Page 85 of Devilry

“Are you sure?”Shari leans over and squeezes my hand. “You don’t have to do all that stuff on your own, we can coordinate over email.”

“It’s fine.” I wave her off and catch Cole’s stare. “I made plans for after our study session, so I’ve still got a few hours to kill.”

“You’re a champ, Eli,” Louis adds.

I give them a two-finger salute as they all pack their belongings and file out of the faculty common room.

Pretending we’re sharing the space, as opposed to wanting any alone time we can get, Cole and I wait for them all to disappear out of sight.

Once the coast looks clear, Cole focuses all his attention on me. “Do you really have plans tonight?”

“I do.” I groan, letting my head fall onto the table. “I promised Aiden and Callie we’d hang out tonight.”

I want to cancel my plans with them, it’s on the tip of my tongue to offer, but I don’t want to be that guy. The three of us have come too far as friends for me to just ditch them whenever Cole wants me.

“So, I guess it’s a bad time to tell you I’m officially moving in today.”

My breath gets caught in my throat.

“It’s probably an even worse time to tell you I have a beautiful king bed just waiting for us.”

I shake my head at him, “You’re enjoying this aren’t you?”

“Teasing you? Definitely,” he says with a smile. “But you not being able to come over, not so much.”

I imagine his bed. I imagine usonhis bed. Fuck it. “I can—”

“No,” he says firmly. “You’re making friends, new college experiences. I’m not taking that away from you.” He stands up, gathers the papers, and walks directly to me. I rise and meet him as he hands me the thick bunch. We both hold on to the stack, as if our hands are actually touching. “Even if I hate every single moment you’re with someone else, I willnottake that away from you.”

My face heats up at his sincerity. “You’re a good guy, Cole Huxley.”

His voice takes on that seductive quality I love so much. “When will I see you?”

Itching to touch him, I try to slide my hand closer to his. “Tomorrow night?”

“I have an afternoon department meeting, and then Miles and Harper are supposed to come over and see the new place. I can cancel.”

“If I can’t cancel, then you can’t either,” I protest. “We’ll find time.” I don’t believe the words as I say them, but I don’t want us to start finding flaws in our arrangement. Despite the circumstances and the restrictions, I want to continue being hopeful.

“Soon,” he says as more of a demand. He skims my fingertips with his own and I revel in his touch. In the knowledge that even if neither of us says it out loud, I’m not the only one stuck in a fog of feelings.

“Have fun sleeping in your bed alone tonight,” I tease.

“I’m going to think of you the whole damn time,” he rasps.

“You better.”

* * *

“I’msure you both said we were studying with pizza,” I call out from my room. “I don’t see any books.”

Callie pokes her head in my room, shaking a bottle of tequila. “There’s been a change of plans.”

“No way.” I shake my head in irritation. Already annoyed and agitated that I’m not spending the night with Cole, Callie’s and Aiden’s change of plans is of no interest to me.

“Come on,” she whines. “You’ve been MIA for ages and we need to make new memories.”

I know it comes from a good place and this was the reason I cancelled with Cole; to have memories with my friends.

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