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Sid was surrounded by books, and my chest collapsed in a dejected sigh. There were slight blue smudges under her eyes. She’d worked several extra shifts the past few weekends, and I wasn’t sure how she managed to balance out her schedule. She covered her yawn, but I could see she was barely hanging in there.
“You hungry? I thought about ordering some Thai.”
“Yeah, that sounds great,” she said and adjusted to be comfortable against the headboard.
“Okay. I’ve just got to grab a quick shower. I didn’t get one at the rink.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I wondered what that smell was.”
“Smart-ass.”
“Well, one of us has to be smart.”
I grabbed a change of clothes and called the Thai place as I headed toward the bathroom and made quick work of my shower.
After throwing some pants on, I walked back into my room, already talking to Sid.
“Hope you don’t mind, I ordered a few of my favorites for you to try.” Tossing my dirty clothes in the bin, I searched through my bag to find my pencils before saying, “They said it will be pretty fast, twenty minutes-ish.”
Realizing I’d been met with silence, my eyes drifted up. Sidney stared at me; her mouth was open, eyes hungrily tracing over my tattoos, taking in every detail. My skin heated as her gaze roamed over my chest, and her tongue darted out, wetting her bottom lip. I moved slowly, trying not to disrupt her gaze. My girl was so caught up by my naked chest she wasn’t thinking straight.
A groan rumbled in the back of my throat, and she looked away. I crossed the room in a few steps and slid my fingers across her jaw, guiding her gaze back to mine. “You like what you see, Sid.”
My fingers tightened, and a shiver rolled through her, leaving goose bumps in its wake. Fuck. I lowered myself until my lips were barely an inch above hers, and an overwhelming need to kiss her took over my sanity.
She pulled back, putting much-needed space between us that I fucking hated, and examined my chest. “Do your raven tattoos mean anything?” Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper, still caught in the moment we shared.
She didn’t know how much that question dug into me. There was nothing she could say that would snap me out of my daze better than bringing up Marcus.
I sat beside Sidney, needing her close before I answered, and ignored the reasons why. I cleared my throat and tried to explain. “Did I tell you that Marcus is Piper’s brother?”
Her eyes went round with shock. “I had no idea.”
“We all grew up together. His mom used to scoff at us, ‘You two are too smart and too much trouble for your own good’ She always softened it by saying it was in our nature. ‘Two little ravens who can’t wait to fly.’ Marcus was born for bigger things. I always felt like he was leading me to places I’d never have reached on my own. When he died, I got the tattoo of two ravens so I could keep a part of him with me while I reached for his dreams.” I sucked in a choked breath.
Her eyes never left mine, full of understanding, not pity. Her fingers intertwined with mine, and calm washed over me as I gripped her hand.
“You know, you remind me of him.”
Her eyebrow lifted with that.
“He was always so driven. He always knew where he was headed and what he wanted. His steadiness grounded me.”
I searched her eyes. Did she catch on that she grounded me? No one could ever replace the friendship he and I had built on years of scratched knees, video games, and shared dreams. But there was something here that could grow into that same deep connection. The tension between us grew thick, and her pulse was visible in her neck.
She sucked me in, and I was helpless to the fall.
Her chest rose and fell at double speed, and something filled her eyes that I couldn’t decode.
My phone buzzed beside us, breaking the tension, and she pulled away.
I checked it, needing the distraction. “Food’s here.”
Throwing on a shirt, I headed to the front door and gave the driver a nice tip for being early. I set up the food for us and divided the plates on the floor in front of the bed, inviting her to sit with me. She devoured her food, and her hum of satisfaction sparked heat in my chest. I wanted to be the one who made her sound like that. Mouth full, she gave me a thumbs-up, mumbling, “Really good.”
Within a few minutes, she leaned against the side of the bed with her head tipped back, looking as content as could be. All I wanted to do was lean in close. Instead, I cleaned up around us and let her relax before we got back into it.
Fuck it, I was taking a chance. “Sid?”
