Page 88 of The Chemistry of Us

Liar.

I grabbed my purse and slid my phone in my pocket, then opened my door, nearly running into Vaughan as he was walking out of his room.

He just had to have a tight gray T-shirt on, one that had a low V in the front, showing off one of his tattoos. He had it slightly tucked into his tight jeans and was wearing a belt.

Why was I always a sucker for guys who could wear belts?

His brown boots didn’t help—haphazardly tied, expensive, probably Prada or some other brand. He screamed money in sweatpants, but even in casual date attire, you knew he was someone special.

His light brown hair was still messy but styled, with the light caramel pieces choosing today of all days to show off as they dangled dangerously close to his eyebrows, making his bright blue eyes stand out even more.

The guy was so gorgeous it was infuriating.

I gulped and took a step back. “All ready?”

I sounded breathless and felt dizzy to go along with it, so dizzy that when I turned around too quick, I nearly missed the top stair. He caught me and pulled me back against his warm chest.

Shit.

So warm. So strong.

His lips grazed my right ear. “Are you feeling okay? We can always stay here?”

Staying here? With the dangerous thoughts I had swirling in my head along with the memory of his touch? Bad idea. I needed air. “No, I’m fine. Let’s go eat. I’m just hungry and got dizzy!”

He slowly let me go. “Alright.”

I bolted down the stairs and out the door and went to his Jeep.

He frowned and pointed at the road where a nice Mercedes was waiting. “Sorry, I got us an Uber since I knew we’d probably have a drink or two. I didn’t want to take the chance and was trying to be smart.”

Right. Smart. “Oh yeah, okay, good thinking.”

Good thinking? Really?

I jumped into the back seat and put on my seat belt. The drive to the beach was only about ten or fifteen minutes, and because our Uber driver was clearly the sort of person who hated silence and decided to annihilate it at all costs, the only conversation we had was with him discussing bitcoin and aliens among us.

Had the guy pulled out a foil hat, I would have just nodded and said, “Makes sense.”

We made it to the beach in record time and got out of the car as fast as humanly possible.

“Why do I always get the weird ones?” Vaughan asked. “Did you see his E.T. tattoo on his bicep?”

I shuddered. “It moved like it was speaking whenever he gripped the steering wheel too hard. It was like it was staring at me.”

Vaughan burst out laughing. “I was more concerned about the fact that it was directly above a QR code tattoo.”

“YES!” I yelled. “It took everything in me not to scan it!”

Vaughan holds up his phone. “I’m not known for my self-control.”

“Give it to me!” I swiped his phone and stared at the website. “No way, it’s his Patreon.”

“For his podcast.” Vaughan laughed.

I shook my head and handed his phone back. “End of the World podcast. Nice. I think he could have come up with a better name though, right?”

Vaughan nodded. “I already came up with at least ten. E.T. Rising was my favorite, though. Oh, also, I’m a tier-one subscriber. It was only three dollars, and that’s basically free entertainment, plus I might learn how to…” He looked down at his screen. “Learn the art of mental shields.” He grinned. “So I’d say the date's off to a good start.”

---