Page 53 of Lily In The Valley
“Nessa and Zay keeping you up.” He smirked.
I stepped back so he could enter the small living room space. “Nope. Even if they weren’t fucking around like rabbits, I’d still be up studying.”
“Always grinding, even when you know it all.” He laughed, passing in front of me, heading to my bedroom suite.
“You say that like you haven’t benefitted from me tutoring your ass every week.”
“I didn’t need tutoring,” he said, flopping onto my bed uninvited. “I just wanted some time with you.”
I rolled my eyes, but the warmth in my chest betrayed me. He made the room feel less heavy, like I could breathe again.
“Are you feeling better?” I asked, pulling up the sleeves of his hoodie to check the fading red hives that littered his body the past two weeks.
“Yeah, finally feel like I can breathe and my skin not on fire. Thanks to you, my favorite nurse.” He smiled, then licked his lips as his thumb ran over my cheek and down my jaw. He reached over and picked up my highlighters, clicking it open and closed. “When’s the last time you took a break?”
“I don’t have time for breaks. I’ve got back-to-back exams, a presentation, and that volunteer clinic on Saturday.”
He tilted his head. “So you working yourself into an early grave. Cool, cool.”
“Khalil.”
“Lily-girl.” He smiled back.
We stared at each other, and then we both laughed. Same old game. He stood and walked out of the room, over to the cabinets in the kitchenette. I followed behind him. “Y’all got some snacks?”
“Check the fridge. Nessa’s mom bakes the best fudge brownies. She brought us some when she came down last weekend.”
He popped it open and whistled. “You must’ve known I was coming.”
“No.” I giggled. “You just somehow always show up starving.”
“I show up,” he said with a wink. “That’s what matters.” He took a bite of the brownie and moaned. He looked comfortable, at ease, as he sat on the countertop, eyeing me as he chewed. “Come here.”
The arched eyebrow on my face protested, but my feet were willing participants to his soothing command. I stopped just shy of the gap of his legs. Slowly, he broke a piece from the corner and held it up to my lips.
“Open.”
And dammit, my mouth followed the same cues as my feet. My brain silently cursed my body for not following her explicit directions. Do not get close. Do not fall into the trap. The second his warm, thick fingers brushed my lips, I stopped talking. The sugar-sweetened cocoa powder exploded on my tongue. My eyelids shuttered closed as I savored the bite. A faint swipe of his thumb across my bottom lip energized me. My cheeks burned. I turned to sit at one of the couches before I got caught smiling too hard.
He followed.
“You remember when we used to sneak snacks from your grandma’s flower shop?”
I looked up, surprised. “You remember that?”
“Hell yeah. You always made me wait until she was talking to customers. And clean up the back room first.”
“Because we were raised right,” I said, grinning. “Well, I was.”
He leaned closer, throwing a too warm arm across my shoulders. “And you know the block parties was popping in the summer. Water balloons. Mr. Johnson’s barbecue. The Candy Lady’s frozen cups.”
“Don’t forget somebody blasting Frankie Beverly until your auntie kicked off her heels and started two-stepping.”
“Then your bitch-ass daddy would pull up and ruin the vibe.”
The smile on my face faded before I could catch it.
Khalil noticed. Of course he did. “What’s wrong?”
