Page 18

I stood there, waiting for the song to end and cleared my throat before she could pick up her phone to start another one.

“Grey! Ohmygod, how long have you been in my house?”

“Long enough to know that the volume you listen to music at can’t be good for your ears.” I placed my hands in my pockets, looking her over. “I knocked.”

Her eyes narrowed skeptically before she walked over to me. She had on a short rust colored skirt with brown tights underneath and I pulled my eyes away from her legs to meet her challenging gaze.

“Well, what do you want?”

“Dinner is ready.” We went over this every night. She asked me why I was on her doorstep and eventually conceded shortly after I told her Noah invited her to dinner.

I wondered how she’d react if I told herIwanted her there. She was indifferent to me. Not in a cold way, just in a way I knew Noah was the person she preferred. Not that I could blame her. Noah was a people person. He interacted while I observed and most people were drawn to his warmth for the same reasons they were put off by my coldness.

“Um.” Suddenly her eyes were everywhere but my face. She pushed her hair away from her brow and walked back over to the coffee table. “I’m good. Thanks, though.”

I laughed faintly and her brows dipped. “You know Noah ain’t going for that.”

“I have groceries, you know? I’m fully capable of cooking for myself.”

“Yea?” I asked off-handedly, shifting my gaze to the kitchen. “That’s always an option for breakfast and lunch.”

But if I was being honest, I knew all she had to do was give me the tiniest hint she wanted breakfast too and I’d be dropping it at her doorstep before I left for the resort every morning. Except True kept vampire hours and there were never any signs of life from her house when I left in the morning. She stayed up all night and slept in ‘til at least noon, a theory I tested over the past weekend.

“What did you eat today, Red?”

She kissed her teeth at the question but came to stand in front of me again. For the second time, I had to force my eyes away from the swell of her breasts in that tight sweater she had on. They lookedheavy.And the thought of losing some part of myself between them was never far from my errant thoughts. Whether she was in the room with me or not.

And just like that, my dick stirred to life.

Taking a step back, I cleared my throat and pulled my hands from my pockets, not wanting to draw attention to my arousal.

True was oblivious—thank God—because she rattled off a list of snacks she’d consumed today and the list ended with a cup of tea.

“That’s what I thought. Come on, you know Noah likes to keep a schedule.”

“Did my grandparents put y’all up to this?” She grumbled, even as she stepped into her shoes, reaching out for my forearm when she stumbled slightly.

“Put us up to what?”

“Trying to babysit me.”

I couldn’t focus on anything but the way her hand felt wrapped around my forearm, and I was mentally patting myself on the fucking back for rolling up my sleeves in the middle of my last meeting today.

Her touch seared into my flesh like a shock of electricity until she steadied herself and went to open the screen door.

She left every light in the house on and didn’t bother grabbing her key ring before walking out.

I followed in a cloud of her seductive scent and shook my head to myself.

“Trust me, Red. The last thing I wanna do is babysit you.”

True kept walking a few feet in front of me, but called over her shoulder. “I heard that.”

Well, at least he’d worn a shirt every day since that first time. If I had to torture myself by being in Greyson Wolfe’s presence every night, at least he was playing nice. Kinda. There was nothingniceabout the way this man took up space. He was all consuming and infuriating. And so. Damn. Fine.

Did I feel like he was silently judging me every time we were in the same room? Yes. Was it enough for me to stop entering the damn rooms? No.

Something in me got high off the fact that he seemed just as flustered by my presence. And even though neither of us ever spoke on it, the knowledge of it sat in the corner of every space we occupied, looming and real.