Page 41 of Never You

But I know one thing for sure: holding a woman in my arms like Rae Stafford is definitely not expected of me.

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***

I open my eyes again, a couple hours later, morning has fully arrived, lighting the room with a heavy dose of natural daylight.

My head is resting against Rae’s, and I brush my lips over her hair, giving myself a minute to wake up. I clear my throat before I exhale loudly, a sense of peace still settles in my chest. A smile creases my face, and I turn to the right, glancing around the room. But my eyes grow big when I meet the smug grin of Bodi, sitting fully dressed on the edge of his bed.

“Christ, what the fuck, Bodi?” I hiss as my heart starts to race.

It’s not like I was hiding Rae in my bed, but having him stare at us for God knows how long, like a creep, it gets me fired up. Or maybe it’s the bucket of reprimanding that I know is going to be thrown in my face any minute now. Pretty sure it’s both.

“Good morning,sunshine,” he softly sings, then leans on his knees with his eyes still trained on me. “What’s this, mate?”

He circles his finger in the air with his thick Australian accent.

I rub my hand over my face while pushing out a breath. “She got scared. I offered to share my bed.”

“Oh, wauw.” He dramatically grips his heart. “Such a gentleman. The cuddling? Was that required too?”

“Shut up.”

“No, you shut up,mate.” He now glares.

There it is. One bucketload, coming right up.

“What are you doing?”

I hold his gaze, keeping my mouth shut.

“I’m serious!” he continues. “This is the one and only time I’m pointing this out, because I honestly don’t care what you do. But we are here to fix things with Emily, right? Keep your parents happy?”

“Right.”

“That isn’t Emily!” he whisper-shouts.

“I know, okay?!” I huff, rolling my eyes.

“Do you? Because you’re playing with fire, Jensen. And as much as I’m dying to watch you play with fire, or better yet, burn the whole house down, I need to make sure you know what you’re doing before your mother starts stalking me again. And I love you, but truth be told, I’d rather be a live target for the army looking like Pikachu than have another discussion with your mother.”

“I’m dying to see that.” I blink.

“Shut up.”

“What are you doing?” His green eyes peer down at me, filled with—I don’t even know what? It’s not judgment. It’s not disapproval. It’s a look of interest, as if he’s trying to make me aware of something, waiting for the coin to drop.

“I don’t know,” I admit, scratching my head.

I have no goddamn clue. My mind tells me I crossed a line last night. A bigger one than ever before. Yeah, I talk to other girls. Istand a little too close, and I twitter in their ears. But spending the night cuddling is a whole other level.

I know that. It makes it harder and harder to pretend and keep up appearances with Emily, and it’s wrong.

But then why does it feel so damn good?

“Yeah, well, you have a couple more days to figure it out. That is,ifthe paparazzi won’t find out you’re driving across the country with a girl that isn’t your girlfriend. I got your back.” He folds his hands together. “I really do. But you have to figure it out. Five days, Jensen. Do you hear me?”

I let his words run through my now dazed head, knowing he’s right. I can’t keep avoiding my life forever. At some point, I need to make decisions instead of bluffing out of anything that is supposed to be part of my future.

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