Wanting You Page 2

  Tuesday after my classes were over, I decided to go to the library and work on my paper that was due before the Thanksgiving break, and it was going to count half my grade. I walk into the library and see it's packed. I look around trying to find an empty table, and that's when I spot Kellen sitting in the corner. I walk in his direction and find him deep in thought and typing away on his laptop.

  “Hey.” I say in a low voice. “You mind if I join you?”

  He looks up, and when he sees it's me, he smiles.

  “Hey Tamia.” He responds looking me over.

  “Sorry to bother you, but can I sit with you? I didn't realize it would be so packed in here today.”

  “Yeah.” He says clearing a spot off next to him.

  I take a seat beside him and start to take out my books and laptop from my bag. I remove my hoodie, and power up my laptop. While I'm waiting for it to come on, I grab a hair tie out my bag and decide to pull my curly hair away from my face and up into a messy bun on the top of my head. I turn my attention to Kellen and catch him staring at me.

  “What? Am I making too much noise? I'm sorry I can move.”

  “No Tamia.” He laughs. “You're fine. I didn't mean to stare.” He says looking at my lips.

  I clear my throat and his blue eyes focus on my brown ones. “So what are you working on?”

  “Um. A presentation for one of my Accounting classes.” He says staring at his laptop again. “You?”

  “History paper.”

  “Sounds like fun.” He laughs.

  “I know right!” I say sarcastically.

  I grab my cellphone out my bag, and I pull up my email from my professor, showing a list of books that would help me with my paper. “I'll be right back.” I say standing, and walking in the direction of where I would find my book.

  I'm browsing the shelves and find my book, but it's too high for me to reach. I look around for a stool and there's not one in sight.

  “Shit.” I mumble to myself.

  I pull out my phone and decide to send a text to Kellen:

  Tamia: Help please!! I'm standing by the shelves under the green banner.

  Then I press send.

  A minute later, Kellen finds me.

  “Sorry to bother you, but I can't find a stool. Can you hand me that book?” I say standing on my tip toes and pointing to the book I needed.

  “Sure.” Kellen walks closer and stands behind me and reaches up to get my book, and I can feel his body pressing against mine.

  “Here.” He whispers in my ear.

  “Thank you.” I respond with my back to him.

  “Any time Tamia.” He steps away and makes his way back to our table.

  I stay behind to calm my racing heart. I wait awhile more, then I head back to the table. When I get there, I take my seat without looking at Kellen and I start on my paper.

  A few hours later the library announces that they would be closing in fifteen minutes. I save all my work on my flash drive, and start packing my bag.

  “Do you need me to take you home? It's kind of late.” Kellen asks.

  “Yes if you don’t mind. I didn't know it was so late, but I'm glad I got a lot done.”

  “Me too.” He responds putting all his things away. “Are you hungry? We can grab a bite to eat, before I take you home.”

  “Yeah, I'm starving. Can we go to that place you took me to a week ago that had the best burgers?”

  “Sam's?”

  “Yes! The food there is amazing!”

  “Okay.” He laughs. “Let me get that for you.” He says taking my bag from me.

  “Thank you.” I respond.

  We walk out the library and head to Kellen's Jeep. He puts our bags in the backseat, then opens the passenger side door for me. I climb in, he closes my door, and then I watch him walk around to his side.

  When we make it to Sam's, we decide to get our food to go and head back to my apartment. When we walk in, it's completely dark.

  “I guess my sister hasn't made it home yet.” Kellen says from behind me.

  “Guess not.” I say cutting on a lamp in the living room. “We can eat in here. Can I get you something to drink?”

  “Water please.”

  I walk to the kitchen and grab two bottles of water, then walk back into the living room and find Kellen sitting on the floor, and our food is laid out on the coffee table.

  “Here you go.” I say taking a seat beside him.

  “Thanks Tamia.”

  “Do you want to watch some TV? I have that zombie series on DVD. We can watch that.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” he responds.

  We eat and watch about three episodes.

  “It's getting late. I'm going to head home.” Kellen says standing up.

  “Okay. Thanks for dinner and bringing me home.”

  “You're welcome Tamia. Mind walking me out?”

  “Sure.”

  I walk Kellen to the door, and when I open it, Katie is standing on the other side getting ready to use her key.

  “Oh hey Tamia! Kellen what are you doing here?” Katie asks with a puzzled look on her face.

  “I brought Tamia home from the library. We decided to grab some food and watch TV.”

  “Okay, that’s nice.” She says looking between us. “Well good night you two.” She says walking in, heading straight to her room.

  “She's in a hurry.” I say shrugging my shoulders. “Well good night and drive home safe.”

