My heart thrums with excitement and electricity as I hit the button to go down to the first floor. I don’t want to text Caleb because I want to see him in person, tell him all of this face to face.

I do want him, even though I might not know exactly what that means. He makes me feel like I can say anything or do anything silly, or be insecure and afraid. He makes me feel better, but more importantly, he makes me feel like it’s okay to be afraid. That’s the most powerful thing about him.

It’s okay to be afraid.

This side of the stupid dorm only has one elevator, and I get so impatient that I have to go take the stairs. I have to keep moving, I have to keep going. I feel like I’ll combust if I stay in one place for too long. Like I’ll explode.

I start my way down the stairs. It smells like someone is smoking, which would normally really piss me off, but I just keep moving.

Of course, it’s the guy I saw the last time I decided to take the stairs.

“Hey, Ava,” he says, blowing the smoke from his cigarette out in a thin stream. “We keep running into each other, don’t we?”

“Right,” I say. “I don’t think you’re really supposed to be smoking in here.” I keep walking down the stairs, but he starts walking next to me.

“I think we started off on the wrong foot,” he says, stepping in front of me when we get to the next landing. I want to cough in his face because he’s standing just a little bit too close and he smells a little bit too much like cigarettes.

“I’m sorry,” I say, elbowing past him, “I have somewhere to be.”

“Oh, come on,” he says, “I’m a really nice guy. Give me a shot.”

He keeps walking, and I’m starting to get a little bit pissed off.

“I did,” I say, pulling my jacket closed. “I already gave you a chance. We had that coffee together, remember? And I’m sorry. I’m just not interested.” I say it all so quickly, and when I’m done, I exhale shakily. I can’t believe I was able to tell him what I was really thinking. I should have tried this a long time ago.

“You girls are infuriating,” he booms, putting his hands in the air. “You say you want nice guys, and then you always go for the assholes. I was nice to you. I thought we had a good conversation.”

“We did,” I say, indignantly. “But that doesn’t mean I want to have sex with you.”

“Then what the hell can we do to please you people?”

“You people?” I say. “As if all women are exactly the same? Some monolithic entity who all think the same and want the same things? Here’s a tip,” I say, stepping toward him. “If you want to know how to please us, why don’t you just trying asking?”

“Damn it!” he yells, startling me. I step backwards and I feel my eyes growing wide in fear. His hands are balled up and his eyes look angry. His eyebrows are knotted up in the middle in an expression of anger and disgust. I realize I’ve pissed off a guy I know to be unpredictable, in an enclosed space where we’re alone.

He throws his cigarette to the ground and stomps it out, freeing up both of his hands. He walks toward me and I step backward carefully, my heart flying around inside my chest. I keep stepping backwards until my back is against the wall, and I realize I’ve made a mistake in allowing myself to confront him.

“You’re a bitch, and a tease,” he says calmly, but his face is bright red.

I hear the door to the stairwell on the landing below us open and slam shut, and I breathe a sigh of relief as the asshole takes a step back and away from me. Footsteps slam against the stairs and I see Caleb bounding up toward us.

“What the fuck is this?” he yells, grabbing the guy by the shirt and tossing him aside easily. “You get your limp prick away from her, or we are going to have a big fucking problem.”

The asshole doesn’t seem so intimidating anymore next to Caleb. He looks down and races down the stairs, scurrying out into the street.

“Did he touch you?” he says, trying to be calm, putting his arms around me.

“No, no,” I say. “Nothing happened. It could have been a lot worse.”

I lean into him as he squeezes his arms around my shoulders, and I just lose it. Tears start streaming from my eyes, and I can’t stop. God, I don’t want to ugly cry in front of Caleb, but I can’t help myself.

“You just let it out,” he reassures me, stroking the back of my head. “Are you sure nothing happened?”

“Yes,” I sob, resting my cheek on his chest. “I should never have come in here. I shouldn’t have said anything to him.”

“No,” Caleb says, tipping my chin up. “You never apologize for speaking up. Ever.”

Hot, salty tears stream down my cheeks and I go into my bag to try to find a tissue.

“Stop, sweetheart. Just relax. You’re okay now.”

“I don’t want to mess up your shirt,” I say, laughing as I choke out a sob. “I know how expensive it is.”

He looks down at me with a bemused smirk. “Come on,” he says, pulling me in extra close. “I don’t give a shit about the shirt.”

“I should never have come in here. I was just so excited to go see you. I didn’t want to stop moving. I had so much energy. I still do.” I realize that my hands are trembling, and all I can do to steady myself is wrap my arms around Caleb’s muscular torso.

“Well,” he says, kissing the top of my head, “my girl always likes to do things the hard way. The subway, the stairs. You like to work extra hard for things. But you don’t have to.”

Closing my eyes, I laugh. “I guess I didn’t realize something like love could be so easy.”

“It can be,” he says, sliding his fingers through my hair. “It can be.”

“Did you happen to talk to my dad?” I look up at him, his eyes beaming with a smile. I already know the answer.

“Yeah, I did. I understand where the old man is coming from. He just wants what’s best for you.”

