Love Me

Maggie is outside, writing all over the sidewalk with chalk.

“Doesn’t it look amazing?”

“It’s really pretty,” I tell her, looking at all the messages the girls in our dorm have written to welcome the prospective students. “How was the library with Jake? I asked him about it and he wouldn’t tell me. He always tells me.”

She grins, full on. “It was good. Very much a friend thing. I’m pretty sure we are in the same boat.”

“The friend boat?”

“Yeah. You still in that with Aiden?”

“I’m not sure anymore. Last night he told me we were going to be together for a long time. Does that seem weird to you?”

“Not if you feel the same way. But, wait, I thought you went to the game with Dawson?”

“I did. And I was bad. Again. We decided we weren’t going to anymore, but we did.”

“You have no willpower.”

“You’re right. Dawson is like me satisfying my sweet tooth. When I’m having something sweet, I love it, but then when I’m done, I feel guilty.”

“Because of the calories?”

I laugh. “Yes. Dawson is a five layer chocolate cake with ganache filling. Impossible to resist, but leaves you feeling a little guilty after.”

“He stopped by here earlier. Did you see it?”

“Peyton said something about it.”

Maggie grabs my arm and pulls me toward the dorm. There on the first step, near where he always sits and waits for me, is a huge pink heart. It says: Dawson + Keatie.

“Oh, that’s so sweet!”

Dawson grabs me around my waist. “I’m glad you think it’s sweet. I have something else sweet for you in my dorm. Come on.”

As we walk next door, I say, “Did you see your brother’s neck? He has new hickeys over the old ones.”

“Did you see my brother’s stomach?”

“We’ve never done that, you know. Given each other hickeys.”

“You’ve given me a couple little ones before,” he says, pulling me into his bedroom and sucking hard on my neck. “Want me to give you one?”

“Not really,” I laugh. “You know, we kind of missed out on all that. The kissing for hours, the hickeys, and all that.”

“Is that what you want? For me to write Dawes across your stomach?” He immediately puts his lips on my stomach, which is exposed in my game day dance uniform. “Maybe I’ll just put my football number on you. Mark my territory.”

“Uh . . .”

“I’m just playing. Tell you what. Let’s just make out.”

I smile at him. “That sounds like fun.”

We kiss for a few minutes.

But when he pulls me on top of him, our kissing gets deeper, and both our hips start that little movement toward each other.

“Keatie, you gotta stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“Every time you kiss me, you move your hips into me, and you keep making those sexy little noises. I don’t know how much more I can take.”

“That’s cuz you keep pushing my butt into your leg and moving it against me.”

I roll off him and wrap both my arms up around my head. He puts his hand across my exposed stomach and then down inside my dance pants.

I moan, then sigh and try to shake this desire. “What happened to just kissing?”

He runs his hand further down, pulling my pants down in the process. “I don’t think that’s go

He pulls off my thong while I try to undo his belt. I finally get it undone, unzip his shorts, and pull down the front of his boxers. He holds my hands down above my head with one hand, while he slides off his shorts and boxers.

Then he grins at me and says, “We’re just go

I wrap my legs around his waist in agreement. “Yeah, we’ll just kiss.”

Dawson may not touch my soul, but the parts he does touch, he makes feel really good.

After we get dressed, Dawson says, “I’m starved. Let’s go get lunch.”

We’re now sitting at the lunch table, probably looking way too happy.

Bryce says to me, “So, what’s going on with you two? I saw the It’s complicated thing, but then I heard you had a date with Aiden.”

“We’re allowed to date other people,” Dawson answers.

“So, you’re still hooking up?”

Dawson laughs and says, “Um, we decided we’re just go

My phone makes a little email ding, telling me I have a message from Grandma.

Grandpa says you want to know the difference between love and true love. Joan Crawford said this, “Love is a fire, but whether it’s going to warm your heart or burn down your house, you can never tell.”

Dawson and I are the only ones left at the lunch table, so I ask him, “Do you believe in true love?”

“Uh, I think so, why?”

“Do you think you just know?”

“Like love at first sight? Romantic fairy tale stuff? I though what we just did in my room was pretty damn romantic.”

“Our just kissing was romantic?”

“Hell, yeah.”

I tilt my head and look at him, like Seriously?

“Okay, so it probably wasn’t romantic. It was hot. Sexy. That’s what all this is about, huh? The romance? We have the sex, but not the romance? Wasn’t last night romantic?”

“Di

“So early di

“I think I already was yours.”

He laughs. “Naw, we just kissed.”

Just kiss.

1pm

After lunch, I do all the stuff Brad asked me to, then go to the small auditorium where all the student guides are meeting to get instructions about what we’re expected to do with the visiting students. Aiden sits down next to me as I’m studying the photos of the two girls who are going to be Katie’s and my roommates.

“So, tonight, we’re doing di

“Oh, um, I didn’t know that you pla

“Bryce told me you and Dawson decided you’re just go

I blush and look down, hoping he didn’t notice.

“Well, we’re going to try.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “I don’t like this.”

“Don’t like what?”

“You dating him one night and me the next. It sucks.”

“But you’re the one who told me to date you both.”

“Yeah, I know,” he says with a sigh as he runs his hand through his hair. “So, are you okay with that?”

“Okay with what?”

“With me dating you one night and someone else the next?”

“You can do whatever you want.”

He sweetly puts his forehead against mine. “I haven’t dated anyone else this year. Don’t know why I’d start now.”

I bite the edge of my lip, trying to suppress a smile.

He lets out a loud laugh. “You love getting your way, don’t you?”

My little smile breaks into a full-on grin. I can't help it.

He squints his eyes at me. “You like that I’m a little jealous.”

“Kinda.”

“You are a bad liar.”

“Fine, I like that you're maybe a little jealous. I don't know how you feel.”

“Boots, love isn't like a cute pair of shoes. You can't try it on to see if it fits and walk out the door wearing it.”

“I know that.”

“You told me sometimes true love takes a bit. Do you believe that?”

I scrunch up my face and think about it. “I guess I always thought true love would be instant. An instant pull—like gravity—and you would both just know.”

“But sometimes the girl is used to getting things instantly. And probably the guy is too. And maybe they need to slow down.”

“But I could get hit by a car or kidnapped by a psycho tomorrow and never know.”

“You don’t have to have sex to know. Sex isn't love.”

“Maybe not. But it’s a big, important part of it.”

“Just because you have sex doesn't mean you're in love.”

“I just want to be with a guy who likes me. Who won’t hurt me.”

“Says the girl who’s with a guy that has already hurt her, more than once.”