Keeping Secrets

My Dorm Room

PEYTON

It was close to 2 am by the time we made it back to my dorm. We were both a little drunk and giggling as we struggled to open the back door.

"Don't you have a key fob or something?" Beau asked after I tried to pull the door open for the fifth time without success.

"Oh, yeah."

Beau laughed as I fumbled to get the keys out of my pocket. Once I did, I held them up triumphantly. Beau shook his head, still laughing, clearly amused at my drunken behavior. It took me another couple of tries, but I finally got the door open, and we made our way up the back staircase.

"Shhh," I warned for the fifteen time. "We have to be quiet because people are sleeping, and we don't want them to find out who you are." Then I broke down into hysterical giggles.

"You shush," Beau responded with a wide grin. " You're the one making all the noise. You're gonna wake everyone up and then you'll get in trouble."

"Okay, okay." I cleared my voice dramatically, like that had something to do with being quiet and tip-toed up the rest of the steps. When we came to the door to my floor, I turned around and found Beau right behind me, looking at me with amusement.

"Keep your head down," I hissed in my somewhat newfound bossiness, which I suspected was a drunk thing. I had already told him several times to leave his baseball cap on and keep his head down, but I felt the need to remind him one more time.

Beau chuckled but obediently bent his head down, following behind me as I cracked the door open and peered out, looking both ways, like I was part of some kind of secret ops team.

The thought amused me, and I tried to hold back a giggle, which only made it worse.

"Shhh," Beau whispered, grinning.

I took a deep breath and picked up the pace, leading the way down the hall. We didn't encounter anyone until we got close to my room, and even then, it was just some girl I didn't know. She glanced at Beau, who kept his head down like I'd told him to, before stepping into a room and shutting the door behind her.

"This is it," I announced and pushed open the door to my room, thankful I'd left it unlocked, because I was pretty sure I'd be struggling with the key. I turned the light on and locked the door behind us. "Damn, that's bright," I hissed, and turned the light off again.

Beau chuckled.

The room was a typical dorm room. The only difference was that I had pushed the two twin beds together against one wall, making it essentially a king-sized bed. Both beds were made with sheets and comforters, because Becca and Lin spent a lot of time watching Netflix or just lounging on there with me. Becca had even fallen asleep on it a few times.

I fumbled for the lamp next to my bed and, after a couple of attempts, I managed to turn it on. A soft glow lit up most of the room.

"Nice setup," Beau said as he glanced around.

"Thanks. You can take that side," I said and pointed to the left side of the bed, which was closest to the windows.

"Alright."

I'm not sure what I had expected, but it wasn't for Beau to immediately pull his shirt over his head and drop it over my chair.

I knew he was in shape. It was quite obvious, even though he didn't have the same physique as Max and his football friends. Beau Brisbois was leaner, with corded muscles instead of the bulkiness Max and the football players had.

What surprised me was the amount of tattoos he had. There was nothing hinting to it when he had clothes on, but they filled both shoulders and the upper part of his back with black ink. I didn't have time to determine what kind of tattoos he had before he crawled underneath the covers. But it made me wonder what else he had, and if his chest was covered as well?