“Just out.”
A knowing look crossed his face despite how wrecked he appeared. “At two in the morning? I gotcha.”
I didn’t acknowledge what he suspected. I was already lying by omission. I didn’t like the idea of lying outright.
“Try to get some sleep,” I said, hating myself for every word I wasn’t saying. “I can take her tomorrow after my classes and give you a break so you can get a nap in before practice.”
Drew shifted Rory to his other shoulder, bouncing slightly. “You’re a good friend, you know that? I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
The guilt was a knife twisting in my chest. Good friend. Right. A good friend wouldn’t be sneaking out to hook up with his best friend’s sister.
“I should go,” I said, gesturing toward the stairs.
He gave me a head nod and a smile. “Have fun,” he said before he disappeared back into his room.
And despite the guilt eating at my soul, I still walked down the stairs and toward my truck to go see Ava.
THIRTEEN
I was going to wear a hole in the carpet if I kept pacing like this.
Come over and find out. Unless you’re scared.
God, what had I been thinking? I’d basically dared Liam Farrell to come to my dorm at two in the morning for sex. Well, not sex exactly. But close enough. The striptease item on my list had seemed empowering when I wrote it—a way to feel sexy and confident, to prove Chris wrong about me being boring. But now that Liam was actually on his way, all I could think about was every possible way I could embarrass myself.
What if I looked ridiculous? What if I moved weird? What if he laughed—not in a good way, but in an oh-God-this-is-awkward way?
I stopped pacing long enough to grab my wine glass from my desk and drain the last of it. The cheap Moscato Sydney kept stocked for movie nights wasn’t exactly liquid courage, but it was doing its job—chasing away just enough of the nerves to keep me from texting him never mind, forget it, don’t come.
Thank God Syd was staying over at her boyfriend’s house tonight. I didn’t know how I would’ve explained Liam showing up at this hour otherwise. While she knew about the bucket list, I hadn’t exactly told her that I’d found someone to do it with me, or that the someone was Liam.
I set my empty wine glass down and then grabbed my marketing textbook which was still open on my bed from when I’d been pretending to study, but distractedly thinking about Liam long before he texted me. I’d pulled the wine out when we’d started texting—well, more like when my face had flamed red when he’d started sharing all the things he wanted to do to me. No one, and I repeat,no onehad ever said anything like that to me.
It made me flustered.
And hot.
And so incredibly horny.
So I’d had a glass of wine, hoping it would chill me out.
But now I was freaking out for other reasons.
I had fairy lights strung all around my side of the room because I loved the soft glow they gave the space, but what if Liam thought they were romantic? Like I was setting a scene. Like I was trying to make this into something it wasn’t supposed to be.
This was just sex. There weren’t supposed to be feelings or strings, and I was worried the soft lighting would suggest otherwise.
But unplugging them would mean turning on the harsh overhead light, and there was no way in hell I was doing a striptease under fluorescents. So the fairy lights stayed, and I just had to hope Liam wouldn’t read anything into it.
A knock at the door made my heart slam against my ribs.
He was here.
I took a breath, tugged on the hem of my oversized CFU T-shirt—suddenly hyperaware that I was braless in thin cotton and men’s boxers—and opened the door.
Liam stood in the hallway looking more handsome than any man had a right to be, especially when he was struggling to get sleep. There should be dark circles under his eyes and his hair should be crazy, but instead he looked like he’d just walked out of a men’s magazine shoot. His hair was only slightly messy, and he was wearing a maroon Clark Fork University hoodie and gray sweatpants that left little to the imagination.
But despite how hot he looked, it was the way he looked atmethat had my breath stuck in my throat. His gaze was hot and hungry as it slid down my body and back up again.
