Delilah's voice cracks through the hallway like lightning. She storms back into the room, all five-foot-seven of furious intensity, eyes blazing like she's about to commit a felony I'd happily be the victim of.
I step back, heart hammering against my ribs. "No?"
“No, you can't just—" She gestures wildly between us, her fingers slicing through the air. “You can't do that to me. It's not fair.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Do what?”
She glances toward the hall, then steps in and shuts the door. The click rings loud in the silence. My throat goes dry.
The house goes quiet.Tooquiet. I’d bet Ethan’s eavesdropping like his life depends on it.
She steps closer. Her voice drops to something dangerously soft.
“This. This feeling.”
“Feeling?”
“Yes! Don’t play dumb.” She's vibrating with frustration now. “The touches, the smirks, the... stupid lines. I’m not the kind of girl who falls for the mighty TroyfreakingHawkins. For your stupid sexy smile. I don’tdothat.” She glares at me. “Andit’s not fair for you to keep acting like this, like you actually mean it.”
I try not to grin and I fail spectacularly. “So... you do think I’m mighty?Andthat my smile is sexy?”
“Oh my god.” She groans and looks away but she’s blushing. Bright pink, all the way to her ears. “You areactuallyinsufferable!”
God, she’s hot when she’s mad. Which is, like, 90% of the time around me.
I step closer. Not fast—slow enough that she sees it coming. Slow enough that she could back away if she wanted to.
She doesn't back up. Not one inch.
Then I reach out and tilt her chin up with two fingers, the contact sending a jolt straight through me.
“Hey. Look at me.”
She jerks her head away like I've burned her. I follow her line of sight, gentler now. Try again.
“I’m not messing with you, Greer,” I say, voice quiet but certain. “There’s no angle. No plan. I’m not trying to win anything here.”
I take a breath, the words coming slower now. Lower. More honest than I've been with anyone in years.
“I'm attracted to you. And I'm trying really,reallyhard not to kiss you right now… because I don't know if that's something you'd want.”
Her lips part just slightly, her eyes flickering back to mine like she's searching for the lie. For the joke. I push forward before I can talk myself out of it.
“You drive meinsane. You act like the entire world is outto get you and you’re the only one smart enough to fight back.”
She doesn’t move. Doesn’t interrupt.
“But I like being around you,” I continue, voice dropping to barely above a whisper. “I like how your laugh sounds when you forget to hate me. I like when you smile even though you don't want to, especially when it's at my expense.”
Something shifts in her expression.
It’s not a smile. Not quite. But it’s not nothing, either.
“You challenge me. You make me think harder. Sharper. You confuse the hell out of me. You piss me off.” My heart is pounding so hard I'm surprised she can't hear it.
I lean in, just slightly, just enough that she can feel it—how close I am to crossing a line neither of us is ready to admit we want crossed.
“And I like you,” I say. “So much that it’s actually terrifying.”
