“It’s a little funny.” He shakes his head. “You’ve got it bad.”
“Shut up.”
“We all do. You’re just the worst at hiding it.”
I drop onto the other end of the couch and stare at the ceiling.
He’s not wrong.
I’ve got it so bad, and she looked at my mouth, and now all I can think about is what she tastes like.
Chapter 16
Nova
I’m still sitting on the bed, phone in my hand, staring at the door Rane just stumbled through.
What the fuck was that?
I can still feel where his chest pressed against my shoulder. Still smell whatever soap he uses—something warm, a little spicy. Still hear the way his voice went rough when he said my name.
And I looked at his mouth. I looked at his lips like—
No. Stop. That was nothing. He was just close. People get close sometimes. It doesn’t mean anything.
Except my heart is still pounding and I can still smell him and I kind of want him to come back.
Fuck.
This isn’t just about being close.
It felt like… I don’t know, like I wanted to kiss him. Like I wanted to get closer.
I think.
I’m honestly not sure what that feels like.
I shove that thought down so hard it should leave a bruise.
The phone is still warm in my hand. I look at the screen, swipe up like Rane showed me. The contacts are right there. Five names. Five numbers. Five people who rearranged their schedules so I wouldn’t be alone on my first day. Who feed me without making it weird. Who are always just… there.
I don’t know what to do with that. I don’t know what to do with any of this.
A knock at the door.
I shove the phone under my pillow like I was doing something wrong, which is stupid because I wasn’t, and say, “Yeah?”
The door opens and Beckett’s standing there. He looks—different. There’s something in his expression I haven’t seen before. Almost like he’s trying not to smile.
“Someone’s here for you,” he says.
“What?”
“Downstairs.”
He doesn’t explain. Just steps back and waits for me to follow.
I get up, suddenly aware that I’m still in the same joggers I slept in, hair probably a disaster. But Beckett’s already heading down the hall, so I grab the phone and follow.
