Page 15 of Daydream

Kris leans forward to get a better look at Anastasia. “Did Aurora say exactly how he was flirting? Because I’ve been trying to get eyes and ears on that situation for over two years now.”

“I wasn’t flirting. I was talking to her.”

She’s hot, so I would have flirted with her, but she was flustered and it sounded like she’d just gone through a breakup. Didn’t seem like the right time.

“Ah,” Mattie groans. “A conversation first. That’s where I’m going wrong.”

“Aurora said they’re going to head over now.” When we look at Russ, the tips of his ears have gone pink. “She also says thank you.”

“Looks like she said more than thank you, you big ol’ beet,” Kris teases. “Right, what was the book they read this week? Time to google the shit out of it until they get here so I can look educated and appealing.”

Anastasia’s eyebrow rises as she stands from her chair and slings her bag over her shoulder. “You’re going to be a doctor…”

Kris nods. “With a shitload of college loans. I need to find a wife while I still have this body.”

Anastasia gives one last sigh. “Goodbye.”

MY BEDROOM WINDOW IS CRACKEDslightly, which is letting me listen to the laughter outside while I once again attempt to concentrate on my work.

As soon as Aurora turned up with her arms full of blankets, Iretreated to the safety of my bedroom to stay out of everyone’s way. The noise outside eventually dies down, and I hear the front door open and close, signaling the end of the meeting.

Five minutes pass and there’s a light tapping at my door. When I pull it open, I’m pleased to find it’s who I thought it was going to be. “You cut your hair off,” I say.

“What?” Halle responds, instinctively running her hand down the now-shorter length of her brown hair. “Oh yeah. The girl I work with encouraged me to when I went to the salon with her this morning. Nicely, not forcefully or anything. I’ve just wanted to cut my hair for a long time and my e—someone stopped me doing it.”

The blunt ends sit right on her collarbone, dragging my focus across the area and up the column of her neck before I meet her eyes again. “I like it. You look really good.”

She’s flustered instantly, but I don’t think I said anything weird. It was just a compliment; a tame one at that. I step out of the doorway, holding out an arm to usher her in. She complies immediately, sitting on the bottom corner of my bed when I throw myself down onto my normal spot.

Maybe she’s not used to hearing compliments. Although that seems unlikely, because she’s beautiful. Maybe Will Ellington is as shit at being a boyfriend as he is at playing hockey. “Thank you,” she eventually chokes out. “That’s sweet of you to say. And sweet of you to let us use your house. I brought you something to say thank you. I made double in case you happened to show up again, then the pipe happened, and well. Here.”

She holds out a glass container lined with paper towels, and when I open the lid, the smell of fresh cookies fills my room. I take a bite, and they’re just as good as I remember. I’m glad she brought them up here so I don’t have to share with the guys. “Thank you. Want one?”

She holds up her hand in protest. “No, thank you. I’m a little sick.”

Now that she’s mentioned it, her skin is a little paler than the last time I saw her during the day and there’s clearly makeup under her eyes trying to cover dark bags. “What’s wrong?”

“I went to a party last night and I’m not that experienced when it comes to drinking, so I feel like I’ve been hit by a car.”

“I know, I saw you. If you spend more time with Aurora that might happen. She nearly reversed into me yesterday. Have you taken Advil?”

“You saw me?” she says, her voice missing its normal airy tone.

“Yeah,” I say, wiping a cookie crumb from the corner of my mouth. “You were asking Mason Wright for his number. I don’t recommend you call him.”

“Why not?”

“He’s a dickhead.”

She snorts as she laughs abruptly. Cute. “I don’t know why I keep snorting in front of you, sorry. The girls I was with already deleted his number. I didn’t realize you saw that.”

“You looked like you were having fun with your friends, so I didn’t want to approach you. I didn’t know if you’d remember me and I didn’t want to ruin your night by bothering you.”

“Of course I’d remember you,” she says softly. “You can always approach me at a party. It would’ve been nice to see a familiar face, last night was… a lot of new faces.”

“Have you taken medicine, Halle?”

She shakes her head, so I swing my legs off my bed and head to my bathroom to grab the box of stuff I keep for emergencies. It’s mainly full of skin care items, socks, hair ties, etc., but I do have painkillers and things in here, too. She watches as I dig around for the Advil I keep handy for hangovers.

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