Page 71 of Academically Yours

Me: Noelle, seriously. You need to eat. I saw you at the cafeteria today.

Noelle: Stalking me again, huh?

I rolled my eyes as I laughed at my phone; this girl never failed to bring a smile to my face even when she accused me of following her around. It might not have been my intention, but I loved seeing her everywhere anyway.

Me: Where are you? I’ll pick you up, just tell me where to get you.

Noelle: I’m at the dorm. Really, it’s fine, I can just make something.

Me: For some reason, I don’t believe you. I’ll be by in fifteen minutes.

I got in my truck with Snowball in tow, and we both drove to her building. I was determined to distract her from all of the things she was working on and get her fed at the same time. I liked taking care of her. I didn’t care if it fulfilled some primal possessive urge in me to make sure she was fed, cared for, and happy—I just needed it.

And I wanted to share something else from my life with her. I looked over behind my shoulder, at the big white fluffball who sat in my backseat. Had I even told Noelle I had a dog? I shook my head, realizing there were still so many things she didn’t know about me that I wanted to share with her.

And after sleeping together, I figured it wouldn’t hurt if I took her out. Luckily, it was almost March, and it was finally warming up a little bit even though it was still drizzly out.

Promptly fifteen minutes later, I knocked on her door, trying to hold in a smile as she opened it up. And… wow. Even in her tight-fitting teal sweater dress, I couldn’t help but admire how beautiful she was. Or notice the way the sweater dress hugged her curves. She readjusted her hair clip holding back half of her curls, and then her entire body seemed to glow with the way her eyes crinkled, and her lips tilted up at the corners.

“Ready?” I asked her, trying to distract myself from staring at her even more.

“Is my outfit okay? I wasn’t quite sure where we were going, and I didn’t want to be too casual—” She picked up her coat off of the table by the door and held it in her arms.

“You look perfect.” I smiled because I meant it. And I hadn’t planned some crazy dinner date anyway—just a visit to the food carts. I had no doubt Noelle would love it—she loved food.

She glanced down at herself again and then nodded. “Okay.” I held out my hand, grateful for the warmth of hers when she interlaced our fingers, and we walked towards the parking lot.

“Come on,” I said, urging her towards the truck. “I have someone I want you to meet.”

She raised an eyebrow at me but didn’t ask any other questions. As soon as we got to my truck and Snowball’s fluffy white head popped up in the window, though, Noelle gasped in surprise.

“Oh my gosh,” she cooed at my dog, “She’s so beautiful—she is a girl, right?” I nodded, trying to hide the corners of my mouth tipping up—a smile, just from how amused I was by her presence. “What kind of dog is she?” Noelle opened the door to the backseat where Snowball was sitting and petted her on the head.

“This is Snowball. She’s Samoyed.” My dog was wagging her tail like crazy, obviously pleased to have attention from another human besides me. I couldn’t stop the smile on my face as Noelle pet her.

“Snowball!” she exclaimed, letting off a beautiful, pure laugh that I loved. “That’s such a fitting name for you, huh girl? A big white ball of fluff.” Noelle scratched between Snowball’s ears one more time and then looked up at me. “I should have guessed.”

“What?” I asked, scratching the hair behind my ears.

“That you’d have a big wolf-like dog.” Noelle’s face split into a grin. “You’re so very predictable, prof.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know she was a gift.”

Noelle snorted. “Whoever got her for you must have known you really well.”

“Yeah,” I nodded, thinking fondly of Tess. “She does.”

Noelle’s mouth formed into a line, but she just kept loving on my dog. I realized she might have taken that the wrong way, thinking an ex got her for me or something, and I quickly fixed the misunderstanding. “Tessa,” I choked out. “She was a Christmas present from my little sister.”

“Where are we going to eat so that we can take a dog with us?” Noelle changed the subject on me, but I could see the little bits of pink on her cheek.

“You’ll see,” I smiled.

“Oh yeah?” she snorted “It’s always gotta be a mystery with you, doesn’t it?

“Maybe.” I held open the door for her, locking eyes as I ushered her inside the truck and let her buckle herself in before I closed the door and walked around to the other side. “Maybe I just like surprising you,” I mumbled to myself as I hopped onto the drivers seat.

I didn’t think she heard me, but she must have been thinking the same thing that I was, because the next words out of her mouth were, “You know, you’re like the only person who can get away with surprising me. I hate it coming from everyone else.”