Page 4 of Scoring a Sweet Thing

Sitting up, I lock his phone and place it on the bedside table. “Do you want me to come with you to the port?”

Lian tilts his head to the side. His mouth kicks up on one side as he arches a brow.

“For what? To scare him away before I’ve gotten the chance to even say hello?” He laughs and shakes his head. “I don’t think so.”

I scowl at him. “I won’t scare him away.”

“You will if you look at him like that!” He waves a hand in front of my face before turning back to his closet and continues to speak to me over his shoulder as he sorts through more clothes. “I promise, it’ll be fine. In fact, I’m more worried about you.”

I slump against the headboard, fighting back a groan. “What about me?”

“I’m going to be away for two weeks.” He spins around again, pinning me with a serious expression. “Are you going to leave the house during that time?”

“Yes.”

He gives me an incredulous look. “Aside from going to work?”

“Then no, probably not.”

“Bailey!” He scoffs a laugh.

“What can I say, I’m a creature of habit.”

Being a tattoo artist, I’m around people all day, every day, and sometimes it can be a lot. Especially for someone who’s an introvert like me and doesn’t really like many people. It’s ironic I work with people every day in the studio, but my love for creating art outweighs the discomfort I feel around new people.

Only just.

I like being in the comfort of my own home, hiding away playing video games or drawing. I like my solitude, with the exception of Lian, but he’s used to my quiet, antisocial ways.

He opens his mouth to speak again, then lets out a gasp so loud it has me bolting upright and tensing.

“I just had the most amazing idea!”

“Fucking hell, Lian,” I grunt, covering my eyes with my arm as I fall back again. “I thought something was wrong.”

He ignores my concern. “You need to download the H2H app!”

“Uhh, no? Why the fuck would I do that?” I ask, shifting my arm to look at him out of one eye.

“You can find yourself a plus-one to do an activity with while I’m away!” he says excitedly, clapping his hands once before flinging himself onto the bed. Only, instead of landing on the mattress next to me, he ends up landing on me. I let out a pained cry when his elbow hits me in the balls.

“Fuck! Lian!” I hiss, groaning as the sharp pain shoots up to my stomach.

“Oops! I’m sorry!”

Grimacing, I cup my crotch with my hands and curl in half on my side. Lian scoots up next to me, gently patting my head before he starts combing his fingers through my hair.

“Sometimes I wonder why I’m friends with you,” I grumble between gritted teeth.

I hear the smile in his voice when he says, “Because I’m wonderful and amazing.”

I grunt.

“Anyway, what do you say? Wouldn’t it be fun if you found someone who needed a plus-one, and then we could be on this adventure together but separately.”

“That makes no sense and doesn’t sound like fun at all.”

“Bailey,” he whines.