  “I will.” He responds then pulls me into a hug.

  Shocked, I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him back. He slowly pulls away and looks down at me. His eyes are on my lips, like he wanted to kiss me, but instead his forehead touches mine.

  “Good night.” He whispers. He releases me and walks out the door. I close the door behind me, lock it, and lean against it. What was that about?

  ~ ~ ~

  It's Thursday Night and Tasha, Katie and I are headed to Sandstone Beach for a beach barbecue, put together by one of Jay's friends. We're all laughing and talking about a guy Tasha was currently seeing when I feel my phone vibrate in my lap. I look down and see it's a text message from Kellen.

  Kellen: Are you guys still coming?

  I type my response.

  Tamia: Yes we're on our way.

  A second later I get a response back.

  Kellen: Okay. Jay and I are under the second pavilion on the beach near the barbecue grills. See you soon.

  I lay my phone back on my lap and resume my conversation with Katie and Tasha.

  Ten minutes later, we make it to Sandstone Beach. It's so packed that I'm surprised Katie was able to find a parking spot. We all get out of Katie's Audi, and make our way to the barbecue.

  When we make it to the pavilion, music is playing and the first person I see is Jay dancing and grinding against some girl. When he sees us, he stops dancing and heads in our direction.

  “It's about time you guys got here. What took you so long?”

  “That's not important right now big bro. Where's the food and alcohol?” Tasha asks.

  “It's over there. Help yourself.” He says pointing to a table.

  “Can I get you guys anything?” Tasha asks.

  “I'll get something later.” I respond.

  “No thanks.” Katie responds.

  “Okay, I'll be back.” Tasha says walking away.

  “Where's Kellen?” Katie asks.

  Last time I saw him, he was talking to Chelsea.”

  “Who's Chelsea?” I ask.

  “One of the school’s biggest sluts. She's been trying to get with Kellen since his freshman year, but he won't give her the time of day.” Katie responds looking around. “There he is.”

  I look in the direction that she's staring and I see Kellen talking to a blonde. She was wearing a short skirt and a spaghetti strap tank that barely covered her breasts, and she’s standing close to Kellen whispering something in his ear.

  “Stank.” I hear Kat
ie say beside me. “Come on Tamia.” Then she starts walking in Kellen and Chelsea's direction. I'm right behind her, but I'm stopped when someone blocks my path.

  “Excuse me.” I say trying to go around, but I'm stopped again when I feel someone touch my arm.

  “Tamia.”

  I look up and see the familiar face.

  “Hey Tyson.”

  “Hey.” He responds giving me a smile. “Are you here with anyone?”

  “Just some friends. You?”

  “Naw, here by myself.” He responds, staring me down, and giving me a chance to check him out also.

  He's wearing a pair of basketball shorts with a cut off sleeve East Florida shirt, showing off his dark brown muscled arms.

  “So Tamia, can I get you something to drink?” He asks.

  “Sure, I'll take a...”

  “Hey Tamia, I've been looking for you.”

  I turn around and see Kellen.

  “Tyson.” He says through clenched teeth.

  “Kellen.” Tyson responds with a smirk on his face. “What's up man?”

  Kellen doesn’t respond, but just stands there glaring at Tyson.

  “Um, Tyson. I'm going to have to take a rain check on that drink.” I say forcing a smile. “See you in History class?”

  “Of course.” He says staring at Kellen. “Take care Tamia.” He responds, then he turns and walks away.

  I turn around facing Kellen.

  “What the fuck was that about Kellen?”

  “Stay away from him.” He responds.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me.” He says staring down at me.

  “Whatever.” I say turning around looking for someplace else to go. I start to walk away, but Kellen grabs my arm and turns me around, picks me up and throws me over his shoulder.

  “Put me down Kellen.” I say trying to wiggle off his shoulder.

  He ignores my request and starts walking.

  “Kellen, where are you taking me?”

  No response.

  After several moments, he comes to a stop and puts me down.

  I push my curls out my face and I glare at Kellen with my arms folded across my chest.

  “Did you know that you look cute when you get mad?” He asks with a smile.

  I roll my eyes. “Go to hell!” I say turning around to walk back to the barbecue.

  “Tamia.” He says reaching out and grabs my hand, stopping me in my tracks “Stay, I just want to talk.”

  I turn around and look at Kellen, and he has a sincere look on his face. He tugs on my hand and interlocks our fingers then sits down in the sand, and I sit beside him. We stare at the ocean sitting in front of us in complete silence.

  “So are you going to explain why you acted like that back there?” I say breaking our silence.

