Page 67 of It Was Always You

Just don't text him right now. Because a ringing sound coming from my closet would not be good.

I expected Easton to get up to go now that we'd covered the topics at hand. But he just stayed there with his back against the wall.

Why wasn't he leaving?

"So random question,” he said, “but doesn't Juliette get back soon?" He stared at his hand which he was rubbing along the gray carpet absentmindedly.

I frowned. "Yeah, she gets back next week. Why do you ask?"

"No reason, really. She just popped into my head today while I was working." He shrugged, but still wouldn't meet my eyes. Weird.

"Is everything okay between you and Mercedes?"

"Sure. Things are fine. We're gonna go to the game together tomorrow. She's nice."

Nice? Hmm. Something was off with my brother. He'd just called her "the hottest girl in school" last week. But now she was simplynice?

Did any of this have to do with Juliette coming back? They had acted really weird around each other before she went to Paris.

"Well, I better get to bed. Thanks for the chat." He stood and made ready to leave.Finally.

But just before he opened the door, he turned backand asked, "Hey, do you still have your skateboard repair kit?"

The repair kit that was currently in my closet?

"Why?" I asked, since opening my closet to look for something was about the last thing I wanted to do right now. "Are you going skateboarding? It's the middle of winter."

He scratched the back of his neck. "I was thinking about going to the indoor skatepark in Syracuse soon. I just wanted to get my skateboard ready."

"Um, well, it's probably buried in there. I'm kind of tired and don't really want to dig through my whole closet if you don't really need it."

"That's okay, I can look for it."

I jumped from my bed and blocked him from opening my closet door. "No. That's okay. I'll..."

He narrowed his gaze. "Why are you acting so weird?"

I laughed awkwardly. "No reason. It's just...um...I hung my bras up in there to dry and I don't want you to see them."

He stepped back, clearly not wanting to see my underwear, either. "Okay, yeah. I'll, um, just get it from you later."

I nodded, and my erratic heartbeat slowed a little. "I'll get it to you tomorrow."

He put his hand on the doorknob. "Thanks. Goodnight."

"Night."

I collapsed against my closet door as soon as he was gone.Whew. That was close!

The closet door behind me opened a crack, making me jump.

"Is it okay to come out for air now?" Noah asked through the crack.

I swung the door wide open, feeling bad for trapping him in there for so long. "Yes." I looked around quickly just to make sure Easton really was gone and not coming back in. "You can come out."

He crawled out and stood, giving me a lopsided grin. "Now wasn't that exciting?"

I shook my head but smiled despite myself. "I don't know if exciting is the right word for it."

---