Page 55 of Barinov

“I got you,” I say, forcing a small, weary chuckle. I shift to lie back on the mattress beside her, arm tucked behind my head.

“How was practice?”

She groans. “Awkward as fuck.”

I give her a side glance. “How?”

“Closed session at Ashmoor. Think Javi’s Refinement Week with a lot more tears,” she explains.

“That bad?”

She nods. “And on top of it all, Rez kept pacing in front of the mirrors like a damn wolf.”

“No he didn’t.”

“He did. Totally freaked the freshmen out. Oh! Get this,” she gasps, laughing as she slaps me in the chest. “Rico and Javi wouldn’t stop swooning over Mac.”

“Mac?”

“Cormac,” she clarifies, shooting me a pointed look. “O’Malley?”

“Rico and Javi were swooning over O’Malley?” I chuckle.

“Oh hell yeah.” She grins, her sage-green eyes losing their red-rims. “I don’t know if it’s Mac’s red hair or his whole brooding fighter vibes, but they’re obsessed. Rico told Mac he was giving him ginger-death-daddy with a grudge.”

I laugh harder, the tension in my chest finally easing a little. “What did O’Malley say?”

“Oh he ate it up! He’s actually really funny when you get to—”

“Hey babe,” Lex’s voice booms, cut with a low, cocky rumble that usually makes my blood heat up and my dick strain against my pants.

Steam curls behind him as he struts out of the bathroom completely and shamelessly buck-ass-naked. Water clings to the hard ridges of his abs and traces the deep lines of his V before disappearing lower. He has a towel slung over his head, scrubbing at his damp, black hair. His face is obscured as he marches toward the bed.

“I know it’s nowhere near the right time for this with everything going on,” Lex continues, still oblivious behind the towel, “but I’ve got a boner the size of—”

“Lex!” I choke out, my face igniting with a heat that has nothing to do with the steam from the shower. “Towel!”

He yanks the towel down, snapping it over his crotch with a panicked rustle that barely covers his growing erection. His eyes go wide with genuine horror.

“Jesus Christ, Haley!” he barks, his ears turning a shade of red that probably match my own.

Haley’s eyes are like saucers. Her mouth hangs open as she stares at my very naked, very well-endowed boyfriend. For a second, the room is deadly silent. The only sound in here is the dripping water from Lex’s hair onto the floorboards.

Then, Haley lets out an appreciative whistle. “Damn, Lex! Bella always said you nearly split her in two, but that thing is…” She trails off, her eyes doing a slow and shamelessly brazen sweep of the towel Lex is currently white-knuckling against his hip. “Wow, babe!”

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Lex gripes, eyes darting between her, the towel, and then gaping at me like this is somehow my fault.

“Knox went back downstairs,” she says with a shrug. “Didn’t want to sleep alone.”

Lex groans, rolling his shoulders. He nearly rips the handle off the dresser drawer when he yanks it open to grab a pair of black athletic shorts. He steps into them without bothering to dry off the rest of the way.

“I’ll fix it,” he grits, shoving his phone into his pocket.

“What?” I ask, already bracing for whatever unhinged remark that’s about to come out of my boyfriend’s mouth.

Lex pulls a shirt over his head, still dripping from the shower. “I’ll go drag Knox’s ass back upstairs.” He shoves a finger at Haley who’s snuggling back under her blanket. “Stay awake, Hales. You’re going back to your room.”

Then he storms out barefoot, muttering something under his breath in Russian neither of us can catch.