  “Nope. Just stay away from him.” He responds.

  “Yes sir.” I say saluting.

  “I'm serious Tamia. Just be careful around him.”

  “Okay!” I say holding my hands up surrendering.

  Again there's silence between us. The only noise around us is the sound of the waves.

  “So who is this Chelsea chic?” I ask.

  “No one. Just some girl who wants to suck my…”

  “Never mind! I think I’ve heard enough!”

  “Okay fine, I’ll change the subject then. So why don't you have a boyfriend Tamia?”

  I turn and look at Kellen, who is looking back at me.

  “Why?” I ask.

  “Just curious.” He responds.

  “Well, my senior year I was in a relationship that lasted a year. I stopped getting serious about school, and that caused my grades to slip. To this day, I wonder how I even graduated from high school, but I did. That summer after graduation, I caught my boyfriend cheating on me with some girl I didn't even know. Of course I was heartbroken, so I decided not to start school that fall. I ended up getting a part time job at a local bookstore, worked there until I decided to attend a community college the following year, and now here I am. So I guess you could say that I don't have a boyfriend because I'm trying to concentrate on my studies. Does that answer your question?”

  He nods his head yes. “Then why East Florida University?”

  “I needed a change of scenery. I've lived in Georgia my whole life, and I wanted a new start.”

  “I can understand that.” He responds, then reaches out and slips a strand of my curly hair behind my ear. “Tamia, do you know how beautiful you are?”

  Before I can respond I hear a cellphone ringing. Kellen reaches in his back pocket and pulls out his phone.

  “I have to take this, it's Ashley.”

  “Okay.” I say while watching him stand.

  “Hey babe.” I hear him say as he starts walking in the direction of the barbecue, leaving me sitting there in the sand.

  ~ ~ ~

  Friday night eventually rolled around and we were all ready to relax and unwind. Tasha, Katie and I were all in my room getting ready to attend a party at one of the popular Frat Houses on campus; while the guys waited on us in the living room.

  “Ladies would you please hurry up!” Kellen yelled from the living room.

  “Katie get your brother before I go in there and kick his ass!” Tasha sneered.

  “Tasha forgive my brother he just needs to get laid. Ever since Ashley left town he's been a little grumpy.” Katie says over her shoulder while curling her blonde hair.

  “Well she needs to hurry up and bring her behind back, because he is about to get jumped by three fine ass women!” Tasha says excitedly.

  “Amen!” Katie shouts.

  “Well ladies I'm done. How do I look?” I say turning around in a circle showing off my very short, and tight black dress that I matched with a pair of black pumps Tasha let me borrow.

  “Girl where did that figure come from?” Tasha asked speechless. “Every time I see you, you're in a pair of sweats covering all that up!”

  “I agree with Tasha. Tamia you look fucktabulous!” Katie says.

  We all laugh.

  “So you don't think this dress is too much?”

  “Tamia, if you got it, show it off girl. You look great. I'm sure Jay will have something to say.” Tasha says with a wink.

  “Anyways, don't go there Tasha. Your brother and I are just friends. Don't get me wrong, your brother is great but he's become a brother I never had.”

  “Girl please.” Tasha snickers. “Okay I'm ready.” Tasha says looking at herself in the mirror. “Katie are you ready yet?”

  “Yup. Let's go.” Katie turns around and walks to the door. “Come on ladies, the men are waiting!”

  We walk into the living room and find the guys talking, but they stop mid-sentence once we enter and stare.

  “Tamia where the hell do you think you're going in that dress!” Jay says. “Where did these curves come from girl? Kellen do you see this? I have a feeling I might get in a fight over your behind tonight!”

  “Boy leave her alone. Tamia looks great, now let’s go!” Tasha sings while dancing towards the door.

  “Yeah Tamia, don't listen to him. He use to do Tasha and me the same way.” Katie says reassuringly.

  “Thanks I think?” I say to Katie. I grab my clutch off the table and turn around and see Kellen staring at me, causing my heart to beat hard in my chest. The way he was looking me up and down with pure lust in his eyes, caught me off guard. I clear my throat and his eyes shoot to mine. “Are you ready? Everyone has headed out except for us?”

  Eventually he nods his head yes but doesn't say a word. He stands and heads to the door allowing me to pass him and go out first.

  “You look beautiful by the way,” he finally speaks while closing the door behind us.

  I turn around, and he walks up to me and puts his hands on my hips and pulls me towards him and leans his head down until I can feel his lips graze my ear, causing me to shiver, and he whispers. “You could say thank you by the way.�
� He releases my hips and stares at me, then winks. Then he turns around and heads towards the parking lot.