Ispent entirely too long getting ready for a boy who was technically coming over to talk about cellular respiration.
Which felt ridiculous.
And also very real.
I cleaned my room. Twice. Yet it still didn’t look right. I rearranged my desk. Moved my succulent three inches to the left. Fluffed pillows that didn’t need fluffing, punching them into submission until they looked casually perfect. Lit a vanilla candle and then immediately blew it out because it felt too much like a date, which this clearly wasn’t.
I changed outfits three times before settling on jean shorts and an oversized off-the-shoulder sweater in deep gray. I needed to feel good to get through this night. My hair was an entire matter in itself, and since I didn’t have the time to properly deal with it, I pulled it up and secured it out of the way.
Catching a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror, I gave myself a much-needed motivational talk.
You’re fine.
Totally fine.
He’s just your lab partner.
Who I’d made out with in a cellar and might have the world’s worst crush on. Whose tongue I still remembered the taste of. Whose hands I still felt running up my legs. Whose?—
Stop.
I shook my head, flinging those thoughts from my mind. This was a study session, not a make-out session.
Grabbing a notebook and my laptop, I dropped them onto the bed and stuffed his hoodie that I may or may not have been sleeping in into my closet. I had only one thing left to do. Not wanting to disappoint Paisley again, I slipped downstairs while my mom was absorbed in work, moving quietly into the kitchen to snag a small bottle of liquor from the cabinet. I tucked it into my sweater and headed back upstairs before she could notice.
I doubted Maddox would willingly open up about what happened to Kaylor, knowing how he felt about her. If I needed liquid encouragement to pry it out of him, to loosen the walls he kept so carefully constructed…
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
My head whirled to the window at a car door shutting outside, making my heart leap straight into my throat, pulse spiking so fast I felt dizzy.
Holy. Shit. He’s here.
Scrambling out of my room, I rushed downstairs to the door before he could ring the bell. Mom knew my lab partner was coming over to work on this project. I failed to tell her my lab partner was a boy. Either way, I didn’t want her grilling him before he set foot in the house.
I swung the door open as he stepped onto the porch. His dark hair was damp, messily shaken by the wind. He must have showered after practice. A clean white tee stretched across his chest and shoulders, the fabric thin enough that I saw the definition of muscle beneath and the dark outline of his tattoos.Gray sweatpants hung low on his hips in a way that should honestly be illegal, the drawstring loose and tempting.
“Hey,” he greeted, those light-green eyes dragging over me once in a slow sweep from my bare shoulder down to my feet and back up before settling on my face with a stomach-flipping intensity.
I grinned, unable to help myself. “Hey,” I managed, praying my voice didn’t squeak or crack and betray how affected I was by his mere presence.
His hand came to rest on the door frame, leaning in closer to me. “You gonna invite me in, Hales, or just stare at me?”
My eyes narrowed slightly. “Who said I was staring?”
“Ogling then?”
“You wish, Corvo. And yes, please come in before the neighbors see you on my porch and call the cops.” I opened the door wider, stepping to the side and waiting for him to saunter in.
His lips twitched. “That’s a valid concern.” I caught a whiff of his soap as he walked past me, stepping into the small foyer.
Edible was the only word that came to mind.
Before my mom could poke her head out of her office, I led him upstairs, his presence making me hyperaware of my own body, of the distance between us, and of how easily he could close it if he wanted to. I prayed I wouldn’t trip over my feet and fall flat on my face.
We slipped into my room, and I shut the door behind me, trying not to freak out over being alone with Maddox, especially in a space with a freaking bed. It nearly felt too intimate watching him move through my bedroom, gaze roaming over my stuff and taking it all in, the soft sage-green walls, the flowing white sheer curtains with little rose details, and the fairy lights draped along the ceiling edges.
He went to the large window overlooking the woods beyond, the curtains fluttering faintly in the breeze from the half-open pane. His lips turned down as he peered through the glass, and I wondered what the hell he was thinking.
