Faith was exhausted. She stood and stretched. "I'm gonna go freshen up for dinner, okay?""Okay, love," Devlin answered, already tapping away on his phone.They'd been studying for the past three hours nonstop. Two hours separately and then the last hour, they spent quizzing each other on the things they'd read.This was the format they'd adopted over the past few days. She'd already written two exams while he'd written oneFrom all indication, they'd all gone well. If they could keep on with this momentum, they would both do well on their exams.Faith padded off to Devlin's room which they were now sharing. She sat on the bed and pulled one of her boxes to her. She hadn't opened this one since she arrived.The small bag held her toiletries and make up and such which she arranged in the bathroom the day they arrived. She'd been using the clothes in the other bag till now. Most of them were off for laundry already.As she opened the bag, a flash of red caught her attention. Faith frown
Devlin stood at the doorway staring at the lingerie-clad Faith in shock.Perhaps because she'd seen this exact scene play out her very first day in this very house, Faith recognized that a serious battle was going on in his head.She waited for him to come to her with bated breath. Surely there was no way he could resist this time.The seconds ticked by slowly while he warred with himself. Faith shifted self-consciously. She fought the urge to cover herself with her hands under his intense scrutiny. It was nerve-wracking.Finally, Devlin took a step--but instead of the step carrying him forward, he stepped backwards. "I'm sorry," he muttered and disappeared from the doorway.Faith was stunned, utterly stunned. For a few minutes, she just sat there unmoving, staring at the empty doorway.He'd just walked away without a word. She'd thought they were making progress but the exact same incident of the past just repeated itself.She was mortified. She'd put herself out there, making the pl
Days had passed since the lingerie incident and Faith and Devlin had settled back into their routine.They read, they studied...and Devlin couldn't keep his hands off her. In the past days, his self-control had taken a real blow.Now when they started making out, it was often Faith who had to pull back when they got too far much to Devlin's chagrin.She couldn't lie. She was quite enjoying it. Now she was the one with the iron grip on her will while he was the needy one. It was a welcome change of pace.On more than one occasion in the last few days, some maid or the other had stumbled upon them getting hot and heavy in some hallway or empty room.At this point, Faith just didn't have the strength to be embarrassed anymore. It had happened so frequently, there was just no point.Each time, she made it a point to apologize to whatever maid it was for scarring her poor eyes but that was that.Of course, it would be a different story if Mama Rose were to walk in on them making out. In th
Faith stepped out of the school building. A smile graced her face. She barely took in the excited chatter around her, staring up at the sky instead.She just wrote her final paper for the year and she was filled with happiness. Now she could spend time with Devlin without exams hanging over their heads.She did a little celebratory dance then blushed when she caught someone giving her an odd look. She hurried away.Devlin was supposed to pick her up. Where was he? She scanned the parking lot and immediately spotted the lone man leaning against the auspicious red car.He was clutching something in his hand that she couldn't see well. He spotted her and waved. Faith approached him.When she got closer, she could finally see what he was holding. He held a big card that said "Congratulations on your last paper" and a bouquet of flowers in the other hand.Faith squealed and ran up to him, jumping on him and throwing her arms around him. Devlin caught her with a laugh."You're going to sque
Faith woke slowly. She moved her arm first because it was in an uncomfortable position. "That's better," she thought sleepily.She and Devlin were a tangle of limbs and sheets. To untangle them, she would have to wake up completely and she didn't want to do that just yet.Yesterday's exam and the party had taken it's toll on her. In fact the stress of the past two weeks of exams had all come to a head that night.She wasn't even sure how she'd gotten to bed. The last thing she remembered was that she and Devlin had curled up on the couch after Cassius, Adele and Sheila left yesterday.There'd almost been a calamity when they were leaving with Adele tripping and almost falling but Cassius had gotten to her with impressive speed and caught her before she crashed head first into the floor.They'd hailed him as a hero, much to his chagrin. He left in a hurry after that, and the girls soon after.After all the hurrah of the night, Devlin must have carried her up to bed. Ugh, that meant she
A loud ringing sound pierced the air.Faith was jarred out of the wonder land of the book she was reading by her ringing phone. She sighed and put the book aside.She'd dropped her phone at the other side of the room so she had to get up and walk across the room to grab it.It was probably Devlin calling to say hi. He'd gone off to work early that morning just like he had every day that week. He'd formed a habit of calling her during the day to check up on her and make sure she wasn't getting bored on her own. She wasn't.He'd taken her out to a bookstore during the weekend and bought her ten new books, one of which she'd just been reading. She was unlikely to be bored anytime soon but no matter how many times she told him that she wasn't bored and he shouldn't worry, he still called to check up on her.Faith picked up the phone and peered into the screen but it wasn't Devlin's name that popped up this time."Who could this be?" She thought to herself, frowning. She picked the call
"I got a call to come in, sir. Is there any problem?" Faith asked immediately they were both seated.The man blinked in surprise. "Oh, right, about that, you were here some weeks ago about taking on more courses and I never heard back from you about that so I called you in."Faith deflated in her chair. "Oh my gosh," she murmured."Is there a problem?" The dean asked, worried."No." Faith began to laugh with relief. He looked even more worried. Faith sat up and comported herself. "I'm sorry. It's just that I thought it was something about my exams."His face brightened with understanding. He laughed. "Oh, I see. No, it's nothing like that.""I'm so relieved. I was worried I'd lost my scholarship.""I could show you your results if you want," he offered."That would be wonderful, thank you."He tapped at his keyboard for a few minutes and pulled up her result. He turned the screen to her. "There you go."Faith scanned through everything quickly. She sighed with relief. She'd passed eve
"Happy birthday to you.Happy birthday to you.Happy birthday to you, dearest.Happy birthday to you."Faith woke up to the sound of Devlin's voice singing to her. She stretched with a smile on her face."Thank you," she said when the song ended."You're welcome." He tried to kiss her.Faith drew back. "I haven't brushed my teeth yet.""When has that ever stopped me?""True," she said with a laugh and let him kiss her."Remember the surprise I told you about?""Of course. Thanks to you I've been living in suspence.""Well, you don't have to wait anymore. It's downstairs waiting for you.""Finally!" Faith hopped off the bed. "Let's go already!""Geez, calm down. It's not doing anywhere."She rushed down to the living room anyway. "Hello? Sheila? Adele? Cassius? Mama Rose? I know you guys are here. Come on out!"No one jumped out at her yelling surprise. She turned to Devlin who was standing at the doorway, watching her with a smirk."There's no one here!""I never told you that there w