His tall, dark figure stood out to him as she approached him, tugging out her earbuds from her ears once she got close enough. He stood out like a sore thumb; a head taller than everyone else and the darkest hair she had ever seen.
"I didn't think you'd remember to actually turn up today."
"Why's that?" She asked, slipping her hands in the pockets of her jacket due to the light breeze that promise cold, menacing temperatures would soon follow.
Thelonious shrugged and pushed himself up from the wall. "You were pretty hungover." He smirked to her, stopping just in front of her.
Darcy had to angle her head upwards to look at him. It was only when her nose brushed up against hers did she realise just how close he was standing. "I was hungover, not passed out." She defended herself weakly.
"Well, you were technically passed out before you woke up hungover." His minty breath fanned over her face as she spoke. His mere presence was such a distraction that she had to concentrate really hard to pay attention to what he was saying to her.
"I didn't agree to meet with you so you could make fun of me." She rolled her eyes, fighting back the smile that threatened to take over her face. "Have you got my ring?" She asked, subtly moving back a few steps to put a little space between them. It wasn't that she didn't want to be plastered up against him with nothing but a few wisps of air between them, but having this close to her, especially after having spent the entire weekend thinking of him was turning out to be doing a number on her insides.
He seemed thoughtful. "Have you had lunch yet?"
Darcy blinked once in surprise. "Not yet but what does that matter? I'm here for my ring."
A slow, small smile crept onto his face. "Have lunch with me."
"I can't." She shook her head. She didn't trust herself to be alone with him, especially not after she had basically molested him. The fact that he didn't mind in the least didn't matter. "I have a lecture."
"When's your lecture?" He persisted.
"In an hour."
"I'll have you back in less than that." He promised.
She pursed her lips, not enjoying the way he was manhandling her with his words. "Who says I'll have lunch with you when you won't even return me my ring?" The words rolled off her tongue sharper than she had anticipated.
"I'll give it back after lunch." He emphasised on the after, grinning as he already knew that he had her right where he wanted her.
Darcy hesitated, unsure. She had planned on retrieving her ring and perhaps even flirting a little in the few minutes that she would spend with him. Having lunch with him; being alone together for a whole hour hadn't been part of the plan. But she would be lying if she said she was completely opposed to the idea.
"I'll even escort you back here," he gestured towards the university building behind them.
Darcy snorted before securing the strap of her satchel higher up on her shoulder. Turning on her shoulder, she began walking in the direction of a local casual restaurant that a lot of university students often ate lunch. As much as she secretly enjoyed his dominating demeanour and demanding behaviour, a part of her was irked with being told what to do.
There were too many conflicting emotions for a Monday morning.
A few seconds passed before they were walking side by side; Darcy leading the way and Thelonious following obediently without so much as asking where she was taking him.
When she spared a glance at him from the corner of her eyes, he was paying more attention to her than the pavement in front of him. "I don't need you to escort me back."
"I know you don't," he agreed with a small smile, turning his head to face ahead. "But I want to."
In under ten minutes, Darcy and Thelonious had made it to the restaurant, ironically named Darcy's Diner, and had both ordered their meals. While he had gone for a double cheese burger with a side of chips and onion rings, Darcy opted for the chicken burger and potato wedges. If she overindulged during lunch then she would surely fall asleep during her evening lecture. Water was their drinks of choice.
Thelonious didn't drink much apart from a few occasional beers with the guys on a weekend and Darcy didn't trust herself with day drinking. Her alcohol tolerance wasn't the greatest.
Darcy hadn't realised she was absolutely famished until her food arrived. It also didn't help that she had skipped breakfast after having slept through three of her alarms earlier that morning. Not bothering to wait for him, she dug into her food. It was only when her mouth was full with a handful of potato wedges did she remember she had company.
Very fine, very scrumptious company.
Her eyes trailed up only to meet a pair of sparkly blue staring back at her. His eyes were so filled with depth she wondered if she was staring into the ocean. Blinking once, she allowed herself some time to swallow the morsel of food in her mouth before addressing him and his oh-so obvious staring. "Have I got something on my face?" She asked, now conscious. She didn't wait for his answer before she grabbed a napkin and dabbed at her mouth. Her cheeks heated slightly in embarrassment and she thanked herself for having applied a light layer of foundation and concealer that morning. And yes, she didn't have time to eat breakfast at home but she did have time to apply a light layer of makeup.
In her defence, she usually grabbed breakfast from home but the thought had completely slipped her mind that morning. She was nearly certain it had nothing to do with the brooding hunk sat across from her, currently staring at her as if she was his meal and not the burger that remained untouched in front of him.
