Page 24 of Strip Bare

He fell silent before finally saying, "I guess it doesn't."

I let him stew for a few minutes longer before confessing, "I was out with Kat."

"Kat?" He scoffed and I understood his disbelief. "So you two are friends now?"

"We've been talking recently."

"About what?"

"Stuff."

I bit my lip. What did this mean? Was Kit jealous because he was worried I'd been seeing someone romantically? Or was he just mad to be left out of the loop as one of my friends? My closest friend, really.

"We should get some sleep," I said finally. "I have my first session tutoring Harley tomorrow and I want to see my parents off before they leave too."

"You're seeing Harley?"

I furrowed my brow, rolling over to search what little I could see of Kit's face in the dark. "Yes. I mean, it’s only tutoring so I doubt my parents would find it suspicious anyway but they’ll be gone by the time I leave. Why? Is it an issue?"

"Nope," Kit bit out and I blinked, surprised by the coldness of his voice. "No problem at all."

"Okay," I said slowly. "Good, because tomorrow everything can go back to the way it was before my parents got here."

"Right. Fine."

"Fine," I repeated and he made a quiet sound that might have been a growl.

"Go to sleep, Leo."

I rolled back over and in the dark, I smiled.

CHAPTER EIGHT

"I'm sorry sweetheart, I know you were probably looking forward to having your bed back. Though," my mom added with a wink, "I'm sure it's no hardship sharing with this handsome young man." She slung an arm around Kit's waist and he laughed.

"They seem to think they can fix whatever the issue with the car is by tomorrow afternoon. So I guess you've got us for another day," my dad said as he hung up the phone and sat down on the couch next to me. “It’s so strange though, we had it serviced right before we drove down and it was fine.” He shook his head.

"You're always welcome," I said honestly and then groaned. "But I'm going out in a little while to tutor someone in my class, so you'll have to entertain yourselves for a bit."

"Don't you worry about that," my mom fussed as she dug around in her purse for something. "We were thinking of going over to that diner near the mall for a late breakfast anyway. Are you guys around this evening or did you have plans already?" She looked between me and Kit and I met his eyes briefly before looking away. He'd probably thought he was in the clear today, was likely planning a wild night of partying and drunken hook-ups just because he could—

“No plans,” Kit said, smiling and raising an eyebrow at me ever so slightly, like a challenge. “We should go out for food tonight.”

“Well, I’m taking the car breaking down as a sign that I’m supposed to stick around here for a bit longer.” Saylor glanced in the direction of the hall, as if she could see all the way to Xander’s room through the walls. “But I’m going out with Xander tonight, so we can’t join you guys.”

“Does Xander know that?” I said dryly and she grinned, which didn’t reassure me in the least.

“Dinner sounds like a great idea, Kit,” my mom gushed and I wasn’t sure I could agree. A small, cozy dinner with just me, Kit, and my parents? Why had he suggested this?

“Okay, well, I have to go and meet Harley for our tutoring session.” I hesitated when I stood up and paused to kiss my mom on the cheek, inhaling her familiar lilac perfume. “I’m happy I get to be with you guys for another night.”

“I’ll go with you guys to sort out the car,” Kit volunteered, surprising me. His eyes were a little too wide, his smile a shade too bright, he almost looked guilty and that really baffled me.

I glanced at my phone, mostly to give myself a second to compose myself, and cursed when I saw the time. "I have to go and meet Harley, sorry. I’ll see you when I get back.”

Kit's face darkened at the second mention of Harley’s name and I watched in fascination for a second before shaking myself. If he was just pretending, then why did it look like he actually cared? Maybe he did care but, like me, was choosing not to implode our relationship with feelings other than platonic ones. Maybe he didn't think we were worth it, maybe for him it was just a crush. I was worried it had spiraled into a lot more than that for me.

I stepped close to him, trying not to suck down the scent of his aftershave greedily as I moved into his space and pressed my lips to his cheek, the slight morning stubble there scratching against my face in a way that made me feel awkwardly turned on considering my parents were just paces away from us.

---