“It’s a fantastic look on me.”
“Yeah, I lied. It is.”
Shit. Did his voice get warmer, or was I making it up? His brown eyes turned into pools of lust, causing me to forget why this wasn’t a great idea. His breathing got heavier, his jaw tightening as he seemed to take all my air.
He leaned closer just as I put my hand on his incredibly hard and toned thigh. I wasn’t sure if I was encouraging him or trying to stop our touches from escalating as his face drew near. My own lust reflected back to me in his eyes, and his fingers seemed unsure when he curled them around the back of my head, guiding my face closer to his. God, I had never wanted to kiss anyone as much as I did him in that second.
Being the sole focus of Jonah Daniels was addicting.
“This is bad idea,” he said, his lips grazing mine as he spoke. I shuddered when his grip tightened, our lips a hair apart. “Tell me to stop,please.”
His other hand rested on my hip, as if he was restraining me from jumping on top of him, and I slid my hand up his side all the way to his arm. He was hard, everywhere. I bit down on his bottom lip, sucking it into my mouth with a wet pop as someone banged on the door.
Life’s not fair.
“Fuck,” he yelled, leaping off the couch and wiping his hands over his face. He closed his eyes, tilted his head toward the ceiling, and mumbled something that sounded likewhat am I doingbefore adjusting the evident bulge in his shorts. Jonah headed for the door.
Cold washed over me the longer he was away. It was like his body heat transfixed me, scrambling my thoughts until he took over. I grabbed the pillow and hugged it to myself, the evident regret on his face making me embarrassed.
“We’re all done with the stairs.” The guy in the yellow hat from earlier stood at our door, an easy smile on his face. “We’ll bill the owner, but you two are free to go. Thanks for the patience.”
“Thank you, sir.” Jonah’s voice was deep, controlled, commanding. “Appreciate it.”
“Call my cell if it feels off. If it rains within the next two days, it could cause the new foundation to shift.” He nodded at Jonah, then me, before heading back down the stairs with loud footsteps.
Once the thuds stopped, Jonah shut the door, leaned his back against it, and took a loud breath before he leveled his gaze at me. “I’m heading to the gym. I need to get out of here.”
“Okay,” was all I could say.
He grabbed his shoes from the doormat, took his keys from the small bowl on the counter, and without a backward glance, he left.
Guess we weren’t going to talk about ouralmostkiss. Something sticky, awful, and not unlike guilt crept down my body, making my stomach hurt. This was Michael’s teammate. My roommate. What if we kissed and hated each other in two weeks? What if Michael found out and messed up Jonah’s shot at the scholarship? What if Jonah didn’t forgive me? Where would I live then?
Wasn’t there a rule about roommates hooking up?
I blew my hair out of my face and dug my toes into the carpet for a second, grounding myself before escaping the confines of the two-bedroom apartment. I’d head to the coffee shop and see if Hannah needed time off. It would be better than waiting around feeling awkward when Jonah came home.
Yes, it’d be better if I was gone for the rest of the day.
* * *
“I think I’m staying in school another two years.”
“Wait, what?” I asked my brother a few hours later. We sat atBeans N Books, Hannah insisting she stayed busy—apparently it helped ease her anxiety over her ex—and demanding I relax. My nervous energy needed to be put to use, so I texted my brother for a coffee, and he arrived ten minutes later.
The fact he would drop whatever he was doing for me made my heart swell. He might be my only family left, but he made up for the absence of our parents with his protective, large heart. “Why wouldn’t you graduate in the spring?”
“Mom and Dad left us some money for tuition. I’m here on a scholarship,” he said, his voice strained, like it physically hurt to talk about them.
I understood the pain. It hit me whenever I mentioned them too.
“So, you’ll blow two years of school? For what?”
“Getting my master’s in business administration. It’ll give me the platform I need to start a good career when I’m done here.” He took a drink of his lemonade and broke the brownie into pieces on his plate. His gaze moved to Hannah for a second before returning to me. “Don’t get mad.”
“I sense a but coming.”
He flashed a quick smile. “I’m not thrilled that this program is hours away. It’s killing me a bit, actually. I know you want your independence but… I won’t be able to check in with you all the time. I’ll miss you.”
