I found myself tongue-tied again and realized that I was staring at him and not saying anything when I heard him say my name.
“Skylar?”
I snapped out of it and shook off my embarrassment. “Oh, right, sorry! Um, all my life. We’ve always lived in the city. And you? How long have you lived in New York?”
“Same. All my life.”
“Have you always lived in Manhattan?”
“We have. It’s pretty cool. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.” He paused as his eyes roamed over my hair and settled in my eyes.
I started to feel uncomfortable under his stare so I thought of anything to ask him. “So, what year are you Jonathan? Are you a senior?”
“Yep. About half of the R.A.s are juniors and the other half are seniors. I like it because I get to help the new students get acclimated and I get my own room.” He leaned in close as if he was sharing super secret information and held his finger up to his lips. “Don’t tell anyone, but that is the main reason I took this job.” At first I thought he was serious but then he broke out into a wicked grin.
I playfully swatted him on the arm and smiled. “You’re silly! I believed you there for a second.”
“I had to have a little fun with you. Seriously though, if you have any questions or need anything, my door is always open.”
“Thanks.” He seemed really nice and I just wasn’t expecting that from someone so gorgeous.
My stomach growled and I quickly clasped my hand over it hoping to muffle the sound but not doing a very good job. He raised his eyebrows and a small smile turned up the corner of his mouth.
“Sounds like someone is hungry.”
I could feel my cheeks getting warm and I wished so badly that my body didn’t react that way because it was so hard to hide. Instead of wallowing in my embarrassment I decided to just ignore it and smiled back.
“I am a little bit. I was actually on my way to grab something from the vending machine.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to hold you back from your snack. If I had known that you were so hungry I wouldn’t have stopped you. Let me make it up to you by treating you to anything you want from the vending machine.”
I wanted to pinch myself because this gorgeous guy did not seem to want to leave my side!
We walked down to the vending machine and Jonathan was very sweet and let me pick out anything I wanted. I didn't want to look like a pig so I picked a bag of pretzels and nothing else, but it felt good to have him right next to me and it also felt really natural. I didn't want our time together to end but I still had a little bit of unpacking to do so I told him I was going to go back to my room.
“Do you mind if I walk you to your room?”
Do I mind? You can come in and stay! “Not at all, thanks.”
He walked me to my room and we were standing outside my door chatting about the classes we had that next week when Katie walked up behind him. She mouthed “Oh my god” and I had to stop myself from giggling at her look of amazement.
“Oh, hi guys.” She tried to sound nonchalant but I could hear an edge of excitement in her voice.
I felt of pang of apprehension about Jonathan talking to Katie. She was so pretty and I was sure that my time with him would be over once he looked at her, but he glanced at her and said hi and then turned his full attention back to me. He was barely fazed by her looks which shocked me because Katie was stunning, like super model stunning. She stood there anxiously waiting for me to formally introduce them so I reluctantly did so.
“Jonathan, this is my roommate Katie, Katie, you’ve met our R.A. Jonathan.”
“Yeah, hi.” She looked like a star struck tween and it was so cute and funny.
“Hey, so how are you liking it here so far Katie?”
Katie turned into a giggly tween right in front of my eyes. “Oh I love it! I can’t wait for all the parties!” She looked mortified and she quickly slapped her hand over her mouth as she stared at Jonathan with wide eyes, and then she dropped her hand. “I didn’t mean for that to come out like that. What I meant to say was I’m excited about everything, but I know that studying come first.”
Jonathan let out a soft chuckle. “Don’t worry about it, everyone needs to have fun once in a while. Would you agree Skylar?” I don’t know if he was trying to flirt with me but I felt the whole room disappear as he looked at me, his eyes so focused on me. I couldn’t even get so much as a sound to come out of my mouth. Thank goodness Katie was a chatterbox!
“Hey, your band was amazing last night, we had a really good time.” I was really proud of Katie for restraining herself from jumping on Jonathan because she looked like she wanted to pounce.
“Thanks, I appreciate that. I’m glad you enjoyed the show. I was telling Skylar that we play at a spot in town every other week. You guys should come check out a show.” His gaze slid directly to mine and I could feel butterflies playing in my belly.
I thought Katie was going to burst a vein, she was so excited. She tried her best to act cool but it wasn’t really working.
“Oh definitely, we’ll be there. You guys were so awesome I could listen to you all day every day!”
“Cool.” He seemed totally unfazed by her giddiness.
Katie rambled on. “So Jonathan, where are you from? Oh wait, that’s right! You already told the room that you are from New York City. Silly me!”
I really didn’t think that Katie had this goofy side to her and it was good to see that she wasn’t totally perfect. Katie couldn’t stop grinning at him so to help her save a little face, I told him that I should get to bed. Katie snapped out of her daze and told Jonathan it was nice to meet him and she ducked into our room.
He stood looking at me and his gaze was so intense it felt like his eyes were going to burn a hole right through me.
“It was nice to meet you Skylar Miller, you intrigue me.”
I felt butterflies fluttering in my belly and yet again I was tongue-tied. He had an intensity that was palpable and I was so physically drawn to him that I wanted to feel his lips on mine right then and there. I had to say something because I was standing there like a star struck tween myself, so I gave him my best smile.