To the Stars (Thatch #2)(4)

I turned and looked up at the same guy I’d just stepped on.

“A girl who looks like you shouldn’t be out here alone.”

“Because of guys like you?” I challenged, raising an eyebrow, but there was a teasing hint to my tone.

That crooked smile was back, and he laughed softly as he leaned up against the wall next to me, close enough that our arms were touching. “Considering they asked me to come out here with you, I sure as hell hope not.”

My face fell. “I don’t need you to be my keeper; I’m just getting some air.”

He bent down so that his dark eyes were directly in front of mine, the intensity in them pinning me to the wall. “And I never said I didn’t want to be the one to come out here with you.”

My pulse thrummed quickly at his admission, and my body warmed under his stare. I felt myself inching toward him, and my breaths deepened from his nearness. My eyes bounced over his face and body, taking him in more clearly now that we were outside in the glow from the setting sun. The fitted gray Henley shirt that stopped just below where his low-slung jeans began showed a lean, muscular build to his tall frame. His flawless, tan skin drew me toward his dark eyes, which I somehow knew would tell me everything, without him ever saying a word.

My eyes fell to his lips, and I caught myself wanting to know how they would feel against my skin. Let them come to you. Hayley’s words ghosted through my mind, and I cleared my throat and looked away before I could do something stupid, like ask if I could feel his lips on mine.

I needed to find a flaw, and I needed to focus on it so I wouldn’t start thinking this guy had been created by the gods for no purpose other than to make girls like me drool and forget how to have normal conversations. Ridiculous hormones—1, Harlow—0.

“So, uh, you’re obviously not from around here.”

“Obviously?” he asked, humor lacing through the word.

Well, you’re gorgeous and I’ve never seen you. So, yes, obviously. I held back an eye roll and internally groaned at how I was already messing this up. “Um, I just meant I’ve never seen you before, but then again, everyone else seemed to know you, so I could be wrong.”

“Knox Alexander,” he said, and stretched out his hand for me to take. “And you weren’t wrong. I’m actually from Thatch, so a few hours from here.”

“And somehow you’re already friends with everyone even though I’m just meeting you?”

He nodded in the direction of the building. “Sara is my sister. She’s been here in Seattle for about a year now, and knows some of them from school. I’ve hung out with everyone a few times this summer. Now tell me why I haven’t met you before tonight . . . and why I still don’t have your name.”

I bit back a smile. “My name is Harlow. I’m Hayley’s sister.”

His brow pinched together. “Twins?” he asked, and I laughed at his honest question. It was one we got asked a lot.

“Uh, no. Not even close, but I’ll take that as a compliment. Anyway, I’ve been grounded since school let out a month ago, but that finally let up.”

Knox’s face fell, and I could tell he was replaying my words in his head. “Wait, how old are you?”

“Fifteen.”

He just stared at me, not saying anything while a conflicted look crossed his face.

“Why?” I asked, drawing the word out. “How old did you think I was?”

There was a pause before he mumbled, “Not fifteen.”

“How old are you?”

“I’ll be eighteen in a little over a week.”

I didn’t understand the problem with that. Everyone I hung out with was at least eighteen, but from the look on Knox’s face, it was definitely a problem. “And?”

He forced a smile and cleared his throat. “And nothing. I guess I just hadn’t expected that.”

I didn’t miss the way his eyes wouldn’t meet mine after that, or how he moved his body away.

Wait, what just happened? Why did those intense eyes shut down, and why is there a coldness settling between us? This is what I get for listening to Hayley!

My shoulders sagged in defeat and I pushed away from the wall to head in the direction of a lower wall that ran along the lawn.

“Aren’t you going back in?” Knox asked as he followed.

“No, but you’re more than welcome to. I’ll call my mom to come get me.”

“Why are you leaving?” he asked, and his hand gently grasped my forearm to stop me from walking.

I looked down at where his long fingers wrapped around my arm, the heat beneath his hand something so much more than his body temperature. My breaths became audible when I looked behind my shoulder to see him looking down at our arms.

When his eyes met mine again, the intensity was back. “Why are you leaving?” he asked again; the huskiness of his deep voice made me sway toward him—he didn’t let me get close.

“Um, concerts aren’t my thing apparently,” I muttered as I pulled my arm from his grasp. “I’d never been to one before, and now I see I wasn’t missing out on anything.”

“Then I’ll stay out here with you.”

“I told you I don’t need a keeper,” I gritted out.

“Trust me, Harlow, that’s the last thing I want to be.”