“I can walk,” Hailey says, looking at me. “It’s like, two blocks.”
Mom frowns at the window. “It’s starting to snow harder.”
“I’ll walk her,” I offer too fast. Three sets of eyes cut to me but only my mom’s are suspicious.
“Bundle up!” Mom says, pressing a bag of cookies into Hailey’s hands like she’s sending her back to college. “And thank you, sweetie, for helping.”
“Anytime,” Hailey says, returning the hug.
The cold hits the second we step outside again. I jam my hands in my coat pockets. “You warm enough?”
She walks close, boots crunching. “Yeah.” Then she bumps my arm. “You?”
“Not even a little,” I say, and I’m not talking about the temperature.
She laughs, breath puffing in a cloud. “Your mom is the cutest human alive.”
“She’s always liked you.”
“Hard not to,” she teases.
“Did you have fun today?”
“Yeah.” She peeks up at me from under her hat. “Even if I’m currently being edged by you in your parents’ house.”
I choke on a laugh. “Jesus, Hailey.”
“What?” She grins, wicked. “You started it in the garage.”
“I started it? Aren’t you the one who acted like you didn’t know where the deep freezer was?”
“You started it when you looked at me with those bedroom eyes.” She jabs a finger toward my chest.
“Bedroom eyes?” I laugh. “And what are my bedroom eyes?”
“They’re dark and moody.” She sighs, like she’s daydreaming. “But they’re nothing like your O face.”
“Oh Jesus, I don’t even want to know what that looks like.”
“It’s hot, trust me. But the best is the sound you make when you come. It’s like this visceral, sexy, animalistic groan that just makes me want to fuck you even harder.”
I stop walking. She takes one more step, then turns to face me, eyes bright, cheeks flushed from the cold. We’re in front of Mrs. Langley’s house, the old lady that’s played the organ at church for three decades, so I can’t do what I want. Her porch lights are on, and her curtains are open.
I drag a hand over my jaw. “You’re killing me.”
“I’m suffering too, you know.” She tips her head. “You think I slept last night knowing you were just two blocks away?”
“You could’ve come over late, snuck into my room.”
“And tell your mom what the next morning when I come down for coffee?” She mockingly says,“Thanks for the cookies. Sorry about all the loud noises you heard during the night. It was just your son fucking my brains out.”
“I like that filthy mouth you have.” I reach up and drag my thumb over her lips. “Sexy as fuck to hear you talk about me like that.”
She steps closer. Not touching, but close enough that I can feel her heat. “So what do we do?”
I look at her mouth. “We wait,” I say, even though every part of me is screaming not to. “We’re not blowing this with your best friend. I won’t let that happen, Hailey.”
Her eyes soften, because she knows I’m right, knows I’m doing the thing I said we’d do—keep it quiet. Keep it ours for a minute.
