“I wasn’t complaining. It’s just…it’s not like I bought you a pair of shoes to replace the ones the ocean damaged,” I whisper weakly.
“Oh, those. I already bought a better pair.”
“Of course, you did,” I laugh.
“There she is.”
He gives me a bright smile, and I cave. My walls are crumbling around him more and more as each day passes. It takes an insurmountable amount of effort to keep them somewhat in place, and I am getting tired of fighting.
“The shoes are beautiful, thank you.”
“Maybe you try them on for me, sans vêtements.” He winks.
“You’re hilarious.” I roll my eyes, picking up the box.
“Hey, hang on. You’re just going to leave?” He places his hand over mine.
Warmth rushes through me, but I try to steel myself.
“I still have work to do.”
He takes the box from my hand and places it back on the desk.
“I know your boss; I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you took a little break.”
He snakes his arms around my waist. I swallow against the growing heat in my stomach.
This is such a bad idea.
Any of the guys could walk in.
And I still don’t know where any of this is heading.
“One minute.”
“What?” I blink.
“Just give me one minute.”
My lips twitch up in a smile at the mirror of his words to the other night.
“Okay.”
The word barely leaves me before he descends. His lips capture mine in a fevered plea. One of his hands comes up to cup the back of my head, and he pulls me into him.
He tastes slightly sweet from the energy drink.
I moan against him, my hands curling around his collarbone to remove any distance between us.
“Yo, dude. Did you steal my GameCube controller?”
Parker’s door flings open, light streaming in.
I shove Parker from me, and he goes tumbling back, landing conveniently in his gaming chair. The momentum has him rolling halfway across the room. I snatch the red box and clutch it to my heaving chest as I spin around to face Aleks.
I pray the blue hue of the room hides the redness in my cheeks.
“All right, well. I’ll see you boys on Friday for the flight. Don’t overpack. Bye.”