Page 108 of Defend Me

“I felt awkward. Plus, I wanted to organize my thoughts a little. A lot happened and it needed some processing.”

“Did you process it all?”

“Let’s go inside.”

I nodded and took his hand to pull him up. “How’d you even get in the building?”

He bent down to pick up a paper bag and two iced coffees that I hadn’t noticed. “I told the office person that I was DoorDash.”

“You clever thing.”

I pushed the door open and watched him kick his shoes off. Grabbing the bag and one of the coffees from him, I brought them to the island and set them down. I tapped my fingers on the counter while I waited for him to tell me last night was a big mistake and he’d brought breakfast as a way to soften the blow.

“You look sick,” he noted. “Are you hungover?”

“I only had a couple beers.”

He took a long drink of his coffee. I watched him, unsure what else to do. When it became too much, I huffed and dropped my elbows onto the surface.

“Are you out?”

He set his drink on the counter and slid his finger down the side of it, making a path through the condensation. “I’ve been out since I was twelve.”

“I love it when you joke, but I’m literally on the verge of dying right now.”

“That’s dramatic.”

“I’m sorry about last night. I shouldn’t have put you in that position or kissed Sadie or kissed you. If you don’t want to do this, I understand and I can’t blame you.”

“Is that really what you think?”

He came around the island and lifted himself onto the counter. I stepped between his legs and put my hands on either side of him so that I wouldn’t touch him.

“Only one of us is allowed to be insecure,” he said. When he ran his hands up to my chest, I moved mine to the tops of his thighs. “Of course I want you, Brooks. I wanted you when you asked if I was mute the first time we met and even when you were being a dick, which was quite a few times.”

“Well, fuck, don’t leave me alone in bed like that without a word.”

“I texted you.”

“What’d the text say?”

“It said, ‘Hey, I can’t look at your sexy face while you’re sleeping without wanting to lick your body, so I’m gonna take a minute to breathe before I show up at your place and demand that you follow through with what you started last night.’”

“It does not,” I laughed.

“It actually does.” He showed me the message on his phone with a grimace.

“You’re so fucking adorable. Did you regret that text immediately?”

“Oh, before it even went through. I checked if there was roof access in the dorm so that I could swan dive off of it, but they have that door locked.”

Moving my hands behind his knees, I pulled him closer to me. He didn’t waste any time pressing his lips against mine. It’d only been a few hours since I last touched him, but I felt starved. When he tangled his fingers in my hair, I pulled back.

“Did you steal my hair tie?”

“No.”

His smirk made me narrow my eyes. “It’s a good thing I like you.”

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