Page 20 of The Boy Next Door

Walking into the living room in the morning, I freeze. Mom sits on a seat in front of the window, looking out as she sips her coffee. A leisurely breakfast isn’t an indulgence she typically allows on work mornings.

On the coffee table rests an hourglass.

"Hey, where'd that come from?" It's just a decoration but also more .

"From gathering dust in the attic. I've always liked it." She feigns ignorance. "Problem?"

"No."

It's a dumb knickknack. A glass hourglass, nearly a foot tall, though it seemed bigger once.

Embarrassingly, it used to bother me. As the sand trickled down, every falling crystal added more pressure to my chest. I dreaded time running out, and when all the sand fell and nothing went wrong, I dreaded the next time somebody flipped the hourglass.

So much for Dad's theory about getting it out of her system.

This is a sign. Her way of saying I'm not strong enough or that she knows best?

If a simple home décor item rattled me, how can I survive art school in New York City?

Or maybe this is an announcement. If our college preferences differ, I'll have a fight on my hands.

"You keep spending time with the Cruse boys." She takes a leisurely sip of her coffee, gazing out at the quiet neighborhood.

"Dylan and I are friends."

"It's not Dylan I'm worried about."

Oh no. "Hunter is—"

"Older than you, uneducated, and not a good influence." She turns away from the window, sharp gaze skewering me in place. "And you're not ready for a man like him."

"Mom…" My heart is pounding in my chest. Screw the hourglass. This is rattling me instead.

"Besides, he only wants one thing, and you better not give it to him." She watches me sputter helplessly, apparently convinced my 'virtue' is safe. "How long do you think going steady and kissing on the cheek will satisfy him?"

The fight I'm entering is bigger than I expected and not only about college. Mom may make trouble if I keep seeing Hunter.

Unless there's no need... What if she's right?

~

Mom's a high-priced litigator. Her job is delivering the superior argument, not honesty. But if the truth agrees with her, she uses it shamelessly. So...

When I declined sleeping over, Hunter wasn't surprised. I'm a na?ve schoolboy, and he probably wasn't even a schoolboy when he was in school.

Hunter promised he wouldn't go distant again. He doesn't seem like a guy who breaks his word. So when he loses interest any second now, he'll tell me we're done and I'm not enough in no uncertain terms. Being ghosted suddenly seems kinder.

On the slowest trudge ever to my car before school, Hunter calls out to me from his doorstep. With a deep breath, I join him.

"Hey. I had to let in Mom's granite guy." He makes a face. "For granite, I guess."

"Oh." I force out the words. "Listen, I'm sorry a-about not staying over."

He waves a hand. "No big deal."

The door's open, letting the warm air out, and the stone steps must be cold on his bare feet.

"Maybe next time." Theoretically. Much as I want to, I’m not sure I’m ready.

"Seriously, we’re just getting started." Do his eyes look lighter in the morning? "There's no rush."

“Yeah, that’s what you say now but you might change your mind later.”

“No, I really won’t.”

"I'm sorry," I whisper. “We might have to take it slow for a while, I’m not sure when I’ll be ready for…”

"Hey, look." Glancing back, he shuts the door, then steps near me. We aren't extremely close, but the expression in his eyes is so intimate. "When you get into bed with me?"

When I…? I swallow hard, throat suddenly dry.

"It's because you can't stand it anymore." Tipping closer, his lips barely brush mine. "This stops being enough, you're gonna go crazy without my skin on yours. You're gonna explode and you wanna burst with me, not just from thinking about this every time you close your eyes."

I'm not aware I'm looking down until he tips my chin up with a thumb, his eyes shockingly gentle. "And it's gonna be amazing."

"A-a-amazing is asking a lot..."

"It's okay to be nervous, you know? But when you tell me your nerves don't matter anymore, you want me so badly, it's gonna blow my damn mind."

"It is?"

"Absolutely." His voice is much rougher than smooth granite, and it makes me shiver. "Honestly, I don't want you in my bed until you're sure there's no other place you'd rather be."

Uh, there's... so much. From the heat in the dark waters of his eyes, his breath on my face, his powerful words... God, is my mouth hanging open? There's a mix of emotions internally, shock, lust, reassurance, too many to name.

Who knows how long I stand there trying to regain composure?

He's either smiling or smirking, but it's difficult to tell which. "Shouldn't you go to school?"

"Y-you, uh…"

"Me? I gotta see a man about some granite. Maybe I'll even find out what it's for." He frowns. "Wow, does not excite me at all."

Ha, we were different there. I certainly felt excited, so excited not even the thought of granite cools me down. Were things between us really heating up?