That made two of us.
His gaze flicked up from the notes he was skimming, heat blazing in his sexy face. Then his eyes shifted past me. “You can go, Brodie. I only want Ms. Lewis.”
Brodie slung his arm around my shoulders in an almost possessive way. “I just bet you do.”
Ethan’s glare darkened and he straightened up to his full, imposing height. “Brodie, I didn’t ask for?—”
“Oh good, I’m just in time,” Connor announced, strolling into the classroom with a smirk.
Ethan threw his hands up with a frustrated gesture. “What the fuck are you doing here? You don’t even have classes today, Con.”
His surly brother shrugged. “I heard our favorite professor wantedalone timewith our sweet, innocent little housemate. Decided I should make sure there’s nothing inappropriate going on.” He jerked a short nod to Andrew, betraying who’d tipped him off. Traitor.
I shook my head, shrugging Brodie’s arm off my shoulders. “Okay, I think that’s my cue to leave. We can talk later, Ethan. I need to visit the library after lunch, anyway.”
Before anyone could point out that my comment about the library was entirely irrelevant—we could talk at the house tonight—I scurried out of the classroom and almost collided with Haze.
Somehow, I managed to pull myself up right before I face-planted into his chest, and he extended a hand as if to help me balance. It didn’t connect with my elbow, but the thought had been there before he’d flinched away.
“Haze,” I gasped, craning my neck to look up at him. “What are you…” I glanced behind me to the class I’d just left, frowning. “Did you and Connor… Actually, never mind. I’m heading to lunch. I’ll see you later.”
Ducking around him, I resumed my quick pace out of thebuilding, inhaling deeply once outdoors. Maybe I could track Nina down and tell her…what? I couldn’t tell hershitthanks to the NDA, but maybe if I skirted the truth and swapped some key info? Maybe if I posed hypotheticals?
“Can I join you?” Haze asked from right beside me, and I jumped.
“How are you so sneaky when you’re soyou.” I waved a hand at his impressive size, shaking my head. “I need to get you a collar with a bell, just to save myself from a coronary.”
Haze gave me a thoughtful look, like he was debating the fashion statement a bell collar might make. Then he shrugged. “So can I?”
I blinked again, then connected the thoughts. “Oh. Sure, I guess.”
He nodded, satisfied with my agreement, and didn’t speak again until after we had loaded up our trays in the cafeteria. Even then, it was just a firm, muttered,I’ll pay, before swiping his watch on the card reader.
Nina and Sven found us only a few minutes after we sat down, and I relaxed when they joined us with their lunches.
“Haze, these are my friends,” I introduced them, remembering my manners. “Nina and?—”
“Sven,” Haze rumbled, giving my friend a cold glare. “You’re the one who walked Eve home last week.”
Sven gave an uncomfortable chuckle in return. “What, do you have security cameras spying on us or something?”
He intended it as a joke, but Haze’s expression didn’t change. In fact, it gave me a weird sensation that he was about to admit thatyes, he did have hidden cameras everywhere. But that’d be absurd…right?
“Okay, awkward,” Nina muttered, spearing a piece of watermelon with her fork. “How are things over at the Haunted House? I’m guessing none of you have encountered any ghosts yet?”
She’d been teasing me about the “ghosts” since the day we’d moved in, and I shook my head with a grin. “Ha-ha, very funny. It’s just a house, and actually a nice one if you can look past the decades of neglect and disrepair. Nothing that can’t be fixed, right, Haze?”
My quiet companion quirked a brow like he hadn’t expected me to continue including him in conversation. “Right,” he murmured.
“If you say so,” Nina continued, chomping on her fruit, “but I wanna hear more about Connor’s budding career as a backup singer. Any more shower concerts?”
Haze’s attention flicked back to me from his food, the faintest sparkle of amusement gleaming in his eyes. “What?”
I carefully schooled my expression, doubling down on my bullshit since I couldn’t tell my friends anything real. “I told Nina about Connor’s shower concerts,” I informed him with a straight face, “and how impressive it is that he knows every lyric of Taylor’s full set list. Not even I could nail all the eras like that.”
Haze’s lips twitched, but that was all the reaction he gave before wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Yes, well, he’s been to at least ten of the concerts. You should see his friendship bracelet collection.”
Nina gasped. “Shut up. Is it bad that makes him kinda hot?” Sven snickered, shaking his head and Nina amended her question, “Morehot, I mean. The man is straight fire. Eve, you’d know?—”
