I hated how easy it was.Responding to him became a reflex, how my fingers hovered waiting for the next text while the books scattered around me became a lost memory.
JAXON
You said you go to Kingsview right?
Haven't been on campus in a while.
My brows knitted.
SAVANNAH
…you went to Kingsview?
JAXON
Don't sound so shocked.
Was there for a year then dropped out.
Family stuff.
SAVANNAH
So you do have a brain somewhere in there.
His reply didn’t come this time.Instead, a low voice brushed the shell of my ear from behind.
“Yes, trouble, I do.”
My heart jumped so violently, I nearly knocked over my casebook.I snapped my head up, pulse hammering.
And there he was.
Jaxon Cage.
In black jeans, a dark hoodie, a shadow of stubble, and two coffee cups in hand, walking around me like he belonged in the one place I’d sworn he never would.
He took the seat across from me with an ease that made my pulse misfire, setting one cup in front of me.Then he nudged it closer with his knuckles.
“Cinnamon latte for you,” he drawled, raising his cup to salute me.“Dark roast for me.”
I blinked at him.
Then at the cup.
Heat crawled up my neck before I could kill it, and I could almost feel the tiny crack in my defensive wall.He bought me coffee.It shouldn't have mattered, but I was a sucker for small gestures like that.
And I could count on one hand the amount of times Chase did that for me.
Not that it mattered.
I lifted the cup and pretended to study it instead of the way his eyes were watching me like I was the only thing worth looking at.When it looked completely harmless, I brought it to my lips.
“Thanks,” I said quietly.
“Mhm.”He leaned back, assessing the nearly empty library.“So.This is where you live.”
“Study,” I corrected.“The library feels like home.”
