This is terrible, a risk I can’t afford. I should push him away, tell him to go back to his bed, that it was all a mistake. That he’s just sick and confused.
That he’ll regret it in the morning.
His lips skirt the heady pulse in my neck, and my lungs constrict.
“Mm. Whit. Why do you smell so good?”
Those words—the sincerity and need lined in each one…
I let my hand gently touch his back, settling against his warm skin, and I know I’m not going anywhere.
CHAPTER THREE
I expected him to roll off of me at some point in the night. But he only rolled onto me further. He’s completely on top of me now.
His naked body is completely draped across mine.
For the first hour, I just cupped his lower back, holding on to him. I behaved. But then my fingers itched to move, and I let my thumb slide up his spine. Just an inch, but the moan of satisfaction he gave at the simple touch snapped something wound tightly in me.
I spend the rest of the night letting my hands move across his warm skin, bouncing up his spine, curling around his shoulders, raking across his scalp.
The sounds of approval he gives me with each graze render me unable to sleep, adrenaline and excitement writhing inside of me.
When the sun peeks over the horizon, casting the room in pinks and blues, I see his phone light up, a message on his screen.
My stroking hand pauses, and he shifts against me, murmuring something in his fevered state.
My gaze strains toward the phone on the side table, and I see several other messages pop up. I know little about Caleb, his family, and his life before becoming my roommate. But perhaps he’s the kindof guy who messages his mother before bed, and now she’s worried about him.
It’s a wild thought, one that even I doubt, but it has me reaching for his phone, my fingertips dragging it toward me. I really shouldn’t do this. I shouldn’t, but once that phone is in my palm, I know I won’t be able to let this rest.
My gaze flicks down to the screen, and I see he has messages from Aunt Del, a guy named Luke, and another named Mal. I know that in order to see what they said, I need access to his phone, but that’s a major invasion of his privacy.
I debate it, my hands leaving Caleb’s back for a moment, just to see if I can open his phone. But then he shifts restlessly on top of me, and I stroke his back once more, helping him settle. His face turns, and so does my wrist.
Unlocking the phone.
I shouldn’t do it. I should wake him, but he’s sleeping happily, his body still against mine. I shouldn’t bother him. He needs to rest.
My thumb flicks across the screen, and I pull up the first message.
Aunt Del:
How are you, baby?
We miss you. You coming home soon?
Send me a date and I’ll make your favorite dinner.
Jealousy courses through me. What would it be like to have someone care about me that much, to invite me home just to visit, with no strings attached?
I exit out of that conversation, and know I shouldn’t, but open up the one from Luke.
Luke:
Dude, wanna see the shit I just took? It’s huge.
I click out of that conversation before I see anything I can’t forget.Then I click over to Mal. I know this is his best friend. He’s mentioned him more than a few times.
