6. Alexi

Something had shiftedbetween Troy and me, and after the afternoon we'd had, I wasn't even sure who'd initiated it.

We'd both flirted, joked, and had fun.

If this was what it was like to move toward more, I was strapped in and ready for the ride. I craved more moments like this with Troy.

He'd been more relaxed than I'd seen him since he'd started college, and we'd only seen each other at big family events like my Uncle Sergei and Uncle Rory's wedding.

My phone buzzed, so I took it out of my pocket.

Jett

Hey, boo. Wanna hear all about your meeting later. I'm at a study group. They have these waffles at this place that'll give you an orgasm from the scent alone.

I laughed.

"What's funny?" Troy asked without taking his eyes off the road.

"My roommate is waxing lyrical about waffles. I think the burger won't be my only experience of American food today. Like I said, I need to find that gym."

He glanced at me and shook his head.

Before I closed the app, I saw the message I'd received from Elite earlier.

ELITE CONNECTIONS

Hi, Alexi. This is Veronika from Customer Relations at Elite. I'm so very sorry to postpone your meeting with our agent again. I assure you this doesn't happen at Elite unless there's a good reason. I will have a look at the schedule and drop you a message soon.

Hi, Alexi. Your Elite agent will be out of town for a few days, but I've scheduled a meeting for you a week from Friday. You'll receive an email with the details shortly. Let me know if this doesn't work for you.

I replied to the message, agreeing to the meeting, but something in the pit of my stomach told me I should probably cancel the whole Elite thing.

What if Troy found out? Would he be upset or angry?

Maybe I could meet this person, talk to them, and explain how I felt.

Things had changed. When Jett had mentioned this super-secret agency, I'd been on the verge of giving up and going home. None of my attempts to bump into Troy on campus had succeeded.

Now, we weren't exactly dating, but I'd seen him twice, and we'd had a great time today without the intervention of an external agency or dating coach.

Troy took one last turn before we arrived in front of my dorm.

Neither of us moved when he stopped the car. We were back where we'd been outside the barcade.

Something could happen, but who would make the first move?

"Can I take you up to your dorm?" he asked.

"Sure."

My heart rate increased with every step toward the dorm and up the stairs to the second floor.

I nearly dropped my key.

"Need help?" he asked with amusement in his voice.

"Nope. All good."

For a split second, I panicked that I hadn't made my bed or had drawings everywhere, which was my usual state when I was nervous about something. Ever since I'd made contact with Elite and had to complete the endless paperwork required for their services, I'd been a pile of nerves.

On the bright side, I'd worked so hard that I was acing all of my practical classes.

"It's a nice room. Bigger than the one I had when I lived in dorms," Troy said.

"It's nice. Jett is a good roommate."

Troy sat on my bed.

"Just a roommate?"

Troy Mason, the boy I'd wanted to kiss since I'd met and the man I still had more than a crush on, sat on my bed asking me if something was happening between my roommate and me. This had to be an alternative reality.

"Yeah. We're just friends."

"Good…good…um…are you going to my nephew's birthday party this weekend?"

I sat next to him, pretending I didn't wish we were in a different position than side by side.

"Yeah. My parents are coming from Lydovia, and they said I can see them this weekend in Chester Falls or they'll come here. Guess which option I picked."

He chuckled.

"Do you want to go with me?"

"You mean, book the same flight? Sure. I haven't got my ticket yet."

Troy scratched his scruff and then turned to me on the bed. I mirrored him.

"I'm driving."

"Oh."

"There's a place I usually stop at overnight. I'd like to show it to you."

I nodded. "Thank you."

He raised his hand to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Lexi…" His voice was gravelly and deep.

"I like it when you call me that," I confessed.

His fingers trailed my jaw. I wanted to jump onto his lap, but what if I did and got it all wrong? Or worse. Did it all wrong.

My skin was on fire.

I closed my eyes and inhaled. That was a bad idea because Troy was all around me. His scent, the warmth coming from his big body.

When I opened my eyes again, he was so close our noses almost touched.

"Lexi, may I kiss you?"

I closed the small distance between us until our lips touched. If I thought my skin had been on fire when all he'd done was touch my face, now I was ready to combust.

Troy's lips were just as I'd imagined. Soft and so damned kissable. He gripped my waist and pulled me until I was straddling him on my bed.

"God, Lexi. You feel so good."

I moaned. What else could I say? I didn't even know what words were anymore.

He broke the kiss.

"Not yet. I'm not ready," I gasped before kissing him again. This time, I opened my mouth and licked Troy's lip. The noise that came out of him as he let himself go and met my tongue with his could only be described as claiming.

His scruff scraped my skin, but I didn't care. I needed more of this. I'd waited so long.

The sound of people talking outside my door, followed by the key, brought us back to reality. I jumped out of Troy's lap like I'd been electrocuted.

I didn't miss the clear outline of his erection before he covered it with his jacket.

"Hey, boo"—Jett stood there staring at us wide-eyed—"I can go…" He turned around.

"No," Troy said. "I need to go anyway." Then he turned to me. His pupils were still blown from our make-out session. He smiled, biting his lip. "Pick you up on Friday morning, boo." And then he was gone.

I fell face-first on my bed and laughed into the blankets.

"Did I just walk into what I think I just walked into?" Jett asked, jumping over me and sitting against the wall with his legs over mine.

"Hmm." I nodded.

"Turn around, boo. I need to know everything."

I had to take several deep breaths because my dick was refusing to go down. Maybe I should shower and take care of it before I faced the American inquisition from Jett.

A hard slap hit my ass. "Hey, I'm waiting."

I turned my head to face him, and since he was practically sitting on top of me, I could let my body go back to its typical state in its own time. Although recounting what had just happened to Jett wouldn't help one bit on that front.

"I don't even know where to start, Jett. I bumped into Troy after we ended our call. Like literally bumped into him."

"Oh shit. How about the meeting?"

"Got canceled again."

He huffed. "That's not very professional of them. I'm sorry I recommended them."

"I'm not. If I hadn't been there, I wouldn't have bumped into Troy."

"So what happened?"

I turned sideways and rested my head on my hand. "Troy took me to a barcade. We spent the afternoon playing games and flirting, I guess."

"You guess?"

"I wasn't too sure at first. We messed around and teased each other. It was like we were back to a few years ago before he left for college. It was fun and easy to be around him."

Jett sighed. "So romantic. Who kissed first?"

"Me? Both? He walked me up and then we talked about a family thing we have this weekend. He wants me to drive with him to Connecticut." I sighed. "One minute, we were talking about the plans, and the next, he was so close I couldn't breathe."

"Eeee, and then?"

"He asked if he could kiss me, so I…kissed him."

"Yes!" He punched the air. "I knew you had it in you, boo."

It suddenly dawned on me. "Jett, we're going to be in a car together for hours and we're spending the night somewhere. Together. What the hell am I going to do?"

Jett lay beside me and patted my hair.

"We're going to get you some supplies, and then we're going to watch some movies?—"

"No! What the fuck, Jett. I'm not watching porn with you."

"I mean, watch actual movies to distract you and stop you from overthinking. I take my porn very seriously, and you're still a baby gay."

I groaned.

"But that's for tomorrow because I'm exhausted and you probably need a shower."

I laid on my bed while Jett got ready, standing only when my dick reassured me it wouldn't make a rogue appearance until I was in the shower.

Jett was right.

I needed to not overthink this thing with Troy. Okay, so we'd kissed, and it'd been the best kiss ever. And okay, we didn't get a chance to talk about it, but…

Yep, I was overthinking it, and I suspected that would be the case until I saw Troy again.