before throwing me over his shoulder and I let out a yelp "What are you doing, Eli?!"
"Taking you back to the car, I wouldn't want anything else sucking your toes."
I burst out laughing and his shoulders shake as he laughs as well.
"Thank you again for taking me to the waterfall" I say as he parks his car behind the library building
"It was a pleasure" he grabs my hand and press a kiss to it before saying "I meant what I said, Bailey. I really do like you."
I give him a small smile "I really like you too."
"Oh, I know. I felt it in the way you shoved your tongue down my throat."
I gasp "I did no such thing!"
He laughs and I can't help but join in "I'm just teasing you. I do want to see you again though."
I raise an eyebrow "You see me everyday in class"
His eyes narrow "You know that's not what I meant. I want to see you."
I squeeze his hand "I would like that very much."
He hums and presses a kiss to the corner of my mouth "I'll see you, Miss Harper."
"See you."
I wiggle my fingers in a wave and hop out before walking around the library building to my dorm and I cannot wipe the smile off my face. It does fade though when I reach my dorm and see students standing outside our door as they listen to yelling happening from inside. "Excuse me."
They give me a disinterested glance as they make no move to leave and I channel my inner Liliana, putting a glare on my face and putting a hand on my hip "Get the fuck out of my way." Their eyes widen and I say "Get lost. Now."
I wait until they're gone before walking in to find Liliana and Marcus yelling at each other in the common area "Guys! Guys! Stop!"
"It's his fault!" Liliana says still yelling.
Before Marcus can yell back at her, I say "Everyone in the building can hear you guys, please just stop."
He scoffs "Whatever, I don't have time for this."
He walks out of the dorm and slams the door shut, I glance at Liliana as she glares at the closed door before heading to her room and slamming the door too. I let out a long sigh before knocking on her door "Lili? Permission to enter?"
She's quiet for a moment before saying "Permission accepted."
I walk in to find her curled up on her bed and I take a seat next to her "What's going on between you and Marcus? I tried to mind my business but it's getting harder to ignore it."
She closes her eyes as she takes a deep breath before glancing at me "I'm in love with him."
I blink in surprise, I figured she had a crush on him. But in love? That's serious. "And him?" I ask gently.
Her bottom lip quivers and she shakes her head "No."
My eyes soften "Oh, Lili." I kick off my shoes before laying down next to her as I wrap my arms around her "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." She says but I know it's not okay, I can hear the crack in her voice and the tears she's trying to hold back.
"Is it because of Eden?"
"No, it's because of Aurora."
Eden's sister?
"I don't think I understand, Lil" I say as I rub her arms
She sighs "Aurora was his girlfriend and she…died. She was the love of his life, Bailey."
I suck in a sharp breath as I put two and two together. Marcus's mother saying he took Eden under his wing, she's probably the closest thing to Aurora. No wonder I always see them together . And I get Liliana's unspoken words.
"You can't compete with a ghost"
"Exactly." She says quietly.
I sigh "I'm here for you."
"Thank you, Bails" she sniffles before pulling away and raises an eyebrow "Why's your hair wet?"
"Oh uhm, my aunt and I went night swimming. The hotel she's staying at as a pool."
She nods "That's cool"
I let out a sigh of relief when she buys my lie and I ask "Will you be okay?"
"Yeah" she rakes a hand through her blonde hair "It's going to take more than unrequited love to knock me down."
I huff out a laugh as I nod "There we go." I stand up and grabs my shoes "I'll give you some space. Goodnight."
"Night."
I pat her arm before heading to my room and glance at my phone when it dings with a text from Eli
'I need to ask you something and answer honestly.'
I frown and type out a reply 'I'm listening'
'Was I too forward tonight?'
'No, not at all. I wanted you to kiss me.'
'Okay that's good because I would like to kiss you again.'
I smile as I reply 'Are you not scared you'll choke with my tongue down your throat?'
'I'm very scared but fuck it, what a way to go out.'
My smile widens and I bid him goodnight before grabbing my things to take a shower but pause when my eyes catch a hint of silver shining under my bed. I reach under until I have it in my grasp and frown when I see it's a key.
Ah, it must have fallen out of the box the other day.
I take the box out as well and throw the key inside but instead of closing it, I grab the photo of my mom and dad. For so long I felt like I didn't have the right to grieve them because I'm the reason they are gone but to this day I still grieve both of them.
My father may have been a terrible person and husband but he was a good dad. My mother was an absolute angel who deserved better. This box is the only thing I have of them but instead of going through it, I do the same thing I've been doing for the past twelve years. I close it and put it under my bed again.