32 Chapter 32

I sighed contently as Vic snaked his arm around my shoulders, allowing me to snuggle closer to him. I closed my eyes and smiled as he placed a soft kiss against my forehead. It wasn't until this moment, basking in the afterglow of sex, that I realized how much I had missed being with him in that way.

"This is perfect," he said, after a while, vocalizing my exact thoughts. His lips brushed against my forehead again.

"What is?" I asked, in a sleepy voice, just wondering exactly what he was thinking about. I knew how I felt of course. I wanted to make sure he felt just as good. I felt so comfortable, like I could just lie there with him forever. I probably would, too.

"This, just . . . Being with you. Being with someone who loves me as much as you do," he said, quietly. I smiled and squeezed him lightly before nuzzling against him. My arms were around his waist, sticking against his skin. He smelled like sweat and sex- we both did, and I loved it. So much for that shower. "You're so patient and so strong . . . I'm so proud of you."

"Well, I've got you for inspiration," I whispered, against his collarbone. Vic just smiled and wrapped his other arm around me. There was something even more intimate about post-sex cuddling. It was like his body was warmer, more comfortable. We fit together so perfectly. Everything just seemed so heightened and perfect. It didn't even feel weird or awkward that we were still naked. I was convinced at this point that nothing would ever feel weird or awkward with him, honestly.

"Are you hungry?" Vic asked me after a while, his fingers wandering aimlessly across my shoulders. "Yeah, I guess," I shrugged.

"What do you want?"

"I don't know, what do you want?" I asked, spinning it back to him.

"I always pick the food, I feel like I never let you," he laughed, rolling onto his back again, but still keeping his arm on me. "I don't want you to think I'm trying to limit you."

"You're not!" I insisted, kissing his cheek. I kissed the other one, too, just for good measure. I held myself up a little. "In fact, you do the opposite, and you get so excited about the food and everything . . . I like it when you pick. You like picking what we eat, and I like letting you."

"If you're sure," He sighed. I nodded against him. "Kells?" Oops.

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm sure," I said, quickly, catching the mistake. What a silly thing to do. You'd think by this point I'd be used to adjusting like that. But I guess I wasn't perfect. "Sorry."

"It's okay," he smiled, tickling me so that I'd jump and sit up. I let out an embarrassingly high-pitched yelp, making him laugh. He sat up, too, and I reached over to smooth out his hair for him.

"You've got sex hair!" I teased, being a little more enthusiastic about smoothing it out. He laughed before reaching over and running his hands through my hair, too. Except he was purposely messing it up.

"So do you! Here, let me help," he joked. I laughed and pushed him away.

After messing around just a little bit more, we finally got up and got dressed before going into the main room to talk about what we wanted to eat. He told me about a sushi place that he hadn't tried yet that Mike told him about, and I agreed that that sounded like a good idea. The only thing more exciting than trying a place Vic loved was trying a place Vic had never tried before.

Right before we were ready to go, the front door opened and one of Vic's roommates came through the door.

"Jamie!" Vic exclaimed, making him jump. He had yet to even round the corner into the kitchen and Vic already knew who he was. He was so cool. After a moment Jamie just looked at both of us and laughed, entering the apartment the rest of the way.

"Dude, that still freaks me out," he reminded him.

"Why? It'd be harder to tell if you didn't slam the key in so hard," Vic teased. I was pretty sure I would always be amazed by how well Vic could function without his eyesight, and how cool it was that he could memorize something as discrete as the way people opened doors.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," He laughed, setting his keys down on the counter, along with a small pile of mail. "What are you guys up to?"

"We're going to get sushi," I said, trying my best to be a part of the conversation. I flashed Jamie a friendly smile and he seemed to return it. It made me feel good to think that I was getting along with Vic's friends. I had met Jamie once before, but never really talked to him.

"Oh, nice," he nodded. "Date night?"

"Something like that," Vic shrugged, walking over to me and wrapping his arms around my waist from behind. I bit my lip bashfully as I relaxed against his touch. So natural. "Every night is date night with Kellin."

"Oh yeah, I bet," Jamie laughed. "Well, you guys have fun."

"Thanks . . . alright, Kells, lead me to food!" Vic joked, pushing me forward while his arms were still around me. I stumbled a little but luckily kept my footing.

"Vic!" I shouted, playfully. He continued to move me, laughing as he pushed me into the side of the couch. I reached out and braced myself against the piece of furniture. "You better watch it, one day I'll lead you into a wall or something."

