“You were two?”

“Yep.”

“Can I ask…why? Do you know her?”

I shrug. “I’m not sure why, but I’m glad she did. I got Sofia and Rafe out of it, and no, I don’t know her. I don’t have any desire to know her. My parents are the only ones I need, you know?”

When you tell people you’re adopted, you usually get one of two reactions: they look at you like you’re a lonely, lost puppy, or they think you’re some sort of pariah.

Caleb’s looking at me with something entirely different in his eyes.

Wonder. Amazement. Surprise.

“I can’t imagine anyone not wanting you.”

“Does that include you?” I tease.

“That includes me.” He pauses and screws his face up, thinking. “Wait, no. Not me.” Another pause. “What the hell…yeah, totally includes me.”

“Caleb Mills, do you want me?”

“Define want.”

“Do you want to bang me? Because I thought we talked about the no-banging rule already.”

He looks at me and grins; it’s wolfish. “I’ll make an exception if you will.”

I swallow down the yes I want to shout from the rooftops because I know he’s only joking right now, and then I roll my eyes and playfully push his grinning face away. “Keep dreamin’, bucko.”

He falls onto his back, laughing and dragging me with him until my head rests on his shoulder.

“Have you been sleeping on the floor this whole time?”

“Yep.”

“But it’s so uncomfortable.”

“What did you think I was sleeping on?” he asks. “Honestly I figured you’d be in here snooping around with me gone all the time.”

“To do what? Read your oh-so-enticing comic books?”

“Are you hating on my epic collection?”

“Never.” He huffs out a sound that tells me he doesn’t believe me. “Okay, maybe a little. I figured you had an air mattress or something.”

“Nope. Just me, my blankets, and my pillow.”

“Why don’t you come sleep with me? I’m not going to be able to sleep knowing you’re on the floor in here. You’re an ass for not telling me you were.”

“I am not sleeping in your bed with you.” He’s quick on the decision, and I have to wonder why.

“Because you’re afraid you won’t be able to keep your hands to yourself?”

“Yes.”

I lift myself up until I can see into his eyes. “Are you serious?”

He peers back at me with a serious stare, unblinking. “Yes.”

I simply nod and return to my previous position, head resting on his shoulder, our lower halves wrapped together.

We don’t talk. We don’t move. We don’t overthink the position we’re in.

We lie there, together.

Because deep down, we both know there’s no denying the attraction between us.

And there’s no denying we can’t do anything about it.

Nine

“Riddle me this, roomie: it’s the first Friday night we’ve both had off since you moved in and you’re sitting on the couch…why?”

He glances away from the TV and up at me. “That’s not a riddle.”

“No, it’s not, but it is a fair question.”

Caleb grins, shaking his head and slouching farther into the couch. I curl my legs underneath me and take a seat, staring at him.

Moments tick by and I don’t move. Neither does he.

“Are you going to do that for much longer?”

“Do what?” I ask innocently.

“Creep on me.”

“Excuse me, I do not creep. I…admire until I’m noticed.”

“So you creep.”

“Sure. We’ll go with that.”

He aims the remote at the TV and presses pause on the episode he’s watching. He makes a show of setting the clicker on the table before settling back into the couch, turning my way.

Huffing out a sigh, he says, “What do you want, Zoe?”

I twirl a lock of hair around my finger, doing my best to appear nonchalant and harmless. “Well, it’s Friday.”

“Yes. It’s been Friday all day and it’ll be Friday for several more hours. Next point.”

“It’s Friday and we’re sitting on the couch watching Netflix.”

He motions toward me, signaling for me to wrap this up. “I think we’ve established this too.”

“Right. So, we’re in agreement then?”

“Agreement about what?”

“Going out, duh.”

His eyes fall to slits. “No one said anything about going out.”

“I implied it.”

“You did?”

“Yep. You’re just a little slow at keeping up.”

He nods, tucking his lips in. “Right. Sure. My bad.” His voice is dripping with sarcasm. “Well go out if you want to go out.”

“Together. I want to go out together. There’s nothing fun about going out alone unless you’re not planning to come home until the next morning.”

He scratches at the two-day-old scruff on his face, contemplating that offer. “You want me to go out with you?” I nod. “Where? Like to a club? Dancing? Because I don’t dance, period. There isn’t a single rhythmic bone in my body.”

“Nah. I’m not in the mood to club dance. A bar? Maybe Lola’s? Something low-key.”

He focuses his gaze my way. “There’s a dance floor at Lola’s…”

I roll my eyes. “I promise not to ask you to dance, Caleb.”

Tapping his chin, he hums, thinking. “Fine. I’ll go, but we need to be back by eleven, and there’s a max of two beers for me. I have to be up early tomorrow and don’t want to be dragging more than I already am.”

“But tomorrow’s Saturday.”

“Wow, you really know your days of the week. Your kindergarten teacher should be proud.”

“I’m sure she is, but for real, why the early wakeup?”

“I have a game.”

“But…” I pause, confused. “You know the season is over, right?”

He slaps his hands over his cheeks, dropping his mouth open in faux shock. “Is it really? I had no idea.”

“You’re a real smartass tonight.”

“I’m a real smartass every night.”

“You know, I haven’t really noticed that.”

He coughs out a laugh. “Whoa, was that you being a smartass?”

“Whatever.” I stand and motion for him to get moving. “Let’s get going before it gets too late.”

“Is that a thing? Is it ever too late for the bar?”

“Are you serious?” He nods. “You don’t go out much, do you?”

“Not really.”

I give my head a small shake and exhale audibly. “Wow.”

“What?”

“I’m surprised is all.”

“And why is that? Because I’m a baseball player?”

“Welllll…honestly? Yeah, that’s exactly why.”

He holds his hand to his chest, his mouth dropping open. “Are you…are you stereotyping me, Zoe? Do you think I catch a few balls and then head out to drink and chase girls in my free time?”

“I mean, is that not what you do?”

“I thought we talked about this. I wasn’t that guy in high school, and that is one trait that carried over into college. Delia’s only the second girl I’ve dated in the entire four years I’ve been here.”

“No way.”

“Yes way.”

“Like dated dated?”

He tilts his head to the side. “Is there another kind?”

“Well, I mean…you know…like, ‘dated’?”

Caleb stands to his full height, towering at least five inches above me—and I’m not short by any means. I tilt my head back to meet his eyes as he studies me, a devilish smirk on his face.

“I’m going to assume the air quotes are an indication that you don’t mean dated. You mean slept with. You asking about my sex life, Zoe? That where we’re going?”

“I suppose you could say that,” I say, standing my ground and stepping into him, into his warmth.

We’re nearly touching, and there’s no denying the electricity passing between us in this moment.

His grin grows and he leans down, his lips hovering only inches away from my ear. “I know my way around a woman’s body, Zoe.” My knees shake, ready to give out at any second with the way his voice lowers. “That’s not something you need to be worried about.”

I want to push him away and draw him closer with every word that leaves his lips…those stupid, full, kissable lips.

His eyes bore into me once more, heat blazing inside them with an unspoken promise, and just like before, I’m squeezing my thighs tight together, trying not to let his words affect me.

He brushes past me, his hard muscles sliding against my body, sending tingles to the tips of my toes.

I’m standing there alone, nearly panting over two measly little sentences like a weak, lust-driven moron.

Fucking Caleb.