Page 58 of His Temptation

God, I wished I was with him that night. It didn’t even have to be for sex. I missed the feel of him against me. Missed his smell and the sound of his raspy chuckle when I did something silly.

It had only been a week, but I was already a little addicted to Emery Cross.

“I agree,” Faith said, before taking a sip out of her straw. “Thanks for being honest.”

“You’re a great girl.” I smiled down at her. “If things were different, you’d totally be my type.”

“Really?” Her face lit up. “I assumed someone like Lexi would be more your type.”

Pretty sure she meant I seemed like the guy to go for super-skinny and flirty girls who wore a ton of makeup and fake lashes and who giggled at everything I said even if it wasn’t funny.

“Nah, that’s all Ryan,” I answered. “Let’s get back and kick their ass in a game of pool.”

Faith smiled. “Sounds great.”

Around midnight, we left the pool hall and took Lexi home—Faith had driven her own car. Once it was just me and Ryan, he cranked up the stereo and shouted the lyrics to his favorite Sick Beat song called “Disaster.” I sang, too, and played the drum beats on my lap with my fingers.

“You sure you want me to take you home?” Ryan asked, turning down the volume once the song ended. “I don’t mind if you crash at my place.”

Ryan might have had his issues, but he was truly a great friend. He knew of my shitty home life and constantly worried about me. It was why it hurt so much to know he might’ve been homophobic—I wouldn’t know for sure until we actually talked about it, but the thought of that conversation scared the hell out of me.

“I’ll be okay,” I said, offering him a tight smile.

As much as I hated the apartment, I had an appointment with my student advisor in the morning, and I wanted to make sure I was prepared by double-checking everything for the millionth time on the school website. And nothing against Ryan, but if I stayed at his house, we would probably be up until four in the morning playing video games, and I couldn’t afford to oversleep and miss my appointment. Not after I had worked so hard to get into college in the first place.

“If you need anything, just call,” Ryan said, watching me unbuckle my seat belt and open the door.

“Later,” I said before walking toward the apartment building. There were several buildings in the lot, some more run-down than others.

Walking through the front door, I was instantly hit by a cloud of smoke. Steve and Mom sat on the couch with a damn bong.

“Smoking pot?” I asked, closing the door behind me. “Really?”

“It’s for my anxiety,” Steve said, flipping me off before taking another hit.

Mom was so doped out of her mind that she didn’t even register I was in the room. Her eyelids fluttered and she swayed in place, as if she was about to fall asleep. She had a bad habit of taking Xanax and drinking at the same time. Add pot on top of that, and she was in her own world.

Too annoyed to be around them a moment longer, I went to my room and closed the door, locking it. After falling into bed, I kicked off my shoes and lay there, curling my nose at the smell coming from the living room. I opened my window and breathed in the fresh air before lying back down.

I had stayed with Emery almost every night for a week, so it was strange being back in my own bed. Colder. Not as comfy.

Lonely.

My phone lit up with a text, and I smiled once looking at it.

Liam:It’s weird not having you here.

Emery had been thinking about me too. Was he also lying in bed feeling a little lonely?

Me:Yeah. Can I come over tomorrow? I have an apt in the morning, but my afternoon is clear.

Liam:See you then.

I closed my eyes and imagined Emery brushing his lips across my temple, as he’d done every night before we went to sleep. It had started out as one of those random things I hadn’t thought much of, but now I realized how much I liked it.

Emery made me feel wanted. Cared for. No one else had ever made me feel that way.

Chapter 14