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Falling For Autumn 6
Autumn
Autumnwasn’tsureif she was looking for Kolson or Berkley, but she no longer wanted to be at this party. She made her way into the next room, which was the kitchen. It didn’t seem as crowded or loud in here. She looked at all the faces. None of them familiar until her eyes finally landed on Kolson. Good, she could say hello and show him she was here, then leave.
Kolson leaned against the counter. He had a beer in one hand and his other was shoved into the pocket of his dark jeans. He was wearing a snug black t-shirt as if he was showing off his biceps. Of course, he probably stood in front of the mirror and flexed like Preston always did. He was talking and laughing with another guy. He even looked attractive when he laughed. Most people looked awkward laughing, but he didn’t. Mid-laugh he looked up from his conversation as if he could feel her watching. His eyes met hers, he smiled and nodded, then turned to his buddy. He started to say something else when his face whipped toward her again. This time his eyes and smile went wide, and he waved as if he just now realized who she was. He said something else to his friend, then began striding toward her. Autumn’s stomach felt weird as he approached.
“Hey,” he put his hand on her elbow and bent down close to her ear for her to hear him. It wasn’t like when Marco touched her a few minutes ago. She was oddly comforted by Kolson’s touch. “I didn’t recognize you.”
“Oh.” She took a breath, hoping to cleanse her brain so it would stop feeling fuzzy. Why was her heart palpitating? Why did he smell delicious? Not like cheese and sweat or too much cologne. His scent was the right amount of musk and leather.
“Did you get your sources?” she asked.
He leaned away but didn’t move his hand from her. His smile twisted. “Of course, I always keep my word.”
Something about the way he was looking at her. He smiled down at her, his hand on her arm as if he didn’t want her to walk away. As badly as she’d wanted to leave a minute ago, she suddenly wanted to talk to him now too.
“Are you thirsty?” he asked.
The odd high she’d been feeling a minute ago began to dissipate because she didn’t want to lie, but she also didn’t want him to stop looking at her like that. “I don’t drink?”
“I don’t mean alcohol.” He lifted his beer. “This is all I’m having tonight. I have to lift early tomorrow morning, then work on some assignments and have practice in the afternoon. I can’t afford to be hungover.”
“Sounds like a full day.” She would say something about it being the weekend, but her weekends were usually crammed as well. Just more with academic than athletic.
“It is.”
“Why aren’t you at home sleeping?”
He laughed and shrugged. “Why aren’t you?”
“Because I told you I would come tonight.”
“Hey.” He moved his hand from her arm to her back. Whoa, that sent a sudden thrill through her. “I can show you what I have done if you want.” He tossed his empty bottle in the trash behind her. It hit with a hollow clank. “Prove to you that I did as I promised.”
“If you already did the work, then why did I have to come?”
“I knew you would,” he smiled. Then motioned for her to head toward the stairs.
“This isn’t some trick to get me to go to a bedroom with you, is it?” She felt her face flush and wished she hadn’t said that loud enough for the people around them to hear. They looked from their conversations toward her. A girl with long dark hair looked at her like she was stupid.
Kolson laughed. “No.” He put his hand around hers. It was warm and calloused and it did something to her stomach again. Or maybe that was the draft from the cropped top. He led her up the stairs. Her heart raced. At the top of the steps, he pulled her into a room and flipped on the lights. It was a bedroom alright. A pile of clothing sat in one corner of the room. A desk in another. The bed was unmade, the sheets and covers in a ball in the middle of the mattress as if someone had gotten into a battle with the covers.
Autumn stepped back and crossed her arms across her chest when he removed his hand from hers.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to try anything. It’s quieter up here.” He pulled the door shut behind him. She was able to hear herself think now and her thoughts were going to weird places because now she wondered why he wasn’t going to try anything. Not that she wanted him to, did she?
He sat down at a desk and opened the laptop. Her heart sped as the realization that she was in a boy’s room that did not belong to her brother hit her. She watched as he concentrated on typing in his password. His full lips were pursed. She wondered what it would be like to kiss him. Then she quickly shook that thought out of her mind. Why was her brain going there anyway? Yes, she was at a party, and yes, she was in a bedroom with a boy, but this was about schoolwork. This was the boy she was tutoring, not some guy she wanted to make out with.
“This computer’s slow,” Kolson said.
Autumn’s phone buzzed and she was thankful for the distraction. She pulled it out of her pocket. OMG. Who did you go upstairs with? The message was punctuated with a fire emoji and one with a tongue sticking out.
Autumn rolled her eyes. Of course, Berkley was nowhere to be seen until she was walking up the stairs with Kolson. The guy I’m tutoring. He’s showing me something.
You go girl. Berkely responded immediately. Then followed the text with an eggplant emoji. Autumn’s face flushed and she put her phone back in her pocket. Somehow looking at that in the same room as Kolson made her feel like he could see even though he was staring at his computer.
“There it is.” He turned the laptop toward Autumn. She leaned beside him to get a better look. Her mind was not on the work in front of her. How Kolson smelled, how broad his shoulders. She couldn’t stop thinking about his hand on her arm, then her back.
