The Hardest Fall(30)

There was a loud thud followed by footsteps and then nothing. I could already feel him standing over me so I shouldn’t have felt the urge to look up to see the expression on his face, but just to make sure, I peeked through my fingers and…yup, he was right there, those big strong arms crossed over his chest, an eyebrow raised…waiting. I should’ve gone straight to my room.

“Hello to you, too, Zoe,” he said when he realized nothing was coming out of my mouth.

I groaned and hid my face again.

“Care to tell me what just happened?”

I sort of snorted and then couldn’t keep it in any longer. First, my shoulders started shaking, then my quiet, private laughter grew louder. When I had it under control and my laughs had pretty much died down to snickers, I chanced another look at him.

Thank God he had a big grin on his face; it helped me feel like less of a fool.

I dropped my head back and stared at the ceiling. “You’re not angry at me, are you? I’m really hoping that smile on your face means you’re amused and not psychotic.”

Feeling big hands curl around my ankles made me sit straight up with the unexpectedness of it. Not affected by my little jump, Dylan gently set my feet down and sat right next to me, in the middle of the couch. I scooted back a few inches more until my back hit the armrest and there was a little more space between us, more room to breathe—hopefully.

“I’m not sure. I’ll decide after you tell me what happened back there.”

“I know you said you hate liars last night, but this doesn’t count, okay? You shouldn’t hate your roommate.” Clearing my throat, I gave him something between a smile and a grimace. “She is the landlord and the only person over twenty-five living in this building. She is nosy as hell. I swear to you she knows everything that goes on. She’d already talked my ear off before I bumped into you, which is why I bumped into you, really, because I was trying to get away, and she thought I was being a slut and was basically trying to save me from myself. It’s not that I care, but again, she is nosy as hell, and once she gets going, it turns into an interrogation, but what am I supposed to do? She’s old, so I can’t snap at her. I had to tell her something.”

Dylan stretched his arm across the back of the couch and leaned just a little bit forward, causing me to lean back—just in case.

“So the best thing you could come up with was telling her I was gay?”

Another snort escaped me and I blushed. “No harm, no foul, right? It seemed like the best idea at the time. At least this way she won’t camp out in front of our door.”

“You couldn’t tell her we were just friends?”

Right, I was gonna be friends with him.

“Her mind doesn’t work like that. Boys and girls can’t be friends. She thinks boys are after one thing and one thing only, and since you’re a boy…she’d think you’re after my…”

“After your…” He trailed off, waiting for me to fill the silence. I wasn’t going to do that.

“I think you get the picture.”

“Maybe I do get the picture.” His lips tipped up. “Thanks, Zoe. Looks like we’re gonna have a lot of fun.”

As his eyes bored into mine, we sat there like two idiots, smiling at each other.

“Why are you smiling like that?” he asked with a chin lift. I stopped smiling and touched my lips with my fingertips. Was something wrong with my smile?

“Why are you smiling like that?” I shot back.

An eyebrow went up, and the lone eyebrow lift combined with that damn smile…it was enough to make my heart skip a beat.

“This is how I smile,” Dylan answered.

“Well…it’s…too big.”

Zoe. Oh, Zoe. You poor poor child.

His dark blue eyes were sparkling with laughter and those lips tipped even higher. One second stretched into two, and then two seconds turned into a staring contest. What the hell was he thinking? I didn’t know him well enough to make a good guess, and it got harder to keep my eyes locked on his with each passing second. I was such a sore loser, so there was no way I’d be the first one to look away.

After what felt like an hour of the weirdest staring contest—which I won, thank you very much—he shook his head and rubbed his hand over his short hair.

“What?” I asked quietly, genuinely curious to hear what he was thinking.

He sighed and got up. “Nothing.”

“No, tell me. What?”

Dylan hesitated.

“You remember those people we talked about?” I prompted. “The ones we don’t like?” A quick nod. “I don’t like people who don’t finish their sentences either.”

“I didn’t start a sentence.”

I tapped a finger to my temple. “You started it in here.”

That earned me a warm chuckle. “You keep doing things I’m not expecting you to do. It throws me off, that’s all.”

“Is that a bad thing or a good thing?”

“Haven’t decided yet.”

“Let’s not waste your time—let’s agree that it’s a good thing.”

I caught the twitch of his lips as he leaned down to hook his bag over his shoulder. “You think so?”

“Oh yeah. I’ll keep you on your toes.” I pushed myself up from the couch to stand next to him. “So we’re good? Buddies? You don’t mind that I told her you’re gay?”