A moment later, he hops down on agile feet and bends in front of her. With a backward Vanstone hat on his head, I get a good glimpse of his proud smile. “You’re a good seeker, V.”
She giggles. “I know.”
Rome tugs on her braid and stands up, both of them about to head toward me.
I quickly turn to avoid them.
I’ve never seen him so playful before, and I don’t like that it softens him.
I wait until Vivian gets close to step in line beside her, leaving Rome in the dust.
Whatever happened togirls rule and boys drool?
Is Rome’s plan to get everyone in my family to like him before sweeping the rug out from under all of us?
I’m tempted to shut the door in his face when Vivian and I step inside, but his presence behind me is like a weight.
“Cheater,” he whispers, the word landing on my neck. “I know you told her where I was.”
He sweeps past me, and I’m left standing there with goosebumps blanketing my arms from his warm breath against my skin.
Instead of annoyance coming to mind as I stare after him, it’s something else entirely, and I do not like the way my body is reacting at the moment.
I yawn dramatically.
“Whew,” I sigh tiredly. “I’m beat. The jet lag is really getting to me.”
I purposefully ignore my brothers because they’ll see right through my bullshit.
“I think I’m going to head home,” I add.
My mom’s face softens. “Do you want to stay here? I don’t want you to drive if you’re tired.”
“It’s just down the street,” I remind her. “I’ll be fine.”
I yawn again for good measure, and Noah snorts. Once Mom gets up from the table to make me a to-go plate that’ll probably stay in the fridge for weeks until it gets moldy, I kick him under the table and bare my teeth at him.
Sitting at the table, across from Rome, is going to put me in a mental hospital.
If I let my guard down, even in the slightest, I find myself looking in his direction.
It’s like he senses it somehow because, each time, his eyes flick to mine, and my stomach flops.
There’s a pull between us that’s been there from the start, but now there’s an ache that follows it.
A pining.
Or hunger.
Something that makes my body warm.
As soon as I get home, I can breathe again.
I flop onto my couch and pull out my phone to see numerous text messages lining the screen from the new-and-improved group text with Rome included.
Beck
That was the fakest yawn I've ever heard in my life.
