“Tell me about it,” she murmured.
I couldn’t pull my gaze away from her. My eyes kept straying to her parted lips. Her exhales were heavy, as if she would willingly drown in relief. My jaw tightened when she brought one of her hands to her cheek. Her fingers were long and graceful as she brushed them across her dark skin.
Stop it, I willed myself. She’s your friend. Once you tell her you’re Mid, she’ll stay your friend because you can’t lose each other. What we have is important. Too important to fuck up.
I opened my mouth, ready to start the conversation I’d been dreading. Ever since I bolted from the lab, I rehearsed how I wanted to tell her the truth. Naomi beat me to the punch with, “So, I saw you out on the ice and you’re amazing. Far more graceful than I expected from a guy your size.”
“Graceful,” I repeated with a grunt.
“Sorry, is that offensive?” Her eyes were open now and locked with mine. She looked so concerned.
“No. It’s fine.” I looked away. Eye contact with her for too long made my palms burn with the desire to replace her hand with mine on her cheek. I could keep her warm.
Damn it. Stop.
“Since I can’t even stand up on skates, I suppose any forward motion is graceful to me,” she said with a light laugh.
“I’m really surprised you don’t skate.” I grew up on the ice and so did most people in the surrounding towns. It was hard to avoid skating rinks or hockey fans in Tinsel.
Naomi shook her head. “I tried and failed once. Never went back. The blades on skates freak me out. I watched aMyth Bustersepisode about the blade being able to slice into someone’s neck and vowed to never again get that close. Obviously, one would have to be doing something intense to result in an accident of that level, but with my luck, anything’s possible.”
My mouth twitched. I almost smiled at her rambling. Of course, she would think of the most impossible scenario when it came to trying something new. “It’s not that bad once you get used to it. I could…”
Teach her? No. That’d be weird. She seemed busy, and I wasn’t in any shape to spend more than a few minutes socializing. Besides, she needed to know who I was before we spent too much time together.
“You could…?” She tried with a raised brow.
I shook my head, ready to bury the idea. “Nothing.”
We went quiet. Once the silence settled, she pulled out her phone again. I trained my eyes forward and tried to keep my expression unbothered when I felt a buzz in my pocket. I waited a good minute before pulling out my phone to check the notification.
Chai03: So, I’m doing my best with the roommate but, no dice. Think Imma give up. Being likable is exhausting.
My heart sunk. I stared at the message for another second and then turned off my notifications before she got suspicious.
My fingers combed through my hair as I tried to figure out how to salvage the conversation. But nothing felt right. Just blurting out I was MidQuest would probably do more harm than good now. She was nice. Naomi would feel bad for just sending that message, and she shouldn’t. I was the one who should feel embarrassed. I wasn’t anywhere close to the guy she’d come to depend on. She was right. Trying to be likable was exhausting.
Chapter Fourteen
Finn
Thehousewasquietenough for me to hear every creak of wood or cough from the guys. Someone was having sex. My room was at the end of the hall, so I couldn’t figure out who. It’d been going on for almost an hour before Lincoln complained in our group chat:
Lincoln: This is getting ridiculous.
Me: I’ll say.
Henrik: Boohoo. Lucky you two aren’t right next door.
I chuckled. Of course, it was Sam. When wasn’t it?
Lincoln: He’s either really good or really bad at getting this girl off. Either way, I hate I’m wondering which it is.
Henrik: He’s good. No need to wonder.
Lincoln: Good Lord, I’m ordering earplugs.
Now, that sounded like a smart investment.
