I look up at him and feel dizzy.
Why is he so beautiful?
Also, how is he stopping me from going to my brother?
“I’m not stopping you.” Calix shakes his head but keeps his arm before me like a barrier. “Go inside and rest. I’ll make sure you’re safe.”
I stare at him, wondering if I’d said those words out loud. He stares right back at me, and for a second, I can’t think. I can’t even breathe.
His eyes burn into mine, and it’s like I can hear his voice in my head.
Please, Blair. Please go back inside.
“I can keep you safe.”
I blink and wonder whether I imagined his voice in my head because Idefinitelyjust heard him speak.
Did I imagine that too?
“Right, but you don’tneedto keep me safe. I don’t even know you.” Yet I don’t move back. I like the feeling of his arm on me, and I can’t help but imagine how it would feel to have both arms wrapped around my waist, lifting me into his arms…
“Blair.”
Honestly, I could listen to him saying my name all day. I chew on the inside of my lip and look away from him, hating how my body responds to his presence. He’s just pure masculinity: all pine-scented and bulky, muscles for miles and devastating honey-colored eyes, not to mention that jawline…
I shake my head, feeling like I’m under a spell, but Calix gives me a ghost of a smile that tells me more than any words could.
What the hell is going on?
I’ll be here all night.
I blink rapidly and move back, sure I have a concussion.
His voice is in my head, for heaven’s sake!
I try to keep my face neutral and step back into the doorway, missing his warmth already.
“Leon can stay here,” I state, waving my hand at the truck. “Would you mind waking him?”
My brother snores away in the truck, unaware of what’s happening.
Jeez, we need to address his drinking problem.
You really do.
I freeze, sure as shit that I heard his voice in my head then, but when I turn to look at him curiously, he’s already marching back to the truck to get Leon. I rub my arms and head back to tell Aunt Ray about Leon, then help her set the sofa up so Calix can lay him down.
Then Leon stumbles through the door, insisting he’s not drunk.
My aunt takes Leon into the kitchen and makes some coffee, offering some to Calix, who accepts politely.
I shiver when he walks past me and into the kitchen, talking animatedly with my aunt as I lean against the wall. My head aches, and my body throbs, but it also fizzes with something like excitement, and Iknowit’s got something to do with Calix.
It’s polite to offer him coffee after he brought my things… and drove my brother back here.
I cringe and take a deep breath, heading to grab my backpack. I need to change; I don’t want Calix checking me out.
Well, maybe Ido, but not right now. I don’t wantanyonelooking at me like that right now.