Falling For Storm

Amara

This was by far the most bizarre and embarrassing moment of my life! I could be a walking disaster at times, but this just put the cherry on top of the cake. Tonight had been a series of unfortunate events, and I feared that they would continue for the rest of the week. Why? Because I just believed in the idea of strings of luck. I’ve experienced good luck for a few days, and now I’m about to experience bad luck, which was just great!

I hadn’t dared to make eye contact with anyone except Dakota, who was, by the way, still giggling. “Okay, just laugh it off. Come on, just let it all out,” I said, rolling my eyes at her. “I- I. I’m s-s-sorry, it w-was j-just so f-f-funny! I just can’t stop.” If it wasn’t at my expense, I probably would be laughing hard too. “I-I-I’ve never s-s-seen m-my b-brother a-act s-so g-g-g-goofy! My God, that was hilarious,” she exploded into fits of laughter once more. Brother? I wonder who among the three was her brother. I chanced a glance at them still standing near the door and realized I shouldn’t have done it as soon as I did because now I’m looking at unbelievably attractive, well-built men who were staring at me with curiosity. They looked like they were sizing me up or trying to decode me or something, so it made me feel a bit embarrassed.

I must be blushing so hard right now, and I knew they could see me turning red like tomato sauce. Oh, god! “Alright, knock it off, D!” The guy who almost crushed me exclaimed. If I remember correctly, it was the same voice that threatened Bigfoot earlier. So, that was what he looked like. He was about a head or more taller than I was, tanned-skinned, handsome as hell, most likely in his early twenties, and he packed a lot of lean muscles. He was sporting the same hair and eye color as Dakota, too. Talk about outrageously good genes! I didn’t know if I was going to envy them or hate them for looking like they had just come out of Vogue.

However, it wasn’t just his looks that were unnerving; it was something else I couldn’t put my finger on. Perhaps it was the way he carried himself. He exuded power and wisdom without even saying or doing much aside from just staring at me. I mean, for freak’s sake, he was just standing there like a normal person—an absolutely hot from head to toe kind of person. Probably the hottest person in the entire universe.

We all stood there in awkward silence for a bit, Dakota looking back and forth between me and her brother with amusement in her eyes, me trying to look at everything else but her brother, and the three still carefully assessing me. Okay... This wasn’t weird at all. It wasn’t like I hated being the center of attention, you know? “Okay, I’m good. I’m done laughing now,” Dakota giggled, breathing deeply as he waved her hands up and down. “This is Amara Montgomery, my roommate, and she’s new here,” Dakota added, finally breaking the ice. “That’s my brother Storm; the one to his left is Wyatt; and that’s Hunter.” I gave them a slight wave and smiled as pleasantly as I could before saying, “Pleased to meet you.” God, I sounded like a total Disney princess, ugh!

“Hey,” Wyatt and Hunter answered in unison before sitting down on the chairs by the office table, while Dakota pulled me down with her on the couch. Storm, on the other hand, stayed rooted where he was and never took his eyes off me. Actually, none of the three took their eyes off me. The only difference was that the other two were smiling, while Storm had a poker face on. He was definitely scanning me, or more like studying me. Normally, that would freak me out, but for some reason, it was just shyness and complete confusion that were hitting me. Was he mad that I caused trouble? Did he even know that his sister asked me to help out? Did I do anything to upset him? I probably did, but what, though? At which point did I cause enough trouble to warrant his blank stare?

“I’m sorry about earlier,” I nervously said because I didn’t want to wait for him to tell me off. “Umm. Sorry, what are you sorry about?” Storm asked, cocking his head slightly to one side with a slightly raised brow, and it looked sexy as hell. Seriously, every move he made had me feeling all mushy and fangirling, which made me feel disgusted with myself. “Uh, for causing trouble out there with the big hairy guy. I didn’t mean to,” I shyly responded, causing a small smile to appear on his face. Umm...can you spell WOW? Looking this good should be illegal, right?

“Ah well, forget about that. It wasn’t your fault in the first place, and how are you feeling now?” He seemed like he was actually worried about me, as in, genuinely worried about me, so I was surprised by his remark. “I’m fine. Um, by the way, thanks for rescuing me out there. I really appreciate it.” I looked at each of them, conveying my gratitude and sincerity, and they all said welcome in unison again. Huh, that was actually weirdly cute, so I couldn’t help but wonder if the four of them did that all the time.

Thirty minutes later, Dakota went back out to continue what she was doing while Hunter and Wyatt bid farewell. I was stuck in the office with Storm, completely feeling out of place since everyone suggested that I shouldn’t go back out there tonight. I was feeling restless each minute that went by, so I told him that I was going to head back to the dorm. His head snapped up to look at me, worry etched on his face. “Are you sure? How are you going to get back?” he asked. “Yeah, it’s getting late. I drove here, so going home won’t be a problem,” I told him.

“You’re right, it’s getting late, so it’s kind of dangerous to drive on your own, don’t you think? I could definitely drive you home if you could just give me a sec to finish this,” he answered, pointing to a piece of paper on his table. “No, no. I think I’m good. Besides, I’ve caused enough ruckus for one night,” I stated. “Well, why not add one more?” Storm teased, showing me that lopsided smile that did things to my stomach, making me smile as well. “No, really. I won’t be driving that far, but thank you so much,” I insisted, even though I oddly wanted to kind of spend more time with him. Wait, was I having a massive crush on my roommate’s brother?

He offered to drive me home several times more and even offered to have me stay with him and his family over the weekend, which I respectfully declined. I didn’t understand why he was so worried about me driving on my own when he knew that I hadn’t had anything to drink since I was just eighteen years old. Well, that, and it was just a ten-minute drive from here. When he realized that I was dead set on driving home, he settled on walking me to my car. He then lightly grabbed my elbow right when I was about to get in the car, and I swear, his touch sent tingles down my spine. I looked straight into his eyes, the question evident on my face, and he hesitated for a bit but pushed on. “Can you do me a favor? Can you call or at least send a message to my sister once you’re home? You know, just so we know you made it back.” Of course, that surprised me, but I nodded anyway and said my goodbyes before driving off to the university.

It was strange how he was acting a bit overprotective or worried about me when he didn’t even know me that well. Maybe he really had that kind of attitude, being a big brother and all, or maybe he just felt sorry for what happened to me, and that made him think that he had to repay me somehow. Whatever the reason, being around him sent my emotions haywire. It was like I was nervous and calm at the same time. By the time I got back to the dorm, I was exhausted. I managed to send a short message to Dakota, letting her know that I was safely locked in our room. I then took a shower and headed to bed. I was asleep almost instantly, and for the entire night, I dreamed about odd things like gray eyes, black fur, and howling wolves. I wonder what that was all about.