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“Yeah.” He shrugs and grins at me. “Got a problem with that?”
“I just…” Closing my eyes, I shake my head. “I thought I should probably go.”
“Aw, come on. You don’t have to go yet.”
I let out an awkward laugh, wishing I could explain how difficult it is to be around him without sounding like some kind of sex fiend.
“Look.” He sighs. “It’s my day off, and I just want to spend it with you. Hang with me, lil’ mouse. Play cards. Eat junk food with me.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “What are you really playing at?”
“Nothing.” His eyebrows pop up. “I genuinely like spending time with you.”
My cheeks burst with heat, and I have to look to the floor, biting my lips together so a giddy giggle doesn’t burst out of me. With a little sniff, I pull myself together and try to sound unaffected as I murmur, “I like hanging out with you too.”
“Excellent. Then come over here and sit down.” He slaps the bed. “Let me kick your ass at rummy.”
I laugh and walk over to the bed, dropping to my knees and collecting the cards he’s dealing to me.
And that’s how my afternoon goes. Playing rummy and laughing my ass off. I love the way we can play off each other’s jokes and banter. He hassles me for being obsessed with Justin Bieber when I was twelve, and I hassle him for owning a Kanye West album.
“I can’t believe you were into rap.”
“It was a phase!” He shakes his head, his cheeks brighter than the sun.
We eat toast, popcorn, and enough gummy bears to make me feel sick again. If it wasn’t for the gallons of water I was drinking, I’d be on a total sugar high. Along with all that, I find out that he’s a damn good rummy player, that we’ve both read every Goosebumps novel ever published, and that visiting Hobbiton in New Zealand is on both our bucket lists.
So yeah,notfalling for this guy has become an impossible task.
The feeling grows with each passing minute, and by the time five o’clock rolls around, I seriously need to bail or he’ll have my heart for good.
I change back into my dress, staring at my reflection in the bathroom mirror and trying to quell the giddy bugs dancing in my chest.
He’s freaking amazing!
Calm down. You can’t have him.
But you can’t stop yourself either!
Gritting my teeth, I shuffle back to the room, bumping into a shirtless Casey along the way.Holy hell. Is drop-dead gorgeous a requirement to live in this place?I can’t help glancing over my shoulder and checking out his back, which is covered by a massive dragon tattoo. An entire Chinese scene that I want to stop and study. But he must sense my gaze, because he turns back and catches my eye, giving me an all-knowing grin that sets my cheeks on fire.
If I react that way to Casey, I’m pretty sure my entire body will melt if I ever get to see Ethan shirtless again.
“Hey, you good?” Ethan’s sharp eyes must read something on my face when I walk in the door, and I scramble to even out my expression.
“Yeah.” I throw the shirt at him. “Thanks for the loan.”
“Anytime.” He grins, tossing it on the end of his bed before raking his eyes over me.
I tug at the dress, pulling it down my thighs, before snatching my heels off the floor. “Well, I better get back.”
“I’ll drive you.”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll walk.”
He gives me a skeptical frown. “In those heels?”
I hold them up with a laugh. “These things? No way. I’m walking home barefoot.”
