Becoming His Muse, Part Two by KC Martin Read Free Book Online Page B

there. I want to feel every growing hair, every whisper of his breath. He shifts in his sleep, sighs, and turns toward me, but doesn’t waken. I lightly touch the small round scar by his collarbone. He flinches slightly but soon settles into a deeper sleep.
    I wish I could stay longer, but I know I won’t be able to sleep. I’d lie there worrying about the best time to sneak out. How early would it have to be to avoid anyone else in the building? Most classes don’t start earlier than 8:30, but maybe some people go to the gym, or to an open studio, like I often do. I can’t take a chance. I can’t get caught here. We can’t get caught together.
    I pull the duvet over his shoulders and turn off the side lamp. Then I gather up my clothes and get dressed in the bathroom. Carrying my boots under my arm, I tiptoe to the door and slip out. The hall is dim, empty, and silent. But then out of the silence I hear sobbing. I stop a moment, turn to listen. Someone on this floor is crying herself to sleep. My new feelings of happiness, satisfaction, and excitement are so different from the deep, private sadness I’m overhearing. I feel an urge to comfort the crier, and yet I’m not supposed to be here at all. As I push through the door leading to the parking garage stairs, my heart feels stretched in multiple directions.
    I slip on my boots and skitter like a fugitive back to my dorm room. I feel both terrified and emboldened by the night’s events. The fall air is crisp and though it’s very dark, my vision seems enhanced and I make out shapes and textures I never noticed before. Back in my room, the colors seem more vivid, the feel of my duvet softer, all my senses are heightened. Something is opening in me. Something I never knew was closed. When I was last in my room, earlier this same night, I had been determined to do the right thing, follow the rules, and say no to Logan O’Shane. But I’ve been on a journey and back again and everything in me screams yes, a vibrant, thrilling yet secret “Yes!”

Chapter Seven
    The next morning, Sunday, I still feel that floaty feeling. I keep hitting snooze on my alarm until I remember why it was set in the first place. Ruby and I have plans. I quickly dress and then we leave campus and head to the nearby tennis club, where my father bought me a membership. I told him not to, that it was an unnecessary expense, but he insisted that I keep up with the practice since he’d spent all that money on lessons from ages 12 to 15. I could care less about tennis these days, but it’ll give me something to talk about during my weekly call home tonight. And Ruby likes going to the club thanks to the male eye candy.
    “At least, half these guys are gay,” I inform her as we slouch onto a bench.
    “But they can’t all be,” she whines.
    “No, but the other half are married.”
    She pouts. “You’re no fun.”
    We watch tanned limbs in tennis whites race across the courts while we wait for a court to open up.
    I can’t stop thinking about Logan and last night. If it hadn’t been Sunday, I probably would have found some excuse to drop by his office. I can’t believe I still don’t have his number; otherwise we might have at least had a few messages to exchange. I bite my nails and wonder what’s going to happen next with him.
    “You’re awfully quiet this morning,” says Ruby.
    I turn to look at her. She’s scrutinizing me. I stop biting my nails. “I didn’t sleep well last night. That fever came back.”
    She raises an eyebrow. “Oh, really ? Ronnie said he saw you last night, after I told him you were sick in bed.”
    “Oh. No, I just… I forgot something at the party and had to walk back and I ran into him leaving.”
    “You went back?”
    “Yeah. It was stupid. I should have just waited until next week. I think going out again brought the fever back.”
    “But you’re fine now?”
    I nod.
    “What did you forget?”
    I start biting my nails again. “Nothing