Free Falling for Autumn by Heather Topham Wood

yelled, “Hey, can I crash in someone’s room? It’s Blake Preston, you may have heard of me.”
    The deserted hallway amplified his voice and I fought the desire to throttle him. A minute later, Casey stuck her head outside of her door down the hall. She was dressed in a long T-shirt and cute high-cut shorts that accentuated her toned legs. “You can come in my room.” She fluttered her eyelashes and grinned at Blake.
    “See, I told you.” Blake smiled back in Casey’s direction.
    I rolled my eyes while grabbing him by the arms. As I pulled him inside, I ground out, “You’re going to get me in trouble with the RA.” I closed the door behind him and whirled around. “How did you get in the dorm anyway? You need a key card after two because the outside doors lock.”
    He waved me off. “You underestimate me. I have a face people love to trust. It wasn’t hard to convince someone to let me inside.”
    I crossed my arms over my chest. “Why are you breaking into my dorm? And how did you get on campus? Please tell me you didn’t drive drunk.”
    “Are you always so negative? I thought after Saturday, we bonded and you’d be happy to see me.”
    “Not at three in the morning when I’m trying to sleep.”
    He walked further into the room and scanned it with a shrewd expression. His eyes rested on my bed for long enough I assumed he’d guessed my side of the room. He spared a glance at Lexi’s bed. “Where’s your roommate?”
    “She stays with her boyfriend sometimes.” Before walking over to him, I turned the overhead light on. The quiet dim of my desk lamp made the room feel too intimate. Blake had become a friend, but I wasn’t comfortable with him in my space. “You didn’t answer my question, did you drive here?”
    “No, I caught a ride back to campus with a friend. And before you ask, no, he wasn’t drinking. Is this your bed?” After I nodded, he sank into the mattress with his feet planted on the floor in front of him. “It’s pretty grim on your side of the room, Autumn. Where are all of your pictures? Compared to your roommate’s side, I feel like I’m in a prison cell.”
    I smacked his shoulder. “I didn’t know you were into interior decorating. Maybe I should pay you by the hour to spruce up my dorm room.”
    “You’re on. I’ll hang up pictures of me and draw hearts around my face,” he teased.
    “Maybe put your pictures on a dartboard instead,” I retorted. “Blake, seriously, what are you doing here?”
    “I don’t know, honestly. I was hoping you’d come out and when you weren’t there, I figured I’d stop by here and see what you were up to. I had fun the other night.”
    He fell back onto my bed and I watched the mattress bounce with his weight. The sight of Blake in my bed was almost comical. He was huge and his limbs hung awkwardly over the side. Instead of feeling panic at the idea of a boy in my bed, I was starting to wonder what it would feel like to crawl next to him. I gave my head a powerful shake to clear out the distracting thoughts.
    “How did you plan to get home? Is your friend driving you back?”
    He sat up and gave me an impish smile. “I didn’t catch his number, so I’m not sure that’s an option. Darien left the party a couple of hours ago, so I could call him to get me. Unless you decide to take pity on me and let me sleep here.”
    “Here?” I squeaked. “With me?”
    “Not sleeping together,” he chuckled. “Just sleeping at the same time. I could just take your bed while you sleep in your roommate’s bed.”
    “Or you could take the floor,” I huffed.
    “Or we could share your bed,” he countered. At my expression, he fell back onto the bed and laughed again. I couldn’t decide if I should pummel him while he was drunk or wait until he sobered up. “Floor it is,” he groaned.
    I chewed my lip as I watched him bring his body upright. I tried to gauge how terrible it would be for Blake to sleep in my room. Did I feel safe