Page 38 of Anchored To You

"He's right," Niko says quietly. "Take the chance, Beck. You won't regret it if you do, but I can guarantee you will regret it if you don't take the leap."

"Okay, okay," I say, standing up, gaining my courage. I bounce in place, stretching my neck, trying to hype myself up. "Alright, I'll either see you in about fifteen minutes with my heart in my hands, or you won't hear from me until tomorrow. And if that's the case, don't come bothering us."

There are whoops and cheers from everyone as I turn around and walk away. The rest of the sounds in the hall fade out as I focus on making my way to Talon. I know he's still in our room, so I walk as fast as I can, diving around groups of people and monsters. Once I'm outside the hall, the moonlight shines brightly across the campus, lighting my path to Talon. The nerves dissipate the closer I get to him, excitement bubbling throughout my body. Knowing that he told Hannah he has feelings for me has me on cloud nine. All I want to do is slam open our dorm door, pull Talon into my arms and kiss him wildly. Then, once I have my hands on him, I'm going to ask him out on a date. And hopefully, after a date, he'll be my boyfriend.

Shit, a boyfriend.

Something I told myself I absolutely didn't want to have this year, but after getting to know Talon, I want all of him. There's two vampires hanging out by the front door to the dorms, and I have to sidestep a few times before they realize I'm trying to get inside the building. After offering a quick apology, I rush to the other end of the facility to take the stairs to our floor. I'm too damn impatient to wait for the elevator to come down.

Swinging open the door to our floor, I run down the hallway, sliding to a stop outside our door. My heart drops to the floor when I notice the sock hanging on the doorknob. A sock that I haven't seen since Talon and I started hooking up. Which means that Talon has someone else in the room. Someone who isn't me.

"Fuck," I whisper, grabbing my chest as I stumble back against the wall. I take a deep breath, my gaze stuck on the sock that's taunting me.

I knew better. I fucking knew better than to get my hopes up. But having all the guys and Hannah telling me that Talon felt the same way as me had me thinking of how things could be different. I should have just kept with being with no guys at all. Allowing Talon in was a mistake I should never have made. I need to go back to what I told myself at the beginning of the year. School, baseball, and work. That's it.

No more Talon.

My heart hurts, the pain radiating throughout my body as I stumble away from the room and to the elevator. I need some time to myself. My mind is reeling and I need to be alone. Knowing the perfect place, I walk out of the dorm heading toward the forest. I just need ‌quiet right now.

Chapter

Nineteen

TALON

Slamming my textbook shut, I sink into the bed, breathing a sigh of frustration. Fuck, what am I doing? I'm literally hiding out in my room, trying to avoid Beck. I know he's at the Halloween Ball right now, and I'm craving to go there and be with him. After talking to Hannah and Wyatt, there's this little seed of hope that's bloomed in my stomach, telling me I should tell him how I feel.

Which is why I've locked myself in my bedroom, attempting to focus on studying for an upcoming test, instead of getting dressed and heading out. But it hasn't been working. If I'm lucky, I'll go five minutes where I can concentrate on what I'm reading, but then my mind will think of Beck and I'll lose track of what I was doing.

Swinging my legs off the side of the bed, I let my toes touch the carpet, debating what I should do. If I don't say anything to him, then I won't have to be rejected. But what if he doesn't reject me? Ugh. But this is the same man who ghosted me last year. And I mean, he had a pretty good excuse why he didn't reach out. And after getting to know him over the past few weeks, I've grown to realize there is so much more to Beck than I originally thought. He's such a caring, sweet, thoughtful man who is always thinking of me and doing whatever he can to make my life easier.

Fuck, what is wrong with me?

Why am I not at that damn dance telling him how I feel? I should be spinning around the dance floor, tangled up in his arms. Fuck, I'm an idiot. I jump up from the bed, scanning all over the room, trying to find a pair of shorts. I grab a dirty pair, pulling them up my legs, then tossing a shirt over my head. After sliding on my crocs, I rush out of the room, the slamming of the door hitting my ears as I'm already down to the elevator.

The dorm isn't as busy as it was before; more students are out partying or ‌at the dance. Once I reach the outside, I sprint toward the hall, going as fast as I can. My breathing becomes labored as I run hard. Yeah, this is why I'm not in sports. This shit sucks ass. Who the hell does this for fun? After being yelled at by multiple people for almost colliding with them, I finally make it to the quad. I pace around in a circle, trying to find Beck, but I don't see him anywhere. Giving up on finding him outside, I race up the stairs, my thighs on fire when I reach the entrance to the dance hall at long last. I don't even give myself time to look at the decorations. I'm too busy trying to find a gorgeous set of blue eyes in the sea of students dancing nearby.

"What are you doing here?" Hannah asks, walking up to me and squeezing me tightly. "I thought for sure you would have been locked up in your room with your lover boy."

Pulling away, I stare at her, confused. "What are you talking about? Lover boy?"

"Didn't Beck come to find you?" She asks, her eyebrows furrowed. "He left here almost an hour ago, determined to talk to you."

"Talk to me about what?"

Beck never came into the room. Hell, there wasn't even a knock on the door. I could barely concentrate on my textbook, but I know for sure that no one tried to come in. My mind replays the past few hours, trying to remember if maybe Beck came in, but I was unaware. But it's not possible. If he had come into the space, why wouldn't he say anything to me?

"He likes you. Like how you like him. He was on his way to talk to you about making it official. I told you that you should have just told him the truth about your feelings for him."

"Fuck," I whisper, my heart in my throat. He was on his way to tell me he has feelings for me, but never made it? Did he change his mind? Did he chicken out? Shit, I need to find him.

"Do you know where he is?" I ask Wyatt as he walks up and puts his arm around Hannah, pulling her close to him.

"Nah, man. I thought for sure he would have gone straight to you. The man was determined to talk to you. Do you think something is wrong?" Wyatt's face becomes concerned, wondering if something nefarious could have happened to Beck.

"God, I hope not." My mind is reeling, wondering what could have happened to Beck and why he never made it back to the room. "I'm going to ‌check the room again. Call me if he shows up back here."

They all give their agreement to call and I take off out of the hall, back toward our dorm room. Fuck, I can't remember the last time I've run this much. My legs are killing me, and if my body could scream at me, it would be cussing me out right now. Somehow I get to the dorm far quicker than I thought I would, bypassing the elevator to run up the stairs. As I get to the door of our room, the sight stops me cold. Fucking hell. The sock. I forgot I had put the sock on the door when drunk students were knocking and banging on the door every few minutes. I thought if I put the sock on the door, they would think we were busy and leave us alone. But if Beck saw the sock, then he probably thought the wrong thing. Fuck! He probably thinks I had someone else in the room, and that's why he never came in.