A low chuckled escaped him before he reached out for his burger. "No," he shook his head, making no move to offer any explanation.
Darcy pursed her lips but didn't say anything further on the matter.
Once their plates were cleared and their bellies full, Darcy leaned back in her chair and sipped at her water, her eyes staring at him from over the rim of the glass. She was thankful he was distracted with the last mouthful of his burger because it gave her time to look at him. To really look at him.
Thelonious Knight was a sight for sore eyes. With dark as night hair that curled over his eyes and icy blue eyes that seemed to look directly into her soul whenever she looked within them, he was the most handsome man she had ever seen; most handsome person she had ever seen. The icing on the cake was that his personality was even more attractive.
Sure, he was quiet and reserved around most people, but he seemed to open up when he felt comfortable. Though she had noticed that he preferred silence over conversation. That didn't bother her much because when she was with him, she didn't feel the need to fill the silence with meaningless conversation. Just sitting across from him now as they both ate was enough.
It was weird but comfortable.
Dressed in black slacks, smart shoes and a navy jumper that contrasted with his eyes; he looked even more dashing than she remembered. She was sure that he didn't have to try to get a girl's attention. Hell, he could probably get with anyone he wanted with his looks so why he was having lunch with on a Monday morning, was a mystery. Sure, he had used the excuse of returning her ring to her, but she could have very easily picked it up. It would have taken less than a minute and he wouldn't have had to waste time making polite conversation with her.
He wasn't fooling her, no matter how smooth he thought he was.
Her lips curled up further. "Lunch is over."
He nodded. "It sure is. How observative of you."
She reached out and laid her hand in the middle of the table, palm up, expectation written across her face.
Darcy expected a number of things, the obvious being that he reached into his pocket to pull out her ring and hand it to her. If he was feeling funny then he could have swatted at it or even placed something else in it, but what she didn't expect and most definitely wasn't prepared for him to reach out and place his own hand in hers.
Her eyebrows knitted together at the gesture and her mouth opened before it closed, no words passing her lips. Speechless.
As if on instinct, as if this was the most natural thing, to be holding hands with him, her fingers curled around his and she squeezed his hand. Her heart fluttered as he squeezed back; his firmer and lasting longer than hers.
Darcy wasn't sure how much time passed as they sat holding hands in the middle of the quaint diner, not that she cared all that much. It was only when the waitress came by to collect their empty plated did she break out of the daze and retrieve her hand, placing it back at her side.
Few words passed between them as he paid for their meal â despite her numerous attempts to pay for herself â and before she knew it, he was walking back to university for her last lecture of the day.
Just as he had promised.
Once the old building came into sight, she stopped abruptly.
Having noticed that she was no longer walking by his side, he turned back and sent her a questioning look.
"I had lunch with you."
He nodded cautiously, not sure exactly the direction she was headed in.
"You said you would give me my ring back if I had lunch with you."
A chuckle escaped him as he rubbed the back of his neck; a nervous habit. His lips pulled up into an almost smile as he sent her a faux apologetic smile. "About that," his voice trailed off. "I don't have it with me."
Her lips pulled down into a frown. He wanted to reach out and press his hand at the corners of her mouth, to raise it up into a smile again. He had to fist his hand to control the urge.
"What do you mean?" She asked cautiously, not fully comprehending what he had meant.
"I mean that I left it in my room." His words were slow and deliberate; wary. He had just lied to her this whole time.
"You could have just told me earlier." She pursed her lips but didn't say anything else on the matter.
Thelonious Knight wasn't fooling anyone. It was far too convenient that he had forgotten the sole purpose of them meeting each other. The fact that lunch was his idea just cemented the idea.
"I know," he shrugged nonchalantly. "But I wanted to spend time with you."
Her heart fluttered and her stomach did somersaults, a lethal combination. His confession was not something she had expected.
Her words escaped her again. "I guess I'll just have to come by later today to pick it up."
"I guess you will."
With a smile and a few polite words of good bye, she walked towards the building where her next lecture would take place. Thelonious stood in the middle of the pavement, his eyes following her until she disappeared from his sight.
He was already counting down the minutes until he would see her again.
-
NOTE - not edited
The next chapter will be uploaded on 11/01/2020! Happy New Years!
All my stories can be found on Inkitt for FREE: https://inkitt.app.link/RA__illuminating_
Chapters of Beating Hearts [Knight's Rest #1] will be uploaded on Inkitt a week earlier than on Wattpad as well as exclusive bonus chapters at the end of the story. So, be sure to check out Beating Hearts on Inkitt here: https://inkitt.app.link/RA__illuminating_
Chapter 12 is available on Inkitt NOW!
Layla Knight
07.07.19