“How do you know these things? Who is giving you inside information? Tell me now.” I hit him with my best glare.
Liam’s lazy grin expands as I drag my finger across my throat. “I’m not above offing whoever has loose lips around here.”
He gets up from his chair and sits next to me, the mattress dipping beneath him. His weight makes me sink closer to him. The scent of him wreaks havoc on my body and gives me limited mental clarity to deal with the situation at hand.
“Pinterest her interests.” He chuckles.
I glance at him, my eyebrows pinching together. “You either missed two-thirds of a haiku or you just made a terrible joke.”
He shrugs, not telling me anything.
“Have you seen my boards?” I go from avoiding his touch to clutching his shirt like a cheesy 1950s movie because I need direct eye contact to differentiate the truth from jokes. My Pinterest includes boards of my future wedding, my dream house, and pins of random babies dressed up for Halloween. Basically, all my deepest desires.
We both look at my hands touching his golden chest. A zing of energy spreads across my fingers, the same feeling I ignore daily. His eyes snap back to mine as he licks his bottom lip. I lean into him, tempted to brush my lips against his.
No. This is a bad idea in all capital letters.
I let go of him, putting a foot of distance between us, just in case.
“I will neither confirm nor deny.” He shakes his head.
My heart beats faster. I need to change my account name and update my passwords. Either I have a hacker on my hands or an inquisitive man who doesn’t believe in standard rules of privacy. Or maybe both because I wouldn’t put much past Liam, seeing as he bribes kids and doesn’t follow the status quo.
He scoots in close again. “You look like you’re about to pee your pants any second.” Charming, Sophie. “Relax and watch.”
I take another deep breath of his cologne because I enjoy a steady state of punishment.
He plays a video on his phone of a guy talking about Millennial Boyfriend School. The man reveals trade secrets about women and how men should have wine and chocolate stocked at home. Damn right they should.
By the end of the video, I’m crying from laughing too hard. It’s a habit I’ve long given up on stopping.
“I’m deceased, so please forward all ten cents of my will.” I throw myself back on the bed. My body sinks into the plush comforter that feels way better than my own. Liam definitely gets the upgrades, experiencing perks from being a monster on the track.
He chuckles as he bends over to wipe away some stray tears from my cheeks. How sweet of him. The gesture makes me painfully aware of the rough pads of his thumbs swiping across my face slowly, with him taking his sweet time. I allow this physical rarity between us because I like his attention.
We both play our own game of poker and wonder who will fold first. Unfortunately for him, I have a hell of a poker face if I do say so myself. The concept of folding my cards doesn’t register in my vocabulary with my will stronger than a shitty hand.
“Do girls really hate being told to relax?” he asks me earnestly, pulling me from my thoughts.
“The last boyfriend who told me that ended up in a shallow grave in my backyard. My dad helped me cover it up because he said I’m too pretty for prison.” I keep my voice steady.
He freezes. His eyes run over my face, gauging my seriousness.
I smack his arm. “I’m joking! But yeah, I personally can’t stand it. Maybe you need to go to boyfriend school. Wait, have you ever been a boyfriend before?”
“Nope. I was never good at classes anyway. Teachers would find me roaming around the school or the library.” His cheeks blush, catching me off guard.
“You know hooky sounds less badass when you tell people you hung out in the library.”
The look he gives me makes me wonder if he’d smack my ass with a book if he could.
“What if I told you I snuck in because I invited a few girls to hook up between the stacks.”
My mouth drops open. “I don’t know whether to be scared or impressed by your love for literature and female company.”
“I can show you how much I love the second.” He beams at me.
Liam stares at me as a roar of laughter escapes my lips. His eyebrows lower like he thinks too hard, while his hands ball up next to him. Baby blues focus their attention on my lips before they roam across my body. My skin prickles at his assessment. I wish I could take things further with him, to test out his lips against mine, or to feel his skin under my fingertips. But I don’t at the same time.