"Watch it? Really?" he smirked, getting off of me. I frowned, disappointed that my attempt at a joke ended up getting flipped back on me. Yikes.

"You know what I mean," I groaned, finally just opening the door. He grinned and grabbed the walking stick he had resting in the front hallway.

---

"Okay, I'm sorry, this place sucks," Vic said, grimacing as he finished swallowing one of his pieces. I looked across to him, then back to the food on my plate. I didn't think there was anything wrong with it. "I've gotta tell Mike he's a liar ."

"It's not bad," I shrugged. I picked up another piece of the roll I ordered and I still didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

"Oh, it's not good though," he clarified, picking up his cup so he could drink from it. "It's not that fresh. Good sushi has got to be like, super fresh. I don't know, maybe that's just me being picky."

"How can you tell?" I asked. I really didn't know the difference between good sushi and bad sushi, it all pretty much tasted the same to me. Then again, I didn't really eat sushi very often.

"It's very . . . fishy," he said, trying to find the best way to describe it. I smiled. A bit of a laugh escaped my lips, and he caught on of course. "No, I know it sounds weird, but when it's fresh, it shouldn't have that like, distinctly fishy- I don't know, Kells."

"Are you still going to eat it? I'm sorry you don't like it," I said, apologetically. He just sighed.

"Yeah, yeah, of course. Not every place is perfect," he chuckled, picking up another piece with his chopsticks. I thought it was cool that he could use them so well, but I also noticed that he would kind of have to use the sticks to feel for where the food was first. I watched him run the wooden utensils against the plate until they hit a piece of sushi, then he'd pick it up and eat it. Interesting.

I was about to change the subject when I happened to look up and see Alex and Gabe walking into the restaurant. What a coincidence! I sat up straight and waved to them excitedly.

"What?" Vic asked, noticing my movement. He sat up a little straighter, like he was more alert about his surroundings.

"Hey, Kellin, what's up?" Alex said, once he and Gabe made it to the table. He looked just as pleasantly surprised to see me as I was to see him. Gabe gave me a short wave as well.

"Hi! This is Vic," I said, excited to finally introduce them. I'd been gushing to Alex about Vic for so long, and now I could finally introduce them. "Vic, this is Alex, my TA for art, and his boyfriend named Gabe."

"Oh, nice to meet you," he said, purposely turning in the complete opposite direction. What a riot he was! I just laughed before I noticed Alex looked a little uncomfortable. Right.

"He's just joking, he's really funny," I said, still smiling, though I nudged Vic under the table to urge him to give Alex a proper greeting. Maybe it was a little awkward because he knew it was the same Alex he'd accused me of cheating on him with, but still. Alex was a friend and I wanted him and Vic to get along.

"I'm sorry, It's nice to finally meet you," Vic said, getting the message and actually holding his hand out to Alex to shake. I smiled at his charming introduction, because it reminded when we first met and I was just so overtaken by him. "You two should sit with us, we'll make this a double date."

Alex and Gabe exchanged glances before shrugging and deciding it would be a good idea. I grinned and scooted over slightly in the booth so that Alex could sit down, as Gabe took a seat next to Vic.

"So Vic, you're in school, too, right?" Alex asked, trying to start a friendly conversation. Vic grinned in his general direction.

"Yep."

"What are you studying?" he wanted to know. Really, it was a pretty standard question when talking to someone in school. I noticed the corners of Vic's mouth twitch as he tried to hide a smirk, and I knew what he was going to say before he even said it.

"American Sign Language," he said. While I wanted him to be serious, but I knew this was his favorite joke to pull, so I let it slide. I bit my lip and looked to Alex to see how he reacted. Just as I had when Vic pulled that one on me, he looked very uncomfortable.

"Now, just out of curiosity . . . isn't that a little, um, difficult for you?" Gabe asked, struggling to find the appropriate way to ask the question. He looked over at Alex who seemed just as confused.

" Vic !" I laughed, shaking my head. I nudged him under the table again. "He's just kidding, he likes to make jokes, if you can't . . . If you-"

My attention faltered as I caught wind of something playing on one of the TV's a little bit away from the booth.

I didn't even notice the television at first, but now it was like it was the only thing in the room. The station was set to a news channel, which had started flashing the headline:

"Alleged rapist in ongoing Alpha Sigma Sigma investigation now in custody"