Page 27 of Unhinged Magic
This thing between us was so fucking obvious. Why was she fighting it? I broke the moment, because we were in a cafe.
I released the towel, and she retreated a few paces.
“You all good now the lunch rush is over?” I asked, more than prepared to stay longer, but I needed to get some book work done myself.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Thanks for your help,”
“All good. I’ll expect my fifty bucks tomorrow,” I said with cocky assurance as I headed to the door.
Today couldn’t have gone better. Things were less awkward. I chanced a glance in her direction and, for good measure, gave her a wink.
***
For the second time in a week, I stared up at her balcony, illuminated by a clear, full moon. I had let two days pass after myvisit to the cafe, not wanting to push my luck. We were moving forward in small steps, but progress was still progress.
Scaling the balcony again, the pounding in my chest was a persistent drumbeat; the baseline of my own nervous system screaming at me to leave.
But I couldn't.
I asked myself on the walk over here why I was visiting her at night. Why not catch up for coffee or take a walk along the waterfront? I didn’t have answers. I was acting on pure instinct, something that had never failed me. I felt it in my core. A rope pulling me to her. The tow.
I hauled myself over the balcony, again knocking lightly on her window. I wasn’t sure what time she went to bed, and it was 9.30 PM.
A moment later the door slid open, Skye standing in front of me in another oversized band tee, but this time a pair of white bed socks covered her feet. Her hair was piled on top of her head, whisps of stray hairs coming from the bun she had twisted it into. She glowed without makeup, but she didn’t seem to care about me seeing her this way. Beautiful.
“Here to hand over your fifty bucks?” she said dryly, motioning me inside.
I grinned, surprised at her lack of annoyance at my late-night arrival. Following her, I stepped into her bedroom, shutting the door behind me, her scent hitting me at once.
Hold. It. Together.
“He didn’t buy you a coffee?” I asked with surprise. Opportunity missed on his part.
Skye walked over to her bedside table, sifting through her top drawer. I had to move my attention around the room to stop looking at her legs currently hell bent on giving me a semi.
“Here.”
I turned back to her, forcing myself to look at her face.
She held out her hand, a fifty dollar note in it.
He brought her a coffee. Asshole.
I smirked. “I knew it. And no, I was kidding about the bet. I’m not taking that.”
“A bet’s a bet,” she demanded, waving it between us.
I shook my head. There was no way I would take her money.
“If he was a real man he would have asked you on a date.”
She scoffed, shoving her money back into her top drawer, turning to face me again. She walked over to the bed, settling on it. “Jealous?” she asked, and I was all for the flirting.
Why she hadn’t booted me out of her bedroom yet, I wasn’t sure. I stared down at her, running my knuckle over my jaw.
“What if I am?” No cockiness. No cheek. Just pure fucking honesty.
She let out a huff. “I can’t imagine you jealousever. Not when we were younger, not now.”
