Page 31

31

SCARLETT

I sn’t it supposed to start getting warmer in March?

I guess no one decided to make the state of Vermont aware of that fact. Last night, the temperature plummeted even lower than I’ve gotten used to up here, and today’s been downright arctic.

The second I step out of the library with Lane, biting cold wraps around me like a straitjacket.

I’ve got a calculus exam coming up, so Lane agreed to meet me in the library for another study session.

Now we’re walking home. As luck would have it, the wind happens to be blowing directly in our faces. Yay.

Even when I’m shoulder-to-shoulder with Lane, it’s so cold that I don’t feel the waves of heat that always radiate from his muscle-stacked body.

“Let’s distract ourselves from our miserable present with dreams of a better future,” I say to Lane. “What are you most looking forward to about spring?”

Lane chuckles. “I can’t wait until it’s warm enough to go on a shirtless run again.”

Despite the bitter cold, Lane mentioning going on a run makes the memory of our first time in Chicago surge to life, and my body lights up in response. Heat starts to kindle low in my belly, but when a blast of wind assaults us head-on, it flickers out.

“Cardio machines at the gym just don’t hit like going on a run outside,” Lane continues.

“I can’t wait to be able to have lunch outside, on a bench or sitting on the grass,” I say, trying to remember what the warmth of the sun feels like on my bare arms.

We swap more hopeful images of the future until we finally get to the house. The feeling of stepping out of the cold into the warm interior is almost orgasmic.

Sebastian, Rhys, and Tuck are hanging out in the living room, playing Invasion X .

“Alright!” Rhys exclaims when he looks back and notices us coming in. “Scarlett’s here. Get over here and grab a controller.”

“Shit,” Sebastian grouses.

Tuck laughs. “Now let’s see how long your win streak lasts.”

My last job back in MA was at a pub where the back-of-house guys had a TV and a game system set up in the breakroom. They played this all the time and initiated me into it. Compared to them, wiping the floor with Sebastian is a walk in the park.

“Do you have to emasculate me like this?” Sebastian moans about twenty minutes later, after I’ve head-shotted him for the third time in a row.

“I’m afraid I do,” I reply primly.

A satisfied chuckle rumbles from Lane who’s sitting next to me. He always seems to enjoy my electronic domination of our roommates.

After several more rounds, Sebastian’s had enough. He goes up to his room to read a book that I’ve actually heard Harper talking about recently; Tuck drags himself upstairs to work on an assignment, and I can tell how much pain he’s in forcing himself to do it; and Rhys goes to his room for a FaceTime chat with Maddie.

Lane and I take the opportunity of having the TV to ourselves to watch more Lie to My Heart . We get totally carried away and watch four episodes. Before I know it, it’s past eleven and I’m yawning.

“Shit, is that what time it is?” Lane says, looking at his phone.

“I know, right? But how can anyone be expected to keep track of time when waiting to see what happens between Ji-ho and Yeong?”

It’s by far the most interesting plot in the show. Yeong is out and proud about being a gay man, while Ji-ho is closeted and in denial, struggling with his attraction for Yeong.

Lane stands up, sighing. “Should we pick up tomorrow? I’ve got an early class in the morning. A quiz in it, too, so I should get to sleep.”

We head upstairs and to our rooms, but when I push my door open, I’m hit with a blast of cold air.

“Yikes,” Lane says as he’s passing behind me, feeling it, too. “Did you leave your window open or something?”

I cross my arms for warmth. Stepping inside my room feels like entering a walk-in freezer. I go to check if somehow my window came open or if the glass got shattered or something, but no.

“Shit,” Lane says. I turn to find him standing by my radiator. “Your radiator’s busted. It’s turned on, but there’s no heat coming out of it at all.”

Testing the knob, I confirm. It’s turned fully on, but the metal is freezing to the touch.

I’ve always slept well in a cold room, but this is a different level of freezing. It’s below zero outside, and the insulation isn’t good in this old place. The only way it stays comfortable in any given room is if the old steam radiators are on full blast.

I heave out a frustrated breath and shrug. “Guess I can sleep on one of the couches downstairs.”

Sitting on them in my outdoor clothes is one thing, but given the way the guys eat on them, drape their sweaty post-workout bodies on them—and I don’t want to think about what some of them may have done with girls they’ve brought home on them—spending a night on them isn’t exactly appealing.

“Those couches aren’t fit for a night’s sleep,” Lane answers. “You’ve got an early class tomorrow, too. You’ll be sore and tired all day.”

He’s right. But it’s not like I can sleep in this room, not even if I scrounge up one or two extra blankets. “I mean, it’s not like I have a choi?—”

“Sleep in my bed.”

Lane’s offer hits me in the chest, and my pulse stutters.

“Uh … what?”

“You can have my bed,” Lane says. “I just washed the sheets yesterday. It’s big and comfortable.” He shrugs. “And I can sleep on the floor.”

My brow lowers. “Lane, I’m obviously not making you sleep on the floor.”

“Really, I don’t mind, if it makes you more comfortable. Because you’re definitely not sleeping in here, and you’re not sleeping on a couch downstairs, either. The only place left is my bed. I have a sleeping bag in my closet I could use.”

I roll my eyes “ I’d use the sleeping bag and sleep on the floor before kicking you out of your own bed.”

“No.” Lane’s refusal is firm and direct, and it does a funny something to my stomach.

Another eye roll. “Are you trying to be some chivalrous prince or something? Can’t let a lady sleep on the floor so you benevolently sacrifice yourself?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Deal with it.”

“Well, obviously I’m not making you sleep on the floor.” I pull my bottom lip between my teeth and toy with it. This is probably going to drive me literally insane with horniness, but what other choice do I have? “We can share your bed. You said it’s big, right?”

“Oh, it’s big.” The boyish twinkle in Lane’s eye makes me shake my head, but it also makes heat coil high between my legs, because I’m about to be under the covers with something whose size I very vividly remember.

“Come on, roomie,” Lane says, a grin sliding across his face. “Let’s go to bed.”