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“‘M fine,” she mumbled, tucking a long curl behind her ear. “I was just out for a walk when I saw you so I thought I’d come say hi.”

A lie.

“Is that why you smell like a bar?”

She smirked lazily, dragging a fumbling hand through her knotted curls. “I may have stopped at a bar or two on my way here,” she admitted. “I’m supposed to go home, but I can’t seem to find my way back.”

One truth; one lie. I narrowed my eyes at her, my heart thudding rampant against my ribs.

“Isn’t there like, someone you could call?”

“I don’t have my phone.”

I groaned. “Then, you should take a cab-”

“Will you take me home?”

My galloping heart stuttered to a halt before doubling, faster than ever. I stared at Hayden, my blood rushing in my ears and my chest burning.

Iwantedto, but the logical, reasonable part of me screamed for any other alternative. Anything but facing my feelings for Hayden while she stood in front of me.

Asking me to take her home.

I swallowed the sense of foreboding in my throat. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea, Hayden.”

“I’ll be good.” She snickered. “I swear.”

And despite all the red flags, all the warning bells jingling in my head, I sighed. “Fine. But I don’t have a car so we’ll have to take a cab.”

She nodded as I pulled my phone out and called for a cab.

“So this is…oneof your houses?”

I craned my neck to take in as much of the looming building as possible, but it climbed up into the darkness of the night sky, scattering into stardust.

“It’s not my favorite,” Hayden grumbled.

I glanced over at her, color sitting high in her cheeks. Still very tipsy, then.

“Tell me you at least have keys to get in.”

“I have my hands,” she said, waving her hands at me as if the answer was obvious. She scoffed at the confusion scrawled across my face and stumbled past me.

On instinct, I reached out and caught her by the waist. The warmth of her body seeped into the palm of my hand, and my stomach tightened at the brief contact.

“Oops,” she gasped, her breath fluttering over the base of my throat.

A shiver rolled down my spine, nestling at the base with a humming warmth.

Oh, shit.

I gently helped her back onto her feet and snatched my hands back the second she was steady again.

“I’m such a klutz.” She giggled. Her fingertips grazed the skin on my arms and left goosebumps in the wake of her touch.

Ifor surewas not going to get through this with my sanity intact.

After a few fumbles with the fingerprint scanner, the door finally clicked open, revealing a massive entryway.