Fake It 'Til You Break It(25)

I pull back, gliding my tongue along my bottom lip and her eyes follow, slowly raising to mine.

"How far will you let me go?"

“I...” She blinks, shaking her head lightly as if she’s confused but can’t focus.

I discreetly reach into my pocket for my keycard. When I pull back, her hands stay glued to my chest, but her head draws away with mine, an unsure expression stamped across her face.

“Turn and look,” I instruct her.

As I thought she would, she hesitates a second, but can’t help herself in the end.

She shifts her head and mine follows.

Some of our classmates pass, eyeing us curiously, a few girls laugh while a couple guys grin, and others are too buzzed or wrapped up in their own hook-ups to notice, but not Alex.

His feet now shuffle him stupidly slow down the hall, his eyes raking over our position before lifting.

I wait for his stare to move to hers, wait for a hint of the fucking grin I know comes next, the one he gives everyone, and the one I know will have her smiling wide back, all fucking hopeful and shit.

Not happening.

Before she can react, I quickly wrap my arm around her waist, and drop my head into her neck, effectively blocking her from his view. I slip the key in the slot and the door unlocks, so I quickly push her backward into the room.

It clicks shut behind us, my hands falling from her in the same second.

Her palms fly up as she stands there open-mouthed, and finally, she gets her grip and hits me with a little glare.

“What...” She shakes her head, eyes flying around my room. “I don’t... why are you getting naked?” she sizzles.

Ah, there’s the anger.

I ignore her, tossing my shirt to the little chair as I kick off my shoes.

“What the hell!” She throws her arms up only to let them drop back to her sides with a slap.

I move toward her and her eyes slice to my bare chest.

She swallows and looks away. “Seriously, Nico, what is this, what was that? Better yet, why the hell am I in your room – this is your room, right, you didn’t just break into someone else’s?”

My arm slips past her and she holds her breath, letting it out when I lift the remote in front of her face and step backward until I can lie back on the bed.

“That was me helping you.” I can’t keep the irritation out of my voice. “Bet lover boy hits you up on the beach tomorrow now.”

“Are you joking?!” she shrieks. “He’s gonna think we’re hooking up!”

“And?”

“And...” Her eyes widen, but she has no idea what to say, so she goes with the most obvious response. “He’ll think we’re dating!”

I level her with a bored look. “That’s the last thing he’ll think.”

Her head pulls back, and like a brat, she crosses her arms. “Because Nico Sykes would never waste his time on a girl like me, right?”

“Wrong.” My stare moves to hers. “Because Nico Sykes could fuck you either way.”

She sneers. “You—”

“Stop talking,” I interrupt her, not interested in hearing her crybaby shit over that idiot. “I did you a favor, now you won’t have to try so hard. Sit down, play on your phone or watch whatever I put on, something.”

“Like I trust you enough to sit on your bed with you.”

My eyes jump back to hers and she keeps her glare strong a minute, I’ll give her that, but slowly, it wipes away and she looks to the wall.

She trusts me enough, just like she did when we were younger.

We might not have been friendly over the last few years, but I’m not some fuckin’ stranger to her.

“Sit.”

She scoffs, moving for the door instead.

“You leave, he’ll think you’re a lousy lay and couldn’t even help me get it up.”

“Or,” she snaps back. “He’ll think you’re a minute man and be dying to show he can hang longer.”

A loud laugh leaves me and she rolls her eyes.

“D, he knows better than that, but do what you want. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“It’s not like he’s standing out there waiting to see when I leave. I’m sure he’s in his room by now, you know, with the same girl you were fucking not long ago.”

My muscles tense.

Little does she know that’s a perfect fucking example of what I’ve explained to her. Why I gave her that insight, I don’t fucking know. I’ll have to fix this and quick.

I manage to lift my shoulders. “Maybe, but I guarantee there’re still others out there. Word travels. Want to be the girl known as the tease who loads but can’t pull the trigger and cuts before release?”

Her glare gets a little more profound.

She stands there for a solid five minutes, probably playing every fucking situation over and over again in her head, before she growls, tosses down her little bag and flops on the bed beside me.

She twists her body, facing the opposite wall. “My room is somehow right next to yours. I should have left the damn adjoining door unlocked, and I’d be in my own right now.”

“Too bad for you.”

“I can’t stand you,” she growls, angrily hitting the pillow to get comfortable.