She gets comfortable

As we walked, I noticed Riley gradually moved a little closer to me. Then, without really saying anything, she slipped her arm through mine.

I glanced over at her.

She seemed completely comfortable, looking ahead as we continued down the walkway.

I figured maybe having someone beside her made her feel a little safer walking across campus at night. Or maybe she just liked the feeling of being with me.

Either way, I wasn’t about to complain.

“Comfortable?” I asked with a small smile.

“Yeah,” she said. “It’s dark out. I’m allowed to have an escort.”

I laughed. “Fair enough.”

She smiled and kept her arm linked with mine as we continued toward her dorm.

Riley pauses suddenly, then pointed toward one of the campus buildings. “Actually, there’s a shortcut this way.”

She led me through the entrance and down a quiet hallway. I followed, curious where she was going.

She stopped outside one of the classrooms and pulled a key from her pocket.

I looked at her. “You have a key?”

“Yeah,” she said, unlocking the door. “I’m a teaching assistant for one of the professors. I help him grade papers sometimes, so he let me have a key to the classroom.”

She pushed the door open and glanced back at me with a little smile. “It’s a lot faster than walking all the way around.”