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When he raised his head, his gaze was shuttered, and it made my stomach churn. “I need to get properly clean,” he said, going for casual, but I wasn’t fooled.
“Yeah. Let me just rinse this off, and the shower’s all yours.” I ducked back under the spray, turning to make sure all the shower gel was rinsed off, then stepped away, leaving the space free for him.
As I unlocked the door, I felt his hand on my arm. I turned to see him watching me with an unreadable expression on his face. “Wait for me. We can walk back together.”
“Okay.”
I waited for him in the gym lobby. The rain was still lashing down outside, pounding against the pavement, and I shivered, watching people legging it between the shelter of the campus buildings. I was so focused on watching a guy skidding along the path that I jumped when Liam’s voice sounded close to my ear.
“Ready to make a run for it?” He gave me a tentative grin.
“Which way should we go?” We could both hear the howling of the wind, and the glass panes in the front of the gym rattled with the force.
Liam’s brows pulled together as he contemplated our route, and I was struck all over again by just how gorgeous he was. I wanted—fuck, I wanted him to be mine, more than anything. This wasn’t good.
“Library, then Brunel building, then the student union. Then use the cut through by the bike racks. We’ll have to run for it after that.” He hoisted his gym bag higher on his shoulder and pulled his hood up.
Following his lead, I tugged my own hood up, then gave him a nod. “Let’s do this.”
The rain and wind hit me, stinging my face like hundreds of tiny needles as we exited the gym and bolted for the shelter of the library. Next to me, Liam was laughing helplessly as the wind blew his hood down and he bore the full brunt of the weather. We made it to the library and paused for a second, crowded in with the other students sheltering from the rain. I glanced at Liam, joining in his laughter as I took in his appearance. His hair was plastered to his head, water running down his face, dripping off his eyelashes and chin.
“Why did I bother with a shower?” His words were whipped away by the wind as we ran for the next building. There must have been something in my face when I met his eyes, gasping for breath under the cover of the Brunel building, because he gave me a cautious look and stepped closer to me, speaking in a low voice. “What happened in the shower… You know that if we keep doing this, it has to stay between us, right? And it needs to be casual. I still don’t…” He huffed, screwing up his face. “Fuck. My head’s still…”
I swallowed around the sudden, unexpected lump in my throat.
Why hadn’t I listened to myself earlier? I shouldn’t have opened the shower door to him, and Idefinitelyshouldn’t have let him in.
If only I could stop myself from wanting more than he was prepared to give. My stupid fucking feelings were complicating everything.
“Yeah, I know.” My traitorous voice cracked, and I cleared my throat, swinging my gaze away from him.
“Noah—”
“Let’s go.” Without waiting for a reply, I ran for the student union, pulling my hood back and tilting my chin up to the sky. If a stubborn tear fell from my eye, well, he didn’t get to see it because it was washed away by the rain.
