“Yeah,” he said slowly as he looked confused at me about why going off campus would be such a big deal. “Unless you don’t want to.”
“No, I do,” I said quickly before he changed his mind.
I realized that probably came out sounding way too eager on my end, but I was scrambling to try and do this on the fly.
“Perfect,” he said with a smile. “Well, since I don’t know what floor you live on, how about you come pick me up at my room at seven? Then I’ll drive us to dinner.”
“Sure, sounds good.” I smiled.
Rob got onto the elevator and I headed for the stairwell, wondering how in the world I was going to explain this to the guys without them freaking out entirely.
Or giving away the game David kept holding over my head in order to keep them protected.
9
“A date?” Julian yelled completely flabbergasted. “See? I knew it!”
“Calm down, Julian,” Michael said from the kitchen. Although he was pouring a way-too-big glass of whiskey indicating that he was every bit as stressed about it as Julian, he was just doing a better job of hiding it.
“Why are you going on a date with him?” Adam asked.
I sighed, figuring I could tell them at least partially what was happening. “Because David told me to. He told me to get close to him and find out what he was really doing here and to keep him from finding out the truth about what is going on at the campus.”
“How close?” Julian asked.
I held up my hands. “Look, I promise I wouldn’t have even agreed to it if David hadn’t made me. I won’t be gone long and I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’ll take my phone with me in case I need you guys, okay?”
“Does David know that this guy is taking you off campus?” Michael asked.
“No,” I said. “But he told me to let Rob take me on a date and that’s what I’m doing. He can’t have it both ways.”
Michael took a long swig of whiskey and then walked around to give me a kiss before going into the bedroom. “Call us if you need anything,” he said.
“I will,” I assured him.
“How can you be so calm about this?” Julian asked Michael.
“It’s not like we can do anything about it,” Adam said as he threw his hands in the air. “Just be careful,” he said as he eyed me before he went and got ready to go into the kitchen and get some food. “We’ll wait up for you.”
I smiled as Adam kissed me too.
But, Julian let out a big sigh and I went over to hug him.
“I just wish we could leave here,” Julian said as he buried his face in my hair. “Remember when we would talk about going to Asheville? We could find a cute little cabin tucked into the side of a mountain and disappear from the rest of the world. You could start a garden with one of those cheesy little garden gnome statues and we could take hikes up the mountains to watch the sunset.”
“That all sounds very lovely,” I said as I held him close. “I would like to do that with you someday.”
“Why don’t we just go do it now? Let’s just leave Lisette. Let’s run out of here faster than David or anyone can catch us and go hide somewhere safe together.”
I could see Adam listening to him from the kitchen. He didn’t say anything, but the solemn look on his face said it all. He empathized with Julian because Julian was saying what they all wanted to say.
We all wanted to get out of here.
“We can’t do it now,” I said as he lifted his head and I looked into his big eyes. “But we will do it someday, I promise.”
I kissed Julian on the lips and let our noses touch even after we pulled our mouths away.
“I’ll be back soon,” I said softly.
Then I turned and walked away as Julian stood there in the middle of the common area and watched me go.
I felt bad about the fact that not only was I going on this date because David had told me to, but also because I wanted to. I wanted to get off campus even if just for a night. It was selfish.
I knocked on the outside of Rob’s door once I got to his third floor hallway. I hadn’t bothered to dress up or anything. I mean, it wasn’t even like it was a real date, so I figured jeans and a T-shirt was still fine. I was playing a part, and I imagined that Rob was too. There was no sense in making it seem like it was anything more than that. He opened his door and it hit me for a second time how hot he was. His jeans clung to his muscular thighs and showcased the package between his legs that was impossible to ignore. He had on a t-shirt too, a black one with short sleeves that showed off his ripped arms.
“Hey,” he smiled as he flashed his blue eyes at me. “Ready?”
“Yeah,” I said as I tried to keep my eyes above his waist, which was a battle that I was currently losing.
But, he acted like he didn’t notice. “Great, I know of a cool little pizza place just outside of campus that has a pretty chill vibe to sit and talk. They also make some of the best pizza in town. That sounds okay to you?”
“Sounds perfect,” I smiled.
Rob reached down and took my hand in his as he walked out of his room. I wasn’t expecting that at all. I thought we were both just playing our parts: he was a cop trying to solicit information and I was just trying to escape the campus for a few hours and do as David had asked me to do. I didn’t think this was a ‘real’ date, and I didn’t expect Rob to think that, either.
But maybe I was wrong.
