Despite telling myself I’d ask him about the clue, I didn’t want to disturb the slight peace we’d found between us the night before. But I hated feeling so wishy-washy and torn between two choices.
So, I put on my big girl panties and walked over to his room.
When I knocked on his door, it didn’t swing open.
The one behind me did.
My spine straightened, and my muscles locked reflexively. I braced because if Vivian’s door had just opened, and he walked out of it first thing in the morning, it would gut me.
I didn’t want to look.
Unfortunately, my feet had a mind of their own, and my stupid, useless heart had gone too long without a decent pummeling, so I whipped around before my brain worked up an argument that kept me safely facing away.
On a positive note, when Max stalked out of Vivian’s door, he didn’t look happy about it. His eyes locked on mine, his body tensing as he pulled her door shut behind him.
“What are you doing here?”
“I thought you might have my next clue. Our theory about the Scavenger Hunt is that it’s about our journey since we got here, so you would be part of mine.”
“Nope.” He shook his head and stepped forward, reaching around me to open the door. “If you don’t mind, I need to…”
“Clean up?” I asked sourly.
He frowned and clenched his jaw. Withdrawing his arm to cross both over his chest, he scoffed. “No, Quinn. I don’t need toclean up. But nice assumption.”
I pressed my eyes shut before meeting his gaze. “Sorry, I didn’t sleep well, but I shouldn’t have said that. It’s not my place to say anything, even if you did need to.” I shuffled my feet awkwardly. “If you don’t have my clue, I’ll just go.”
He grunted. “I don’t.”
“Oh.” I frowned. “I thought I’d been onto something. That it wasn’t just about who we met but the order we met everyone in. My theory meant you were next.”
He shrugged. “Sorry.”
I nodded, knowing he couldn’t share more than that. Accepting it was time to go, I turned away from him.
But his voice stopped me. “I don’t have your next clue.”
“Got it,” I said slowly, pressing my lips together. “Thanks.”
The annoyed look on his face didn’t suggest that he was helping me, but I wanted to believe he was. In case he plannedto offer any additional hints, I waited a beat, but he shrugged like it was no big deal.
Resigning myself to disappointment all around, I walked away, unsure why he’d said that instead of letting me walk away. Unless I was reading into his response, he could’ve been saying he didn’t have my next clue, but hedidhaveone.
“Wait!” I called out before I could stop myself, and I spun around, expecting him to be halfway into his room.
He wasn’t. Still facing me, he stood frozen in place with a white-knuckled grip on the doorknob.
“You don’t have mynextclue?”
He blinked rapidly, shaking out of it. “That’s what I said.”
His brow creased as he released the doorknob, and something in his expression had me walking closer to him.
“Max, can I ask you something?”
“Didn’t you do that already?”
When he swung his gaze to mine, I pursed my lips, silently requesting permission to ask another question.
