Daddy

If any man declared themselves happier than I was right now, I would straight up laugh to their faces. That concept was just that impossible. My happiness had left the sky and joined Buzz Lightyear in the infinity. I was like a young bird leaving the nest for the first time, a little apprehensive of this new territory but nothing will ever make me go back to the old days.

I had tasted the sweet, intoxicating flavor of love. What could possibly be better than that? Irene loved me. The love of my life had decided to synchronize her life with mine. A simple kiss, that's what it took to let our mutual love flourish.

I was walking on clouds, drinking milk and honey from the Promised Land. Dear Lord, with Irene in my arms I felt like I was able to slam down the Great Wall of China with my pinkie. She pulled me up from the shadows and made me a god. With her by my side I was capable of anything and everything – as long as it would make her happy. She was mine and I was hers.

The night of our first date, I went to sleep happier than a captive fish after being set back in the ocean to drown. My mind kept replaying that kiss. The way it felt, the way she clanged to me. I didn't want to leave, I didn't want it to stop. I spent a good five minute nibbling on her lips and just inhaling her delicious scent after we had say goodnight.

It didn't seem like we could spend too much time apart. Right now, she was sitting crossed legged on my bed with a calculus book and notes sprawled between us. That was the one of the two good outcomes about being on a pre-med track – more time to spend with Irene since we have to take many similar classes. The other one was making my mother proud. I could do without everything else. I didn't want anything else it brought but it was better than the unsure future acting provided.

"I don't get this," Irene grunted before slumping back on the bed. Her beautiful brown hair extended on the bed, the tip lightly brushing my calves.

I chuckled, "You've said that four times already for the past fifteen minutes."

"That's because I really don't get it. I don't even get why we have to learn calculus for medical school."

I moved a little lower to reach her cheeks. I ran my knuckles on them, feeling the soft skin give in under the slight pressure. "They just want to make sure that whoever gets in is smart enough to handle the heat they will bring."

"I'd rather spend my time emptying my brain to make enough space for all the information I'm sure they're going to dump on us."

She groaned before turning back to the textbook. It was always like that, she would talk and talk about the impossibility of all the work that's expected from us but she will end up doing it to perfection in plenty of times. She had what I was lacking – the passion for the field.

Medical school was just a mean to an end to me. It was something I needed to pursue not something I wanted to pursue. I wished I was like Irene, in love with my career choice. We haven't even finished freshman year and she's already worried about the MCAT. Creases would appear in her forehead when she couldn't figure something out.

I did the work but that was all. I didn't care much about the information I was accumulating, I just cared about what they represented to me.

Irene groaned once more before letting her head fall on top of the textbook. "I hate calculus," she muffled on the pages.

I laid on my elbows right next to her. "We've been studying for two hours now, I think we've earned a break."

She giggled before lifting her head to look at me. She moved her head onto one hand and used the other one to push her hair back. "You've said that five times for the past two hours. Your breaks always involve the same thing."

"That's because it's all I need." I moved closer to her until her breath was hitting my face. "Kissing you is all I need."

"No, you need food," she said in a meek attempt at brushing me off. It immediately lost any stance when her eyes flickered to my lips. "And oxygen," she continued in a whisper.

Our heads moved together to close the last bit of space between us. Then her moist lips slid over my dry ones before she wrapped her hands around my neck. My arms countered around her and settled on her waist. My thumbs softly brushed the exposed skin where her shirt had lifted up due to her movements.

I nibbled faintly on her bottom lip, biting a little from time to time. A soft whimper eluded her throat before she tightened her arms and brought her body closer to mine.

This was the part that I was most scared of, where my self-control is most needed. My body heated and my hands shook with restrain when she moved her pelvic to mine and dipped her tongue inside my mouth. A threatening groan built up from my stomach and left me when she pulled me down the bed with her. Her legs caged me in as she moaned inside my mouth.

I quickly scurried off of her and the bed before I was lost to my desires and took what my body wanted.

"You did that on purposed, didn't you?" I asked with my voice hoarse from need.

Her green eyes glowed with amusement, she nodded.

"Were you trying to kill me?"

"You asked for it," she teased while crawling to me. "I thought I'd spice up our breaks a bit."

"Irene," I warned. "I'm not going to ask for that so early into our relationship."

She reached me, sat back on her legs, and placed her hands on my stomach. I felt it quiver under her touch. My breath caught in my throat.

"I know," she said, "but I am."

Her hands sank inside my shirt then she trailed them up my body. I halted them when I felt parts of my body standing on alert, begging for more of what she was doing.

"Irene," I breathed out right before she jumped on me. Her lips immediately sought mine.

Why was I fighting again?

Pushing her under me, I was getting ready to go along with her plans when the door opened, reminding me that I was inside a shared dorm. She hurried off me with a yelp.

"Hello," Shawn greeted us before slouching on his desk and turning on his laptop.

That was the kind of greeting he always gave whenever Irene was inside the room. When I was alone, he walked in with his celebrating-for-no-reason and loud attitude. It was annoying most of the time. I'd thought about requesting for a roommate change especially after the pills incident but the guy was God-like with begging. He made me feel like I had just kicked a newborn puppy when I told him I was going to report him for selling drugs.

