“What do you mean come in! Kick her out!”
Now James was never going to let me live that down.
Guys were always trying to climb on roofs and knock on girls’ bedroom windows on Netflix. Who knew what Tiffany was thinking. I wondered when I saw her perfectly comfortable in an elegant minidress. She looked like she was about to go out. But before she could give me a hand, James moved her aside and positioned himself in front of me. I almost lost my balance when he opened the window and flashed me a crooked grin.
“Hunter, let me in, please!”
I watched him cross his arms and flex his toned biceps.
“No way.”
“Come on, before your dad sees me. I’m hanging on the gutter!”
“Then stay there.” He burst out laughing.
I tried to pull myself up again to continue on the cornice, although the roof shingles were getting dangerously narrow at that point.
My right foot slipped, and for a moment I felt the void below me until someone grabbed my arm.
“Fuck, you’re clumsy,” spat James.
James helped me climb over the window, and I ended up right in his arms. Could a human really smell that good?
“You’re an idiot,” he teased, lifting me like I was a feather.
“And you’re just a—”
We gazed at each other up close. His blue eyes looked lighter than usual.
“And you’re—”
He absentmindedly ran his fingers through his hair, looking at me like a lost puppy. “Irresistible?” He put words in my mouth, going right back to being arrogant.
“No! Half naked as usual.”
I turned around suddenly to avoid getting lost in admiring his toned body.
“You’re a lost cause, White.” I heard him laugh. And then a feminine voice.
“June!”
Oh yeah, Tiffany.
“What the hell were you doing out there?”
“Hiding from my mom,” I admitted, a little sheepishly.
“What a dork.” James put on a pair of dark pants.
“Maybe you don’t know this, but she’s here. With your dad. We have to find out if they went on a trip together. If she lied to me for the umpteenth time, why—”
“Do you see how much of a pain she is?” James pointed at me while looking at Tiffany as if I wasn’t in the room. “If they want to fuck, let them.” James wasn’t being subtle, and Tiffany burst out laughing.
“Let me get this straight, you don’t care that they’re in a relationship?”
“How come you don’t get it? Do you think they have a relationship? My dad doesn’t commit to anyone. He got burned once in his life. He definitely isn’t gonna get involved with a half-crazy person like your mom.”
James’s words startled me.
