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Not that it much matters what I want. I think he’s made his position pretty clear. We’re in different places in our lives. I’m too young for him. I’m his sister’s best friend. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Sex.

That’s what this is.

Quenching a thirst.

Satiating a hunger.

He’ll tire of me eventually.

Until then, though, I’m going to hang on for dear life.

If I had any self-respect at all, perhaps I would have told him to go fuck himself when he followed me into the bathroom at his parents’ house. But as I’ve proven time and time again over the last several months, my willpower is nonexistent when it comes to River. And as it would seem, his is a little frayed when it comes to me, too. If it weren’t, things would have never escalated this far.

“What time does your bus leave?”

“Um.” I glance at the clock. “I have to be there in two hours. Why?”

“Because I’ll be there to pick you up in an hour.”

“Wait, what?” I freeze midway through shoving some socks into my bag. “You’re coming to get me?”

“Is that okay?”

“Yeah. More than okay. I’m just a little surprised, is all. I thought you had to work until five.”

“I took the afternoon off. I was going to show up and surprise you but then decided it was probably better that I told you, just in case.”

“And how is it that you know where I live?” I ask, humor lining my voice.

“I may have done some research.”

“What kind of research?”

“The kind where I go through my sister’s things. She keeps a paper planner and address book. She’s old-school like that.”

“I lived with her for an entire school year. I’m aware.” I let out a soft laugh, my mind drifting to Lyric for a brief moment. “I’m also aware of how weird she is about them. I drew a flower on a page of her planner one day and she nearly had a meltdown.”

“Sounds like my sister.” He snorts. “Well, lucky for me, she had your home address in one of those books.”

“You’re like a stalker,” I tease.

“Is that what constitutes as stalking these days?”

“At least on some level,” I confirm with a smile.

“Well, if it gets you in my bed, then I guess I’ll do whatever it takes, including stalk you.”

“Is it weird that I kind of like the idea of you stalking me?” I ask. “I mean, I could totally get on board with the idea of you standing outside my bedroom window watching me.”

“I think that goes beyond stalking into a peeping Tom.” He barks out a laugh.

“You can even bring binoculars if you like,” I keep going. “You know, so you can see better.”

“Don’t think I’m going to have any luck with that given that your dorm room is going to be on the third floor.” He points out, reminding me that we’ve already got our housing assignments for the school year.

“I don’t know. If it’s dark outside and light in the room, I dare say you could see a great many things through the window.” I smile darkly to myself.