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It was because of that that he didn’t like it much. It felt too big, too ostentatious, a place he might lose himself in again. He wondered if there would ever be a place where that risk didn’t seem possible; maybe he was too easy to lose, too fragile, and he was just waiting for everyone to find out.

Including Juniper, who at least glared at him like he wasn’t made of glass. ‘Don’t say sexcapade!’

‘Well, how would you describe it?’ he invited with a wide, smarmy grin. He could play her game if he had to. Besides, for all her complaints about his arrogance, she’d seemed to like it just fine when he was tasting her. And, fuck, had she tasted perfect.

‘A mistake,’ she said brusquely. ‘A very, very big mistake. One that won’t happen again.’

He tried to rub away the disappointment in his sternum, hoping that his mask remained in place. ‘I recall you enjoying yourself quite a lot. Besides, I don’t see what’s wrong with two friends—’

‘We’re not friends!’ she blurted, brows connecting into a perfect zig zag.

So it hadallbeen pointless. The olive branch, the trying, the everything. It was for the best, probably. Did he honestly want to be hung up on a handful like her, someone who hated his guts and never filtered her unkind words?

The thought didn’t quell the ache, nor the exhilaration that still plagued him from having his hands on her, his mouth on her. He hadn’t felt alive like that in a long time – and not just alive, butknown. For a moment, he’d been sure she’d seen him for who he really was, not who she wanted him to be: the enemy.

He’d been wrong, clearly. She’d just wanted him for a good time, like everybody else, and now she was back to kicking him away like he was dirt on her shoe.

He swallowed the bitter taste in his mouth and opened his laptop. ‘Fine. In that case, next time you’re going to be late, warn me. Don’t like having my time wasted.’ He unlocked his phone, opened the contacts list, and threw it in her general direction. ‘Going to need your number.’

‘I didn’tknowI was going to be late.’ Her tone was cutting, but it bounced straight off his carefully built walls. She typed in her number, then sent a text to herself to make sure she had his, too.

‘You never do,’ he remarked. ‘Another pattern I’ve noticed about you.’

‘Oh, so now that sex is out of the question, you’re going to be pissy with me?’

‘I’m going to be pissy with you because that’s how you are with me,’ he retorted. ‘And because I’ve been waiting here for the last half an hour. Are we doing this project or not?’

She hunched her shoulders, elbows planted on the desk. ‘Fine. What’s the plan?’

‘I’m going with art,’ he said, flicking his laptop around to show her the images of paintings that he’d collected. ‘I found these pieces over the weekend. I think our research paper can be about the representation of human nature in mythology, and how that’s translated on canvas.’ He didn’t give her time to really look at the paintings, instead flicking to the slides. ‘My pieces will focus on classical compositions where the canvas is replaced by clay.’

He could only take her silence as surprise, especially when she nodded slowly. ‘Okay. And our joint pieces?’

‘We can combine that with elements of mythological sculptures, I’m sure.’

‘Sculpting is my strong suit,’ she admitted, worrying on her bottom lip.

‘Here.’ He pulled his sketchbook out of his bag without much enthusiasm, turning it to the first page, where his messy graphite lines and colouring pencils blossomed across the thick white paper.

Her brows disappeared into her messy fringe. ‘You drew these?’

In an effort to try to forget Juniper, he’d spent the rest of the weekend doodling potential ideas for their pieces, with sketches of everything from earthenware to tiles. In truth, he wasn’t well-acquainted enough with pottery to know which would work best yet, but he assumed Chris’s lessons would soon provide some ideas.

He smirked. ‘Are you surprised that I’m actually good at the subject I’m studying?’

When her expression darkened, he knew he’d made a mistake. ‘Unlike me, you mean?’

‘No, that’s not what I meant at all.’ He had every faith that Juniper would pick up her throwing skills soon.

She didn’t seem to believe him, scratching the edges of her pencil as she stared out at the blurred lights of campus. ‘They’re good ideas. Better than anything I’ve come up with yet.’

‘Juni…’ Something was wrong, something beyond her struggles with the wheel. He’d never seen her like this before, like she wasn’t even here.

But then she snapped back to attention, checking her phone with newfound energy. ‘I have to leave early.’

‘You only just got here!’ His voice rose, and this time, he was unable to control it.

To her credit, she offered him a guilty grimace. ‘I know, but work threw a shift at me out of nowhere.’