I crack open my door and peer out. The hallway is clear and glowing slightly blue from the moon shining through the big living room windows. Jay’s door is shut and no light peeks out from the crack near the floor.
I run to the bathroom on my tiptoes, clicking the door closed behind me as softly as possible. I flip on the light and rest my palms on the counter, breathing in deeply through my nose. A laugh bubbles up as I envision myself skulking through my own house just to take a piss.
I wash my face with cold water. After I brush my teeth, I snap off the light and fling open the door, moving fast through the hall toward my room.
Except I run into a wall that reeks of Calvin Klein.
“Ugh, dammit, Jay.” His hands reach out to steady me, but I back up before he can touch me.
“Sorry.”
“Sure you are.”
“Grace, don’t make this weird.”
I peer up at him in the half-light. He peers back down at me, his dark eyes intense.
“I’m not making anything weird. I’m not making it anything. Because it’s nothing. You’re nothing and I’m nothing. In fact, this”—?I wave my hand between us—?“isn’t even real. Let’s just mind our own business, okay?”
I go to move around him, but he stops me.
“Don’t tell me you’re still pissed about that whole Tumblr thing.”
“Jay. Don’t. Just don’t.”
“It was a joke.”
“Ha-ha.”
“No one cares about those dumb texts.”
“I care.”
“You do, huh?”
Lightning fast, he reaches out and hooks a finger through my belt loop, pulling me closer.
“Let go of me,” I say, trying to untangle his finger. “If you rip my pants, I swear to god—?”
“Come on, Grace. We had some good times. Don’t ruin my memories.”
“You’re the one who ruined it, you asshole.” I finally get my thumb under his finger and twist it free. He releases me, his mouth bending into a sort of sad-looking smile that makes me feel completely off balance. I cover it up with a string of obscene insults.
The sad smile vanishes. “You’ve got such a dirty mouth.” Then he’s back in his room, a door and air and dozens of feet between us that feel like they’ll never be enough.
My entire body hums from where his fingers brushed my hip. And not the good kind of humming. God knows, Jay’s fully capable of the good kind, but this is all wrong. That sad smile felt like some sort of slap in the face. Coupled with the almost-aggressive finger-in-the-belt-loop grab, I feel dizzy. But Jay’s always been a little confusing. One of those guys who knows he’s hot and can hook a girl with one lazy grin. But when we had sex for the first time, I was the one who initiated it. He asked if I was sure so many times, I snapped at him to shut up and kiss me.
When I get back to my room, I flop onto my bed and inspect my fingernails. As I expected, my forefinger is smudged from prying Jay’s claw off my shorts. I’m about to get up to fix it when I hear a tap.
I sit up, holding my breath and listening until I hear it again.
Tap, tap, tap.
I turn my head toward the window and nearly scream when I see a face peering back at me on the other side of the glass.
A girl’s familiar face.
Chapter Eight
