“That was not how I was expecting that to go down,” I say, tucking my hands into my pockets to keep warm. “Maybe you were right. Maybe I shouldn’t have come.”
“I don’t think that was all for you. I think because I betrayed them, he’s icing me out.”
“So what’s the plan now?”
“Maybe I’ll reach out to the other guys. Or maybe Preston just needs time to think about everything I said. I don’tknow, but I have this horrible feeling this isn’t gonna go well.”
“Funny. I have that feeling too.” It’s a tension in my gut, twisting and constricting. A dread that this is all just the fucking beginning.
When we get back to the dorms, we head into Alexei and Luke’s room. After our meeting with the Sinners, Brad thought it’d be a good idea if I stayed with Alexei and Luke with him until we resolved all this. Even if Brad hadn’t suggested it, I would have. I don’t trust Luke alone with Alexei any more than Brad trusts me alone with Luke. Not with all these questions and unknowns lingering. So we each packed up some belongings that could last us for a few days.
“I should do some homework,” Alexei says. “I have a project due on Monday, and I don’t know how the hell I’m gonna think my way through it with all this distracting me.” He bites his bottom lip.
Damn, how does he make something so subtle look so fucking sexy?
It’s wild. I never would have thought twice about him doing this before we started messing around, but now I’m fucking obsessed.
“Maybe I should text Preston and explain a little more,” Alexei says. “He wasn’t listening. Or like I said, I could try Spencer or Finnegan or Gage. They might be easier to reason with.”
“Hey, hey,” I say, approaching him. Instinctively, I place my hands on his arms. I’m waiting for him to pull away, but his gaze meets mine. “We can give Preston a night to thinkabout what you said. It’s not gonna help shooting off anything while he’s in a mood.”
His tense jaw relaxes. “You’re right.”
“Let him cool off. Then we’ll try again, and if he won’t listen, we’ll try to break through to one of the others.”
He nods. I don’t have any reason to still be holding his arms, and he must know this, but I don’t want to let go. And he’s still not pulling away.
I step closer, and his gaze fixates on my mouth, like he knows what I want without me having to say it.
But not just yet.
“There are some things we’re not gonna solve tonight,” I say. “So why don’t we accept that and focus on what we can do?”
“I don’t know that what’s happening between us is something I really understand.”
“I don’t either, but the more important question is, what are we planning to do about it?”
Alexei chuckles, breaking eye contact. “If this is your way of saying you wanna mess around again, I’m down for that.”
How can I not smile at that? “I do like the idea of fucking you again, but that’s not what I meant.”
His eyebrows shift.
“That stuff’s…beyond fun, but I like you. I enjoy spending time with you, getting to know you.”
A smile plays across his lips, making me think I’m not alone in my feelings. “God, all this shit, and you got me smiling because you like me.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t like me.”
“I’ve always thought of you as Mr. One-Night Stand…”
“I guess I proved you wrong since we’ve already slept together twice.”
“One of those was during the day,” he quips.
“Fucker.”
He laughs. Even that fucking laugh gets me going.
