“Feeling a little warmer?” Ezra asked as he walked toward the couch with two cups in his hands. I nodded, then walked over to him and sat down on the couch. He handed me one cup, and I smiled as the warmth spread across my hands.
“Thank you.”
“Welcome,” he replied, then looked at my bare feet. “I’ll get you some socks,” he said, quickly walking back into his bedroom.
“Are you sure you wanna have me here in your home? This crosses the line, doesn’t it?” I asked, watching him come back with a pair of socks in his hand. He handed them to me, and I quickly put them on before taking the cup into my hands again.
“It’s an emergency. No one has to know, but this is the first and last time you’re here,” he told me, sounding slightly hurt by his own words. I studied his face closely, then carefully took a sip of my tea.
“Who said I would wanna come here a second time anyway?” My brow was raised, and now he was mimicking my facial expression.
“Right,” he said with a chuckle, grabbing his own cup and sitting next to me on the couch. He made sure to keep some distance between us, and I watched him as he sipped his tea.
“How long will it take for my clothes to dry?” I asked, leaning back and holding my cup in my lap.
“Normally it takes about two hours,” he said, puckering his lips as he realized that I probably couldn’t stay that long. Wasn’t a good idea.
“Maybe…you can tell your moms that you’re at Pixie’s,” he suggested. “I’m sure they’re worrying about you.”
“I told them I was on my way home when I was on the ferry.” I reached for my backpack and pulled out my phone, then unlocked it to open our family chat. “I’m at Pixie’s until the storm’s over,” I said into the phone to record a voice message.
I put the phone down on the coffee table, then took another sip of my tea. “This is gonna be fun,” I pointed out, looking over at Ezra. He was quiet, studying my face while I warmed up inside.
“Your sarcasm can get annoying sometimes, you know that?” he said with a smirk, putting his cup down on the coffee table. He leaned back as well, but his eyes stayed on mine.
“I know. It’s my defense mechanism when there’s times I don’t wanna talk to people,” I explained.
“So you want me to just be quiet and not say a word until your clothes are dry?” he asked amused.
“No. I kinda like talking to you. I was just thinking about this afternoon when you told me that we shouldn’t cross a line by hanging out together. This is a tad bit contradicting, isn’t it?”
“How did Benji not kick you out of school with that attitude of yours?” he asked, keeping his grin in place.
I rolled my eyes and chuckled, not giving him an answer to his question. After finishing my tea, I put the cup down and pulled my legs underneath me to keep them warm.
“Here, this will keep you warm,” he said, grabbing the blanket sitting on the armrest of the couch. I pulled it over my legs and snuggled into it, then looked back into his eyes.
“What do you do on an evening like this?” I asked.
“Not much. I usually watch tv. There’s a show I’m trying to keep up with, but I tend to just record it and then watch all the episodes at once on a weekend.”
“You know there’s Netflix and Hulu to watch series and movies. You’re not that old. You should have those subscriptions,” I mocked.
“And fall down that rabbit hole like every other person on this planet? No, thanks. I’d like to stay sane.”
I laughed softly, then reached for the remote and turned the tv on. “All right, Mr. Lame. Let’s watch that series of yours then.” I held the remote to him and he took it to switch to a channel I’ve never in my life heard of.
“What type of series is it?”
“Uh, it’s about true crime. They tell two stories parallel to each other, switching between the two every ten minutes or so. It’s interesting and it sucks you in right away.”
“You’re into true crime?” I asked surprised. “You have no idea how many videos on YouTube I’ve watched about true crime stories last summer to pass the time. I’ve watched so many I could easily investigate a crime scene on my own.”
Ezra chuckled. “Glad we’re on the same page when it comes to murderers.”
Chapter Ten
Ezra
We were just watching tv. Nothing wrong about that. Well, it would’ve been at least somewhat okay if her head weren’t on my shoulder, and our arms wouldn’t be touching.
Almost two hours had passed, and Juno had fallen asleep a few minutes ago. I didn’t want to wake her, but it was nine-thirty, and I was worried her parents were looking for her. The storm had also stopped, and the rain wasn’t pouring down anymore.
I lowered the volume of the tv, then pulled the blanket over her upper body to make sure she stayed warm. Her clothes must’ve been dry already, but I didn’t want to get up and risk waking her.
Her hand was close to my thigh, and although I shouldn’t have, I reached for it and pulled in onto my lap. Her fingers were ice cold, and the tips red. I ran my fingers along hers, feeling her soft skin on mine for the first time.
Just from that simple touch I felt my dick throb in my pants. But instead of pushing those thoughts aside and letting go of her hand, I slid my fingers through hers. Her hand fit perfectly into mine, so small and delicate.
Her hand was covered in faded freckles, and I wanted to kiss each and every one of them. What would her skin look like in the summer? When she had less clothes on, and when the sun made her pale skin expose all those little spots?
Juno moved next to me, but she didn’t wake up. I turned my head to look at her face. Her long lashes brushed her cheekbones, and her lips were slightly parted while she breathed quietly through her nose.
She was calm and serene while she slept, which automatically made me feel the same. Having her in my apartment could make me forget about all the horrible fights I had with Olivia. Living with her was rough, especially in an apartment with no doors except the one to the bathroom.
Juno’s eyes slowly opened, and they looked straight at our hands. She didn’t move, but she squeezed my hand before a soft smile appeared on her lips.
“Did I wake you?” I whispered with my lips close to her head.
“No,” she replied softly. Her thumb caressed my skin, and I moved my gaze to watch her fingers untangle from mine. But instead of letting go of my hand, she placed the palm of hers on mine, making me grip her hand carefully. I moved my thumb along the back of her fingers, and I got lost in my thoughts while we sat there close to each other without saying a word.
Minutes passed, and while she kept her hand in mine, she sat up and looked into my eyes. “I’m sorry I fell asleep on you. I should probably go home,” she suggested, and I quickly nodded.
I could tell she didn’t want to get up and let go of my hand, but she needed to go home and I couldn’t hold her back. “Go put your clothes on,” I told her in a low voice, and she gave me a nod before her hand left mine.
I watched her walk into the bathroom, and after five minutes, she was back in the living room wearing her own clothes. She had folded mine perfectly and set them next to me on the couch. “Thanks for letting me stay. It was fun,” she said, grabbing her phone from the coffee table.