Page 8 of Boyfriend From Hell
I blinked at him.Felix did,I almost said out loud.
He shifted again, his knee now pressing more firmly into mine, and butterflies stirred in my stomach at the contact. He rested his hand on my knee, palm up.
“Here, come with me.” He stood, continuing to offer his hand. “Come on, seriously, I don’t bite.” He winked.
“Uhm,” I began. He wiggled his fingers and the butterflies flew into my chest and seemed to turn into nervous moths.
“Come on, Deer,” he coaxed—and I caved. I cautiously slipped my hand into his. His skin was beyond warm, almost hot. It was strange but felt nice, almost comforting.
What was I doing?
He began leading me toward the bed and I pulled back slightly, the butterfly moth party in me died immediately as my stomach plummeted to my feet.
“Oh, no. I’m sorry, I don’t know if I was leading you on, but despite Felix being an ass and—and the breakup, I’m, well, I’m not really looking for anything, so—”
Raios looked at me incredulously, as if I just cursed him out and spat on him.
Shit, did he think I was going to sleep with him? Leave it to me to invite a whole ass stranger into my home, thinking this wouldn’t turn into some weird shit show.
“What? No,no.I’m not trying to hook up with you,” he said so quickly I almost felt offended, which made no sense becauseIdidn’t want to hook up with him first.“Not that you’re not beautiful, you are. You’re devastating, so, no disrespect to you.” His voice made his nervousness evident as he rambled on and tripped over his words—and I believed him.
The weird pang of disappointment when he said he wasn’t trying to hook up with me lingered. Not that I was ready to hook up with anyone yet, I didn’t think. But a part of me wanted to feel wanted in that way, I guess? I don’t know.
He was cute when he was nervous—the way his cheeks flushed pink and his eyes widened slightly. Paired with his dark hair and scarlet irises, he almost looked godlike. But thatnervous charm? It was endearing, and for reasons unknown to me, it kind of made me want to wrap my arms around him.
I shook the thoughts from my head. These feelings were so out of left field, I began to wonder if I maybe had a littletoomuch wine.
“There’s a meteor shower tonight, it should be happening right now…I was thinking we could climb out onto the roof and watch it? I know that sounds dumb, but you deservesomethingnice for your birthday, so I thought maybe—”
“You want to watch the stars with me?” I blurted out.
The corner of his mouth twitched up as he nervously dragged his thumb along my hand, “Yeah… but, we don’t have to. Sorry, it was a dumb idea. I feel like I’m just making an already strange situationstranger.” He backtracked, loosening his grip on my hand. “I can leave now if you want? I feel like I just made things weird.”
I huffed. “Leave and go where? It’s not like you can even get inside your apartment.”
What did he plan to do? Sleep outside his door and wait for the locksmith or the landlord to show up in the morning? He may be a stranger, and I may have been a bitch earlier, but I couldn’t just let him sleep in the hall like that—if that's what he was intending to do.
He shrugged as I gripped his hand a little tighter, not wanting to lose his warmth. It was comforting, holding someone's hand. I couldn’t remember the last time I had done that. Even when Felix and I first started seeing each other, sure he was fantastic, but he was never really into holding hands. I didn’t realize how much I had enjoyed this small thing, until Raios wrapped his around mine.
“No! I’m sorry, it’s just been a day. That sounds really nice actually.” I gave him the warmest smile I could muster, hoping to put a bandage over the awkward situation.
I laughed and added, “No weirdness here!” As an extra bandage, hoping it sounded less awkward than it felt.
He smiled back as relief washed over his face. He flashed me a line of perfect teeth that resurrected the fallen butterflies in my stomach, causing them to go feral with life.
“Okay then, c’mon.”
We sat on the sloped roof right outside my bedroom window. It was really nice sitting out here, almost nostalgic in a way. Lights streaked the sky and my brain was warm with wine. The butterflies from earlier only grew the longer I was with Raios. Who would have thought sitting on a shabby second floor awning above my downstairs neighbor’s window would be so romantic?
He sat hugging his knees to his chest, his night-kissed hair tousled by the breeze. I turned to look at him properly for the first time—and damn, he looked sweet like that. I mentally kicked myself for thinking he was a weirdo earlier. Gracie willdefinitelylose her shit when she hears about this.
“What?” He smiled, but didn’t turn to face me, his eyes fixed on the lights in the sky. “I can feel you staring, you know?” His grin widened, causing a hidden dimple to form.
I tensed, “Nothing! I wasn’t staring!” My gaze returned to the shooting stars that danced before us.
He chuckled and I could feel embarrassment reddening my cheeks for the hundredth time that evening.
“So, what are you going to wish for?” he asked,turning toward me.
