“HEY.” MY CHEEKS HEATED AS I walked into Till’s apartment.
Memories of his mouth against my breast flooded my mind and ensured that my nipples immediately hardened. I would have used that to my advantage, but the boys were present, so I quickly crossed my arms.
Quarry rushed me as soon as my feet hit the carpet. “Eliza, guess what? I won my fight at the gym tonight! So next week, I get to fight Chris. He’s, like, really, really good, but I can take him. He does this thing where he drops his hands. I’m gonna . . .”
He continued to ramble about boxing, but my attention was on Till, who was standing in the kitchen with a spoonful of peanut butter frozen in midair. His free hand jumped to his bottom lip as soon as we made eye contact.
“Hey, Doodle.”
His greeting immediately put me on guard. The way he’d said, “Doodle” might as well have been the Great Wall of China for as much as it divided us. The night before, I was Eliza.
I tilted my head to side. “Why’d you call me that?”
“I always call you Doodle,” he responded, but even that sounded distant.
Oh, yeah. There had definitely been muddling going on in his head since he’d crawled out of my bed the night before.
“Not always.” I narrowed my eyes, and he narrowed his right back at me.
Quarry continued to talk about his day, and Flint read on the couch. As usual, they were both oblivious to the stare-off that Till and I were engaged in.
Finally, a small smile played on his lips as he flipped the spoon over and shoved it in his mouth. I might have moaned as he slowly dragged it out. It wasn’t meant to be sexy, but the memories from the night before made it damn near electric. However, it did manage to soothe my exposed nerves—and drench my panties.
“You hungry?” he asked, breaking the awkwardness that was partially because of our first after-sex encounter and partially because I was openly gawking at him as he ate freaking peanut butter.
“If you are making anything except mac and cheese ramen, yes.”
“Soooo, you’re not hungry, then?” He lifted a bag of shredded cheese off the counter and tossed a fistful into the pot on the stove.
I laughed and continued trying to gauge what direction his mind had taken him over the last twenty-four hours. The nickname had spoken wonders, but his eyes drifted down my body, saying something else altogether.
“No. I’m definitely not hungry, then. Look, I can’t stay tonight. I have a big test tomorrow in accounting, but I just wanted to see if anybody needed help with homework before I disappeared.”
“I’m good,” Flint answered, not taking his eyes off his book.
“I finished all mine at the gym,” Quarry called out, spooning his own peanut butter into his mouth.
“Okay. Good deal.” I turned my attention back to Till. “You still coming over tonight?”
He hesitated for a second. “Um . . . do you . . . still want me to?”
“I just figured since, ya know, you come over every night.”
“Right. So then why would you ask?” He arched an eyebrow.
Then it was my turn to feel awkward. “I . . .” I trailed off.
Quarry’s eyes were bouncing between us questioningly, and even Flint took notice of our uncomfortable conversation.
“All right, you guys get something to eat,” Till instructed as he walked in my direction. Then he guided me to his front door.
“So, I’ll see you tonight?” I asked as he stepped outside with me.
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and looked over my head as he asked, “Are we good?” His eyes nervously flashed to mine.
It might have been wrong, but his nerves made me smile. “I’m really good,” I purred. Deciding to put his fears to rest, I wrapped my arms around his waist and snuggled my head against his chest. “Are you good?”
He released a loud breath and then chuckled as he looped his arms around me. “I’m good.”
“So, I’ll see you tonight?” I repeated then glanced up to find him staring down at me. It was a brief second, but whatever worry I had that Till had jumped ship on his promise to me vanished.
Forever blazed from his eyes.
“Leave the window open.”
Both times I had been with Till in the past had been spontaneous, but later that night, I actually had the opportunity to prepare first. I showered, blew my hair dry, shaved—everything. Instead of washing my face like I usually did, I applied makeup before crawling into bed. I donned a sexy, see-through bra that usually hid in the back of my drawer and a matching thong, which was equally as sheer.
“Hi.” I stood up off the bed as he started climbing through the window.
His eyes went wide when he saw me, causing him to momentarily lose his balance on the windowsill and go crashing to the floor. “God. Damn,” he cursed as he rose to his feet while taking in my new wardrobe. “You . . . I . . . um . . .” His hand went to his lip.