Page 30 of (Un)Expected

Alex’s voice broke me out of my head. I turned to see her standing at the bottom of the stairs, her eyes too focused on me. Somehow, while I zoned out on the pathetic state of my life, she snuck into her room to change. Gone were the jeans practicallypainted onto her. I thought it’d be a nice reprieve, but instead, she wore a black satin cami and the tiniest pair of shorts I’d ever seen.

Fuck.

Look, there was no question that this girl was gorgeous. I’d been tryingand failingto ignore that fact since the moment we met, but her standing in front of me now? With her long hair free of its usual bun and the make-up erased from her face? The sight made my dick harden, straining behind my jeans.

What the fuck was wrong with me? Alex had opened her home to me, and I was standing here, rocking a semi like a teenager. I needed to snap the fuck out of it.

“Cole?”

“Sorry,” I said, rubbing my eyes to keep from gawking. “More tired than I thought.”

She gave me a look but walked over to the couch to pull out a spare blanket and pillow. “Remote is on the table. Feel free to grab anything from the kitchen.” She glanced up at the clock on the wall. “I have to be at work by seven. Is that okay for you?”

“Yup.” I nodded, trying to look at anything but her. “I’m an early riser anyway.”

We stood there in awkward silence, not sure what to say to each other. After the clock quietly chimed on the wall, Alex cleared her throat, looking down at her toes. “Well, I’ll let you get some sleep.”

My brow arched at her words. “Aren’t you heading to bed?”

She shook her head. “Not really. I feel tired, but my brain’s having trouble turning it off. I’ll watch a movie or something until I fall asleep.”

As I glanced at the television on the wall, an idea popped into my head. It was probably a bad idea. No, strike that—it wasdefinitelya bad idea, but the words came anyway. “Same here. You want to hang for a bit until you’re tired?”

She stared at me as if trying to read the meaning behind my words. I shook my head. “Get your head out of the gutter, sweetheart. I literally mean hang out.”

Alex pulled her lip between her teeth, glancing from me to the stairs and back again. Slowly, she grinned. “Yeah, sounds good.”

I waited until she was settled on the couch before sitting on the opposite side, trying to keep as much space between us as possible. It was easy to do as Alex tucked her feet under herself, nestling against the armrest. She grabbed the remote from the side table and flicked on a streaming app. “What works for you?”

“Anything,” I said, trying not to notice how the blue light made her seem softer. It was taking everything in me not to pull her to my side, not even looking for anything but to hold her close. I rubbed my hand over my face, forcing myself to think of anything but Alex. It was fucking useless. My mind was focused on only one thing- the one person I shouldnotbe thinking about.

Alex scanned the titles until she found an older sitcom, glancing at me to see if I was cool with it. Nodding at the choice, I settled against the cushion, letting an episode I’d seen a million times before distract me.

But I couldn’t take my eyes off Alex.

From the way she giggled to the way her hair fell in front of her face, there was too much about her that intrigued me. I wanted to tuck the hair behind her ear to see if it was as silky as it appeared. I wanted to feel the weight of her leaning against my chest, nestled into my side like it was a usual occurrence. There were so few moments where it was Alex and me, no other eyes, no distractions. It made my mind spin, imagining scenarios I had no right to picture.

“I can feel you staring at me.”

“Sorry,” I chuckled, my cheeks heating with embarrassment.

She shifted on the couch to face me. “What are you thinking right now, Cole?”

That I want to kiss you.

The thought almost knocked me on my ass. I didn’t know how, but Alex had gotten under my skin tonight—maybe even before, if I was being honest. It was confusing and frustrating, but it also made me feel more alive than I had in years.

Instead of saying that, I shrugged my shoulders. “Trying to figure you out.”

“I’m not that interesting,” Alex answered, shifting back to face the screen. “My life is pretty much work, and then my limited free time is spent with my friends.”

I nodded to the pictures on the shelf. “Calla and Javier, right?”

She arched her brow back at me. “Yeah….”

“Don’t look so shocked, Alex. I’m not the ass you seem to think I am.”

“Debatable,” she said. “But yes, those two are the closest I have to family. Well, them and my neighbors. They became my surrogate parents when I moved here.”

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