I didn't know what had gotten into me for telling him first when I should have walked straight to the police station. Now, I was stuck with him for another semester and he was getting away with a crime. He was probably selling them to other students even after he told me he was getting rid of them. Anything was possible with him, which was why I slept with one eye open. I didn't trust him.

"I think it's time for me to go." Irene closed the textbook and grabbed her backpack – the heavy-for-no-reason one.

"Are you sure?" My eyes shifted from her to Shawn then back when I saw her watching him with intensely.

Both of them were always stiff around each other. It made my skin crawl to think that they had some kind of story between them. They were constantly glaring at each other with a look that said they knew what the other one was hiding but were waiting for them to make a move.

"Yes, Carmen and I need to go shopping for her date tomorrow." She leaned in and dropped a quick kiss on my lips.

"I'll talk to you later," I said as she went to the door.

"Woooaaah!" Shawn shouted when we were alone. "I went to the sickest party ever last night."

"I don't really want to know about it," I laid on my bed and grabbed my phone.

"You'd rather text a girl than to listen about the adventures of your best pal?" He slapped my arm.

I inhaled a sharp breath before turning to him. "First of all, don't hit me like that. Second, we are nowhere near best pals. We're just two dudes stuck with each other in a college dorm. And third, why it's it to you that I'm texting my girlfriend?"

"Woah, girlfriend?" He brought his palms out in front of him in the stop signal. "You guys only went out on a couple of dates. Aren't you moving a little too fast?"

"Again, what's it to you?" I got up to my feet and stared at him.

"Nothing," he laughed. "Don't get all defensive on me. I just wanted to make sure that you knew what you were getting into."

"Thanks for your concern, Shawn. I know what I'm getting into."

"Ok," he moved away to get his football that was thrown on a pile of clothes at the corner of his bed.

I wondered how somebody could live in such a mess. The sight was giving my eyes cancer. His bed was unmade, his dirty clothes overflowing into his clean ones. Pizza boxes, soda cans, and candy wrappers were taking over his desk. Dirty socks peaked out of his shoes. The total contrast of my side of the room which I kept organized at all time. I had to, messes made my mother sick so I was accustomed to cleaning.

"Have you met her friend?" he said, tossing the ball from one hand to the other. "That chick's crazy. She thought I was going to propose to her after one night together."

I sat back down on the edge of the bed without acknowledging his statement. Carmen seemed like a trouble girl but she didn't come off as someone who was all heart and roses. She seemed to have her priorities straight regardless of how distorted they may be. I knew her story with Shawn was not yet over if she didn't want it. Despite how smart and slick Shawn thought he was, that girl was ten times better or worse from what I could tell.

"Those girls are always looking to trap someone," he continued. "They are all gold-digging whores. You should be careful."

My head whipped in his direction when his words got to me. "Excuse me? What did you call my girlfriend?"

"I didn't call her anything," he stopped tossing the football around and sat on the edge of his bed to look at me. "I was just give you some piece of advice."

"Well you can take your advice and shovel it." My anger had skyrocketed, my fist were already in tight balls next to my legs. "I'm tired of you ungrateful jerks who keep playing with women then just turn around to disrespect them."

"It's not disrespect, it's the truth."

"There's not one ounce of truth to whatever comes out of your mouth. Your brain is just filled with filthy notions and disease-ridden thoughts. I don't want to hear Irene's name come out of your mouth ever again. Don't even think about saying her name."

"Calm down, mamma's boy. I've forgotten how sensible you're all are when it comes to women. They're nothing better than us. In fact, they're not even worthy of us. All they ever want is money. My mother's a prime example of that. Give them money and stature and they'll leave you right on your naked ass on the floor. Women have only done two good things for me –deliver me in this world and let me bury my penis inside them. That's all they're good for anyways."

I didn't know when I got up. I just knew I saw red then I was on top of him on the floor. I grabbed his shirt, letting his head rise up the floor a few inches then slammed it back down.

"You sonofabitch, how dare you! How freaking dare you!" I let my fists pound on him like a madman.

"What's gotten into you?" Shawn growled as his fist came into contact with my jaw and sent me on my back.

I had forgotten he was way stronger than I was. I wasn't small but the guy weighted a good hundred pounds more than me and he was a few inches taller. I stood in the space in the middle of our beds watching him square his shoulder and glare at me. He was already on his wrestling position.

Why did I pick a fight with a guy in the wrestling team? He was about to squash me to death but I couldn't make myself cool off. I wanted to tear him apart for his comment about women. That was unacceptable. I was raised by a woman on her own so any demining comments towards the gender felt like they were directed to her.

Part of being a good man is to know when to walk away and when to stay. My mother had told me that briefly after dad had fled with his new bride. I hadn't really have moments to use it but I felt like this was one of the instances when it had come in handy. Caging my fury inside, I walked out of the room.

I knew I wasn't going to win a physical with him. He would have beat me to a pulp and we'd both end up paying. There was a strict no violence rule in the school that the board would not be afraid to apply especially to a scholarship student. Therefore, I decided to handle things the right way. I was going to report him, plain and simple.