“Two questions, actually.”
I smiled. “Okay.”
The confidence I’d seen since he’d opened the door seemed to falter a little. I turned my hands over so my palms faced his.
He took a deep breath before he spoke. “When Wren asked me to check on you to make sure you were settling in okay, I didn’t want to do it. It felt wrong, especially because I was already avoiding you because I couldn’t tell you about Elite. If you were in my life, you’d have known something was up. Look around. What student do you know that could afford to live here?”
“This is your place?” I asked.
“Yes. I didn’t want to avoid you. Quite the opposite. I couldn’t risk being in your life, but then you kept appearing everywhere, and I couldn’t resist. So, no, I didn’t spend time with you to report back, and I only pretended to do it for Wren because he’d asked me about you. It was easier to follow that line of questioning than risk them knowing about us.” His eyes were so earnest when he asked, “Do you believe me?”
“I believe you. I’m sorry I reacted the way I did at the party. I overheard your conversation with Wren, and I was hurt. I should have trusted you. I feel so awful.” Tears started building in the back of my eyes.
“Hey, baby, look at me.” He caressed my cheek, rubbing his thumb in smooth circles. “There was no way for you to know everything. Your reaction was justified, okay?”
I nodded. “What was the other question?”
“I was wondering why you contacted Elite. Even after I got your record unsealed, there was no information. Usually, someone of your status will come to us looking for a date for an event or a fake wife.”
“A fake wife?” I laughed.
“It happens more than you think.”
I bit my lip. I guessed it was time to share my secret.
“When I said no more secrets, I didn’t think I’d have to confess to this one.” I let out a breath. “I heard about Elite from my roommate. His cousin’s girlfriend’s best friend used Elite. Hetold me some stories, so I decided to check for myself because…um…” My face felt so hot that it had to be the same color as my hair. “Because I wanted help to get you. God, that sounds so lame.”
Troy stood on his knees, so we were face to face now. “What do you mean to get me?”
“Ugh, you’re gonna make me say it.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Fine.” I huffed. “I came to the US because I wanted to be with you. I’d decided I was going to tell you how I felt, but then I couldn’t get any time with you, so I figured I wasn’t…grown up enough for you. Which is stupid because I’m twenty-two, but you seemed so cool and collected all the time. And I…I was just me. I wanted help to be maybe more American, more like the kind of guy you’d go for.”
I tried to cover my face with my hands, but Troy swooped in for a kiss. When I opened my mouth to take a relieved breath, he deepened it. His hands on either side of my face kept me in place while he ravished me.
“Lexi, you are perfect as you are, and I’m so in love with you it’s unreal. I think I have been for a long time, but before I tasted you, before I was with you, you were this concept. This person I knew I wanted down to my core, but there were so many walls between us. I would never want you to be more American or more anything than just yourself. That boy I met years ago who tried so hard to memorize everyone in his new family. He’s the one I fell for. He’s you, Alexi.”
I sucked in a deep breath. “Troy.”
“Shhh, it’s okay, you don’t have to say it all back. I just needed you to?—”
“Shut up. I love you too.”
We kissed again. It was frantic and also not because we were cementing our feelings for each other with every touch, every lick, every pass of his tongue over mine.
“Hey, Troy,” I whispered between kisses.
“Yeah?”
“This is really your place?”
“Hmm.”
“I don’t suppose you have a bedroom here.”
15
