“She always goes to Jax’s room,” I add.
“Yeah.” He licks his lips. “I’ve noticed.”
“Does it bother you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. You?”
“Yeah, I don’t know.”
We sit there in silence for a moment. Then Callum stands. He grabs his bag.
“See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah.”
The next morning, I’m at the house when Tiger gets back from dropping Zinnia at school.
She walks in looking tense. Shoulders tight. Face stressed.
“Hey,” I say.
“Hey.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Just tired.”
I walk over and take her hand. “Come here.”
“Zeff, I have stuff to—”
“It can wait five minutes. Come on.”
I pull her down the hall to my room and loosely close the door behind us.
She looks at me. “What are we doing?”
I cup her face and kiss her. Slow and deep.
She melts into it immediately. Her hands gripping my shirt. Her body pressing against mine.
When I pull back, she’s blushing. “What was that for?”
“You’ve been distant. I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine.”
“Tiger—”
“Really. I’m just stressed.”
“About what?”
She sits on the edge of my bed. “The hearing’s tomorrow. And Zinnia just started her new school. And I’m trying to get the college stuff figured out. And I feel like I’m drowning.”
I sit next to her. “What do you need?”
“I don’t know.”
