I sip my drink again, grateful for something to do with my mouth.
He leans a little closer, his smile easy now. “What about you? What do you do when you’re not introducing yourself to your new roommates by cooking naked in the kitchen?”
My cheeks go nuclear. “Die of embarrassment, mostly—and I wasn’t naked.”
He laughs again, soft and low, and it vibrates under my skin.
Whew! Is it hot out here?!
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have brought that up. I’m still sleep-deprived,” he deadpans. “And being out after 10 p.m. is legally inadmissible.”
I shift, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “You really weren’t expecting me that morning, huh?”
His smile turns sheepish. “Not even a little. I thought the house was empty. I was ready to faceplant straight into bed and then—bam—hot girl in her underwear, making eggs and threatening me with a spatula.”
Hot girl…
“I’m extremely good at making things weird.” I exhale.
He lifts his glass. “To weird.”
I clink mine against his. “To weird.”
A beat passes, charged and warm. The kind that makes your skin feel too tight and your lungs work too hard.
His voice drops, all teasing gone. “You’re kind of impossible not to look at, you know that?”
My entire body heats at the compliment. Not the kind of heat that makes you blush and giggle like a schoolgirl—no, it’s the kind of heat that makes your knees give out and your brain scream LICK HIM.
Not a single soul has ever told me I’m impossible to look at. Not even people on the internet, where compliments come cheap and filters do most of the work.
My smile falters—the teeniest bit—and I hope he doesn’t notice the way my breath stutters or how tightly I’m gripping the stem of my glass.
“Are you drunk?” I ask him.
He shakes his head. “Of course not. Look at me—do you have any idea how much alcohol I’d have to drink to get drunk?”
My eyes sweep him up and down, scanning his large body. Gorgeous. Unyielding. Hisentire existenceis a walking thirst trap, and I’m standing here pretending to be unimpressed while my internal monologue is drafting our wedding vows.
“I know, I know!” I deflect. “You’re built like a linebacker. We get it.”
He smirks. “I’m a beast.”
“I don’t know what that means.” I stare down into my empty glass and frown. Pluck the flower out and set it on my tongue, chewing.
“It means I have endurance.” His brow lifts. “Lots of it.”
I blink. Twice.
Did he just…?Was that an innuendo…?
“You can’t go saying things like that,” I murmur, trying to sound annoyed—and failing.
“I can’t?” He tilts his head to the side. “Why not?”
“Because you’re my roommate.”
“There’s a handbook now on what we can and cannot say?” He grins, white teeth sparkling at me in the most attractive way. I imagine those teeth nipping at my skin…
