Another name. Another second spent touching my earring. “Sergio…?”
“Short guy. Prides himself with being the first recruit. Big eyes he claims is more than 20/20. Looks like a morally conflicted meerkat.”
A short laugh comes out of me.
“See?” Stan says. “You get my humor. Soulmates confirmed.”
I roll my eyes. But my pulse jumps.
“So Sergio offers Tomas a pastry to calm him down. Which, shockingly, didnotcalm him down. Then they both started screaming at each other.”
“Are they okay now?”
“Everyone’s okay. No one jumped overboard.” Stan lifts the frozen coffee my way. “Last sip. Want it?”
“Nah, you can have it.”
He smirks. “Was hoping you’d say that.”
With his eyes on mine, he wraps his lips around the straw and sucks slowly.
The sight does something to me it shouldn’t. My mouth goes dry. My body remembers how I came in his bed earlier. That’s the last thing I wanna remember right now.
When he pulls back, he drags his tongue across the corner of his mouth. The cup lowers a little. He keeps looking at me.
“If you change your mind,” he says, “you can taste it anyway.”
“How…?”
He taps his lower lip with his thumb. “Right here. You can kiss my lips for it.”
Heat climbs up my face so fast I feel light. My hands flex against the mattress.
I don’t say anything. It’s too warm in the room. Or maybe it’s him.
A breathless chuckle slips out of him. “You’re a lot of fun, Ocean Eyes.”
He steps back, easy and smooth. My eyes follow every move he makes.
“If you ever want to take the offer, we can always blame Kys for it.”
Then he heads to the powder room, closing the door behind him.
I take a shaky breath in and fall back on my bunk. Staring at the ceiling, I can’t control the feverish heat hitting my face.
I’ll blame this entire mess on Kys. Because if my heart’s beating hard ‘cause of Stan, I’m fucking screwed.
My fist flies, forcing my hammering chest to calm the hell down.
This is literal trouble. If I get this jealous when he pays attention to other people—and we’re onlyfriends—I don’t want to know what I’ll be like if I ever become more than that to him.
Shit, I remind myself.This time, it has to be Kys talking.
8
Stan
February 26 — Quarters Four