“I know that.”

“I think he’s come around. He said people don’t really change.But I made it very clear to him how I feel about you. So in case you were wondering,” he says, “let me make it very clear to you, too.”

Caleb puts his hands on the sides of my face and strokes my cheeks with his thumbs.

“You are unlike anyone I’ve ever met. In fact, you are the opposite of every girl I’ve met. I was bored before I met you. There was nothing exciting in my life. It was the same old shit day after day. But now that I know you, I don’t want to let you go. Ever. And I won’t. I love you. I loved you from the moment I saw you. I loved your energy. The way you looked at me. You saw who I was, instead of what everyone else sees.”

“Caleb.” My heart is going to burst. “I don’t know what to say. I love you too. I can’t help how I feel. I love how good I feel when I’m with you. And I love how good you feel with me, too.”

He pushes his mouth onto mine, and all of the craziness of the past few minutes dissolves. All of the tension, all of the anxiety, everything just melts away, and all that’s left is me. Me, the girl who can stick up for herself if she tries. Me, the girl who can finally get what she wants.

And he’s here with me, because he’s part of it.

I kiss him back hard, and his hands come up to my breasts, feeling them through my shirt. Caleb lifts me up against the wall easily, and I wrap my legs around his waist. I’m soaked, and he grinds against me before putting me down.

“This is your dorm, isn’t it?” he whispers. “I found you at the right place, didn’t I?”

I smile as he affixes his hands onto my hips. “Yes, it is my dorm. What are you suggesting?”

“Why don’t you show me your room?”

We hurry up the stairs, and as we slip into my and Zoe’s room, we see her on her bed painting her toes. Her eyes fly up when she hears us come in, and she says nothing as she scurries off the bed and skips past us, winking as she closes the door behind her.

“I know that girl,” Caleb says, unbuttoning my shorts and pulling them down. I gasp as the cool air inside the room hits my pussy, already wet and waiting. “She was at the party with you.”

He guides me back against the wall and picks one of my legs up, draping it over his shoulder at the knee. Slowly and carefully his fingers part my lips, finding my hard nub of desire. His tongue gently traces a circle around it as my head falls back against the door, my eyes fluttering closed.

“You taste like heaven, my sweetheart,” Caleb growls. He pushes two fingers up into me and rocks against my body, kissing my clit before bringing it into his mouth. He laps at me furiously, sucking and grinding his tongue against me, fucking me into oblivion with his strong hand.

I start to slip down a little and one of his hands fly up behind my back, holding me in place. He pulls his mouth away and stands up slowly, making a trail of delicious kisses on my skin.

“On the bed,” he commands, taking his belt off. “Face down. Put your ass in the air.”

I tremble as I get into bed, kneeling at the edge of it, with my hands down on the messy sheets in front of me. He kisses my slit between my legs and pushes two fingers into my wet channel, stroking me from the inside.

“My beautiful sweetheart,” he says. I hear him unzip and guide his cock to my opening. He stops for a second, teasing me. I can feel the energy in the room change as he tilts his body against mine, sliding his thick column of lust through me.

“Fuck,” I moan, gripping the sheets. “Fuck me,” I cry out as he slams in.

His hands land on either side of my ass, massaging the flesh and spreading me open as he tilts and rocks inside me.

“You’re fucking perfect, Ava,” he says, pulling himself away from me. He grabs my hips and flips me over so we are facing each other. “I want to see you, feel you. Taste you.”

He presses his lips to mine, holding me down on the bed sweetly, protecting me. But he’s helped me learn that I can protect myself too.

Caleb flexes and takes his shirt off, revealing his god-like eight-pack abs, given to him just like nature intended, cut out of marble and and polished in the sun. Or polished with my tongue. Either way, he is fucking perfect, so sexy, so much man.

He sinks down into me and spreads me open with his cock, giving me all of it in one thrust. Now that I have him, I know what Zoe was talking about. There is no mistaking that this man knows what the hell he is doing.

“That feels so nice, Caleb,” I moan, throwing my head back. He grinds into me harder and faster, his strong hands roaming every inch of my curves, stopping at my breasts to caress and kiss them with his touch.

“I can’t wait to give this to you every day,” he whispers in my ear. “I can’t wait.”

He pushes hard into me, circling his cock around deep inside. Caleb reaches down to strum my clit, his fingers working on my body with the experience and expertise of someone who’s been making love to me for years, like our bodies were just made for each other’s.

My pussy starts to crest, and I feel my belly start to contract as heat floods my body. My eyes pop open when Caleb takes one of my tiny pink nipples between his lips, rolling it around inside his mouth, sending me to higher and higher waves of pleasure.

“You are so soft, Ava,” he groans, pumping into me. “Now feel what you do to my cock. You feel that?”

“Unnngh!” I cry out as I cum, his huge muscle pumping his seed into me sending me over the edge, over the top, spilling over like honey. “That feels so...nice...Caleb.”

“You make me feel so good, Ava,” he says, pushing my hair away from my face as his cock twitches inside me. “I love you.”

“Caleb,” I speak up, “I love you too.”