KendalDana's friend Olivia was beautiful and seemed like a sweet girl from what I could tell. She'd gotten home about an hour after Dana and I finally pulled ourselves from the sweaty sheets and made ourselves presentable. I'd rather have stayed in the bed for the rest of the evening, but Dana seemed pumped over getting to hang out with her best friend again."Olivia. This is Dr. Kendal Tarrington. He's a professor at UT in Dallas." Dana moved back with a huge smile on her face as Olivia extended her hand toward me. If I didn't know better, I'd say Dana was rather proud of my accomplishments, which just seemed to make me love her all the more."Just Kendal, please." I shook the busty blonde’s hand and gave her a warm smile. "Dana says you guys grew up together.""We sure did." Olivia shook my hand firmly and moved back. "We ran the town and the school back in the day, didn't we?"Dana chuckled. "Something like that."A knock at the door interrupted the conversation."That's Luke. You
DanaLuke hadn't shut up about his firm from the time we got into his overly pimped out sports car until they served dessert at the high-end restaurant. I couldn't tell if Olivia was as over him as I knew Kendal and I both were, but either way, I felt like shit for my best friend."I'm going to run to the ladies’ room." I stood up and glanced down toward Olivia, trying to give her a look that would urge her to join me."Yeah. Me too." She stood up and put her napkin on her plate."You girls are weird." Luke shook his head and turned back to Kendal, bringing up another point about his firm."Does that guy ever stop talking about himself?" I mumbled as we walked toward the back. I hated to dump on Olivia's man, but there was no way in the deepest parts of hell that she was happy with him. If she was, then she wasn't at all the girl I'd grown up with."He's pretty proud of his accomplishments." She pushed the door to the bathroom open. "He keeps trying to get me to come work for him, but
DanaWe suffered through dessert and finally headed back to Olivia's place. By the silence in the front seat, it was more than obvious that Luke was pissy over Olivia denying him.I couldn't handle the silence anymore. It was driving me mad."Olivia. You remember during our junior year when your mom and dad let us throw that party out on your father's back forty?" I snorted as memories raced through my mind, leaving me to feel young again - adventurous."How could I forget?" She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "It iced over that winter and we skated on the old pond for hours, busting our asses until we were covered in bruises.""You guys are talking about 2008, aren't you? I remember being in college and me and Damon enjoying that freeze. It was nuts for Texas. All the schools closed and businesses took the day off.""And this is an unusual phenomenon?" Luke's tone was less than friendly."Absolutely." Olivia turned to face him. "It usually gets cold back home, but nothing like
KendalI shouldn't have brought work with me to New York, but something told me that Dana would be a late sleeper. It had to be her laid back persona. Seeing that I usually woke up at five on the dot unless the world was falling apart around me, I knew I'd have a few hours to myself to get some grading done.After kissing her back and shoulders a few times in the darkness of the early morning, I slipped on my jeans and t-shirt and snuck out into the living room with my briefcase.The coffee pot in the kitchen was set to go off in two hours, but I quickly adjusted it and made myself comfortable at the kitchen table. I plowed through a handful of grading assignments before I heard someone moving around behind me.I glanced up and peeked over my shoulder to see Olivia standing in front of the coffee pot."I started it about an hour ago." I stood up and stretched as I turned to face her."Oh good. I usually let myself sleep in on Saturdays and use Sundays to catch up on all the work I did
Kendal"Well, Mother... I'm in New York with Dana. I took your advice. We're going to sneak around for the time being until we figure out what our best course of action is.""Nice!" His tone changed immediately. I was still in trouble, no doubt, but if Damon loved anything, it was to be right, and this time, he was spot on. Dana and I did belong together."It's been great. I'm not sure what we're going to do for the next eight months, but-""Take it day by day. Get out of town when you can and be smart about your relationship. If things go south, you always have a job with me. You know that." It was good to hear his voice and to be reassured by his position on things."I appreciate that buddy." I moved back from the window and glanced around for my shoes. Going down to Central Park and walking around in the coolness of the morning would be romantic. I wanted to be that guy for Dana. The one that swept her off her feet and left her heart racing every time I walked into the room. I wasn
Dana"It's beautiful out here." I breathed in deeply and intertwined my fingers with Kendal's as we walked down the main path in Central Park. A slight breeze blew along my neck, tickling my skin and leaving me feeling like I could take flight."Most beautiful thing I've ever seen." His eyes were on me.I rolled my eyes and snuggled against his side. "Thank you for coming here with me. I really needed this.""Don't thank me. I'm enjoying myself a lot. I feel like I can breathe for the first time in a long time." He released me and moved over to sit down on one of the many benches around us. "Come here and let me hold you.""I like the sound of that." I moved toward him and turned, sitting down beside him and leaning into his warmth. "Were you really going to walk away from us when you saw my name on your schedule?""Absolutely." He let out a slow sigh. "I didn't feel like I had a choice. I still feel a little off having to sneak around behind the school's back, but Damon was right. I
DanaI yelped and turned around, smacking him playfully. "You're horrid!""You love it." He seemed so full of himself, and sadly enough... I did love it. I could see why working at the college was so incredibly dangerous for him. "You ready for the spiel, you naughty little TA?""Lay it on me."His eyebrow lifted and he shook his head before clearing his voice. "I'm thirty-one. I'm not a model, nor do I care to be. I'm a guy that loves math, football and I'm an extreme stickler for the rules. I don't date students or TAs, so keep things staunchly professional between us, or I'll dismiss you."I couldn't help but laugh out loud. He was beyond cute."If you really think that's going to keep someone away, you've lost your mind. That would make me want to get closer.""That's because you're a bad girl pretending to be innocent." He pulled me close again. The thick press of his arousal against my stomach forced my body to grow warm."You think so?" I wrapped my arms around his neck and pul
KendalThe flight home was a bit of a blur after staying up most of the night before making love to Dana. The way she took me left me wanting to promise her the world, but I held my tongue. We would be together soon no matter how it happened. I could be mature enough in our new relationship to take things day by day. That was the only way Damon and Bethany were surviving.It would work for us too.I left her and Jackie at the airport in Dallas and spent the rest of the evening lying around my place, reliving the weekend in my head. Monday morning couldn't come fast enough. At least by being busy, I could force myself to think about something other than being drastic and leaving UT. Having her in my life left me wanting to consider all the possible options to us moving forward. I felt like a basket case by the time the alarm went off Monday morning.I showered quickly and changed into a pair of slacks and a pressed button down shirt before heading to the campus on my bike. It wasn't ex