Following Isaac by Casey McMillin Page B

goodbye. "What do you have going on in the morning?" I asked.
    "I have a class at noon. It's a review for the final." I knew she wasn't like other girls I'd been with. In fact, I had no idea how she'd respond to me asking her to spend the night. I looked at her from across the console. I wanted her in a different way than I wanted most girls. Don't get me wrong, I definitely wanted my piece inside her, and the sooner the better, but with most girls, that was all I wanted. With Becca, it was more that I didn't want to be apart from her.
    I reached out and put my hand on her arm. "I was thinking you could stay with me," I said. "You know, like spend the night in my hotel room."
    Her eyes widened slightly. "I think your friend and those two girls are expecting you to—"
    "Nobody's expecting anything. I only have two more nights in L.A., and I decide how I want to spend them."
    She was quiet for so long that I almost spoke again, but she finally said, "Isaac, I'm extremely flattered that you'd even say something like that, but I'm—"
    "Don't make an excuse, Becca. You don't have a boyfriend, do you?"
    "No."
    "You like me, don't you?"
    "Yes."
    "Then please stay with me tonight. I like you too, and I don't want you to drop me off."
    She got quiet again. I waited for at least a full minute for her to respond before filling the silence. We were getting close to the hotel, and I felt a wave of frustration wash over me at the thought of leaving her. I knew we'd just known each other a few hours, but I didn't want our time together to end. At first it was her eyes, but it wasn't just that anymore. She had a quick wit and a sweet spirit that had me feeling like I might be a happier person for knowing her.
    "You should have asked me before we left," she finally said. "I didn't come prepared to stay the night anywhere."
    "Why do you have to prepare to sleep somewhere? All you have to do is lay your head down and fall asleep."
    "I usually don't sleep at a guy's house the first day we meet each other."
    I wanted to assure her that I wouldn't try anything on her, but I just couldn’t make that kind of promise. "We've covered a lot of ground on getting to know each other already," I said. "Plus, I only have two more nights in L.A."
    "All the more reason why this is a bad idea," she said.
    And there it was—there she went referring to me leaving as if it was a negative thing. That sort of comment would normally send up all sorts of red flags, but not with Becca. In fact, I wished she were more adamant about not wanting me to leave. We were only blocks away from the hotel, and all I cared about was getting her to agree to stay.
    "You don't have to spend the night. Just come up for a little while," I said, settling for whatever I could get.
    "Yeah, because I have that class tomorrow, and I—"
    "That's not till noon."
    She pulled into one of the metered spots about a block away from the front door of St. Andrews and looked over at me once the car was stopped. "I'm just not really sure what's going on here," she said. She seemed slightly hurt or offended, which I didn't understand at all.
    "What do you mean? I don't want you to leave and I'm asking you to come up to my room to hang out."
    "I guess I just don't really understand why you'd want to hang out with me when you have those girls up there waiting for you."
    I could tell she was genuinely confused and wasn't just saying it for attention or to cause drama. I reached out and touched the side of her face. My fingertips came alive with feeling at the touch of her soft cheek. "Do you not know you're beautiful?" I asked.
    She glanced away shyly as if that word didn't apply to her. I tilted her chin with my finger, forcing her to look up.
    "Please tell me you know how beautiful you are," I said, seriously. I could tell by the way she regarded me that she didn't agree with me, and maybe even thought I was mocking her somehow.
    "It was nice meeting you. I had a lot of fun, but I really should be