“He’s not going to be happy with me,” I mutter in the passenger seat.
Everyone replies with their own version of:“You could do nothing to make him unhappy.”
We reach a quiet neighborhood on a hill, and when Maeve parks across the street, I stare at the beautiful redbrick home trimmedwith black accents. It looks three stories tall, and when I look at the highest window, I see the shadow of a man watching us.
Julian and Penelope are laughing as we step onto the street. Ryan and Elena trail behind them while my blood runs cold with Maeve’s arm wrapped in mine. She opens her umbrella, which makes me chuckle.
“It’s only drizzling.”
“Whose place is this?” she asks, ignoring my teasing.
“Cody didn’t mention.”
I glance up to see if the shadow is still looming in the window. The person’s gone now.
Cody opens the front door, glaring at everyone with disapproval.
“Adela,” he says.
I look up at him.
“What is this?”
“They wanted to come.”
Elena lifts a brow. Penelope says, “Birthday celebrations aren’t over.”
Julian glances at me and then Cody. “We can leave.”
Ryan agrees.
“No,” I mutter. “We’re fed, have our own drinks.” Ryan holds up the champagne we brought from my birthday party. “It’s a party, right?” I flash him a smile.
He steps aside, letting my friends in. I place a hand on his chest and kiss his lips. “Thanks, baby,” I say, kissing him again. He shuts the door behind me and then walks around the party, introducing us to everyone.
“This is what you’ve been hiding from us, Cody?” one of the girls calls out. Her outfit is designer and edgy. Her dark, long-sleeved top shows off her nipples, and the leather barrel pants I recognize from Nour Hammour. I know because I have the same exact pair.
Cody’s brooding and on edge. I gently play with his fingers. I lean in and whisper, “We can leave if you want us to.”
When I pull back, he kisses me. Every single one of my friends catcalls us as we kiss.
Cody leans in and whispers, “I want you to stay.”
Warmth floods me at his undivided attention, even as the party continues around us; he and I are in our own world. I can’t wait to tell him that I’m transferring to his UW. Maeve thinks I should wait to tell him. Julian and Ryan warned me that he might not be happy at the surprise, and a piece of me wonders if they spoke about it before.
Cody doesn’t seem keen on socializing with the guys from his team, or maybe it’s because the six of us are here, and he doesn’t want to exclude us. I hold his hand, hoping that he feels an ounce of what I’m feeling; how it’s nice to have all of us together again. I’ve ached for this since he transferred. He kisses my hand like he knows what I’m thinking, and then he pulls me down the hall where no one is and kisses me softly.
“Stay at my place tonight,” he whispers against my lips, pressing his hard cock against me.
My mind flashes with him leaving my birthday party early just to rush here. It doesn’t make sense. I pull away, wetting my lips. He looks down at me, and then a shadow enters the hallway.
“Cody, are you going to introduce us to your friend?”
Cody straightens, turning his head. “She’s my girlfriend.” He turns around, and I look at the guy standing in the hallway. He’s the same one who was looking at us through the window.
“Adela, this is Beckett.”
Beckett glances at me with piercing blue eyes. His dark hair is a stark contrast. “Adela?”
