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“Don’t worry; your dirty little secret is safe with me.” I pat the back of their heads. “You don’t have to admit it in front of everybody that you are growing on one another.”

They push at my hands at the same time.

“That’s bullshit.”

Brook pulls her mussed hair behind her ears, and Jeanette gives me one of her blank stares.

“Like there’s something the two of us could have in common. Don’t be silly.” Jeanette rolls her eyes at me before returning them to the TV. “Now shut up and let us watch.”

Brook hums in agreement. “I still didn’t get enough of my Isaiah fix.”

I cover my mouth with my hand to hide the sound of my laugh.

“Maybe you have more in common than any of you is ready to admit.”

Amelia

“So, is this it?” I turn my head to the side to look at him. Derek’s eyes are already on me, and from the look in them, I think the last thing on his mind is our project.

We’ve been sitting on my bedroom floor for the last two hours. Derek’s been reading my notes while I was writing down on my computer what we agreed to put into this essay. We are halfway done, but I think we’ve done a pretty good job so far.

“Yeah,” he agrees, his eyes still looking at me with this intensity that’s all him. “I think that’s good. We can finish it next week and then do the presentation.”

“Works for me.” I look back down at my laptop screen and save the document. I don’t want to lose all of the work we put into this thing over some silly mistake. Once finished, I close the document, turn it off, and put the laptop on top of my bed.

I glance in the direction of the door, which is still ajar, and then look back at Derek. “I guess we are finished for today.”

“I guess we are.” Derek takes a sip from his soda can that is on the floor next to him. This time my mom prepared brownies but we already ate them all, so there is only an empty plate left on the floor.

Derek leaves the can on the floor before lifting his hands in the air and stretching. His white cotton shirt rises, showing off his stomach with a six-pack and a slight V that leads right to his sweats and makes my mouth water.

Although it’s October, the guy still wears shirts with short sleeves. I never understood how guys could radiate so much warmth even in the dead of winter, but there it is.

Derek leans against the bed, his hand falling on the mattress behind me. He doesn’t look like he is in any hurry to leave whatsoever.

“So…” The quiet is killing me.

On one hand, it’s strange just to sit here and not say anything, but on the other hand, it isn’t like I can just send him away.

Thanks for the help, but I think it’s time for you to go home now.

Like you want to do that, whispers a tiny voice in my head, but I shush it immediately. “How was the party Friday night?”

“Same old, same old.” He chuckles at me, making me think he’s enjoying how uncomfortable I’m feeling. He shifts a bit to the side so that he can look at me better, drawing closer in the process so that his thigh is touching mine.

“I just showed up for half an hour before going back home.”

That got my attention. “Why?” I ask him surprised.

“Didn’t feel like it.” He shrugs. I think I see color rising on his cheeks, but he lifts his hand and runs his fingers through his already messy hair, his hand covering his face and hiding it from me just enough for him to compose himself. “It’s not like I’m there every weekend.”

I tilt my head to the side and raise my brows, giving him a pointed look. His defensiveness speaks for itself.

“Okay, maybe I’m there most of the weekends, but I didn’t feel like it this last one. We went for pizza, and then I showed up just to make Andrew happy before going home and crashing. It was a tough game.”

“I didn’t know hockey is that violent,” I say thinking about Friday’s game. “Somebody was always pushed into the wall or on the ice.”

“It’s not that bad.” He laughs, his hand going through his hair again. “Did you like it?”

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