Page 3 of The Silent Hour

I touched the tie. The fabric was warm from sitting against my skin all night. "I was coming to give it back."

"No, you weren't."

My mouth fell open. "Excuse me?"

"I've been watching you forget you're wearing it for the two hours."

I pulled it from around my shoulders and held it toward him. "Fine you got me. Here."

He looked at my hand but didn’t take it.

"You can keep it."

I stared at him, confused. "Why would I want your tie forever?"

That slow smile came back. The one that had no business being that attractive.

"So, I have a reason to see you again."

Well.

Fuck.

Behind me, I heard a very distinct noise from Toya that sounded suspiciously like someone choking to death on purpose.

I ignored her drunk ass.

Mostly because Ethan was still looking at me like we had all night and he already knew how it ended.

"And what makes you think I want to see you again?"

"I don't."

That caught me off guard. He stepped a little closer—not enough to crowd me, just enough that the bass from the speakers seemed to drop out and it was only the cologne and the low light and the way he was looking at me.

"That's why I'm asking."

"Asking what?"

His eyes held mine. Dark and patient. "For your number, Seven."

I stared back at him for half a second, and despite every lesson Mama had ever taught me about making a man work harder than that, and the image of Tato stroking out somewhere in my peripheral conscience, I smiled.

"Julia."

His brow lifted.

"My name," I clarified. "If you're asking for my number, you should probably know what to save it under."

Something moved through his expression before he masked it.

"Julia," he repeated.

The way he said it, like he was deciding what to do with it, made my stomach do something incredibly stupid. That same feeling a coaster drop gives you.

I held out the scavenger hunt list, a little crumpled now, smelling faintly of spilled drinks.

"Find somewhere to write."