“I came here to keep an eye on Kane because he and your best friend are playing a very dangerous cat-and-mouse game, but when I’m with you, I can’t focus on anything else.”
At this point, I think we’re the ones playing the dangerous cat-and-mouse game.
I’m officially forfeiting.
“Maybe Daisy doesn’t want to play the game,” I say. “Not every girl wants to be chased.”
Malaki pauses before tugging me through the door. “And what about you? Do you want to be chased?”
I pause.
Say no, Reese.
I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t want to be chased by a guy like Malaki. I’m desperate to know what it’s like to be kissed with passion instead of bowing down to someone who yields too much power. I want to let go and indulge in something, instead of giving away parts of myself to people who don’t deserve them.
But I can’t.
Maybe in the future, when things aren’t so messy, but right now, I justcan’t.
I open my mouth to answer Malaki, who’s waiting patiently, like he knows I’m teetering with the idea of allowing himto chase me, but our attention moves to Daisy’s brother.
“Found them,” he says.
Malaki tugs me through the door after him, our fingers still intertwined. Once we make it outside and the cool Chicago air brushes against my flushed cheeks, reality sets in, and I pull away.
He notices, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Where did you go?” River asks Daisy.
Daisy and Kane are obviously guilty, but she’s quick to feed her brother a lie. “I got overheated. Kane came with me to cool down out here.”
River sighs. “It was probably the drink. I knew you shouldn’t have had one. Your cheeks are red.”
I walk toward Daisy as she argues with her brother. Unable to stop myself, I find myself looking at Malaki. He catches me staring, and my cheeks warm. If this were before Benedict, I’dprobably end up going home with him. But it isn’t, and I’m a lot more conscientious than I was before.
Malaki steps forward. “We leave for the road tomorrow afternoon, so we should probably go.”
The rest of the group nods, and I leap to take the bait. I pull my keys out from my back pocket and wiggle them. “Let’s go. Your chauffeur awaits.”
I sort of want to decline him a ride so I can put some much-needed space between us, but he did pay me after all. The least I could do is drop him off at home, right?
I should be able to keep myself in check for a twenty-minute ride back to his apartment complex before turning in for the night.
I’m not a wild sorority girl any longer. I can do this.
Malaki saunters up beside me, his arm landing on my shoulder. He pulls me to his side and whispers into my ear, “Ready when you are.”
My stomach dips.
I’m not sure I’m ever going to be ready when it comes to him.
Eight
MALAKI
Reese’s caridles in front of my apartment complex, and the longer I sit in the passenger seat, the hotter I get. She reaches for the air conditioner knob and turns it up before she angles the vents toward her face.
Is she all hot and bothered like I am from our impromptu dancing?
