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He barely reacts. “Small world.”
I need to get out of here. This conversation is only reminding me that I probably won’t be able to do any of that. The way things are going, I won’t even be allowed to finish my degree.
I climb faster, annoyed when he has no trouble keeping up. I can’t believe he won’t go away and leave me to melt into the floor in peace.
“So, what are you studying, then, with such interesting books?”
I let out a sound that is half sigh, half growl. “Are you having some kind of break with reality? I don’t know what gave you the impression we could just—” I glance around, finding that we are completely alone, the second floor being entirely deserted. “—Interact in public, but you’re begging to turn that black eye into a set.”
He raises an eyebrow, following my gaze around the room. “What public?”
I huff in exasperation. “You know what I mean. This is weird, even for you.”
“I won’t tell if you won’t.”
Oh my gods.From approaching me after the auction, to sneaking around upstairs at my house, to whatever the hell this is, Roman seems to have completely forgotten that we don’t talk. We can’t talk, and anyone seeing us together would go very badly for both of us. Is this flirtation, torment, or genuine lunacy?
The armchairs on the second floor are tucked all the way in the back of the room behind several rows of shelves. I cross to the nearest one and sit, trying to decide if this is flirtation, torment, or genuine lunacy. It doesn’t occur to me that perhaps it’s not my best idea ever to lure Roman Montague to a deserted, quiet corner of the library, armed with my sex book, until I’m already there, but by then I’ve committed.
Face burning, I sit down firmly in the armchair and open the book at random. Of course it’s an extremely accurate diagram. I’m going to burst into flames.This is so insanely stupid, and yet, I can’t breathe. I’m a live wire, and I’m afraid to move the book and actually make eye-contact because either I will spontaneously combust from mortification or I’m going to jump him, there is no in between.
So, it’s lunacy then. And it’s contagious.
“Actually, Helen, I did want to ask you something,” Roman says.
“What?” I mutter under my breath.
“I think I left my phone in your library on Saturday.”
I hear him, and the words don’t penetrate. What a normal thing to say. I don’t know what I was expecting—I guess my entire perception has been a little unfairly warped by my own embarrassment over the last time we saw each other three years ago. Still, Roman is, and always has been, a self-proclaimed asshole. I was expecting a taunt at the very least. A reminder of my mistakes.Something.
I hear him, and the words don’t penetrate.
“I didn’t see it.”
“That’s okay, but can you look and let me know?”
I nod. It’s been two days since the party. I’d be going out of my mind if I lost my phone for that long, especially with no great way to get it back. Roman can’t exactly swing by my house uninvited.
Actually though, that reminds me of a good question. I take a deep breath and compose myself before lowering my book. Immediately, my body goes into hyperdrive.“If you tell me what the hell you were doing up there I’ll get it for you.”
He smirks. “Would you believe I just wanted to talk to you?”
I wish.“No.”
He shrugs. “Then I guess I’ll just have to trust in your better nature to return it. It really is important that I get it back.”
I narrow my eyes. If the situation were reversed, he’d probably throw my phone off a bridge and make me dive for it. Yet, I hate to say he’s right. I will probably do the right thing and return it.
I press my lips together, but nod. “Okay.”
“Okay?” He sounds unsure, like I’m messing with him.
“Yeah,” I say. “I have a date tonight, but I could drop it off somewhere tomorrow?”
His eyes darken, clear anger flashing on his face for a moment before he can bury it. Who the hell is he to dictate how fast I need to do him a favor? It’s not like we’re friends. The opposite, in fact.
“How about here, tomorrow,” he says, his tone measured. “Same time.”
