, but I was too warm to move, and even if I wanted, the heavy arms draped over me prevented any sort of motion. But I didn't care, because today I woke up with a smile on my face.

My eyes fluttered open, despite them feeling like paperweights, and I stared at Elijah's forearms. With my free hand, I traced his veins which snaked down his arm like vines until I landed on his calloused hands.

His grip on my body slackened as he let go. Did I wake him?

His hand skimmed along the curves of my body, starting at my waist and feeling over the curve of my ass, down my thighs, and I stretched my back in response only to meet a crotch full of morning wood.

"Good morning," his raspy voice whispered in my ear. My eyes sprang open, and I took in Elijah Preston's bedroom and my lack of underwear. A good morning was right.

"I didn't know you were naked under here," he said as fingers danced over my hip where my underwear would have been if I had put any on. His lilting motion over my bare skin made my stomach tense.

"I didn't have any with me."

"If I would've known last night..." his voice trailed.

"You did a good job keeping your hands to yourself." I giggled, still facing the opposite direction. He made a pained sound. His large hands trailed up my stomach to my breasts, where he gently rolled my nipple between his fingers and the shirt fabric.

Oh, fuck.

"Eli," I said as a warning. "You are not doing a good job now." I forced my eyes shut, trying not to let my body react to his touch.

"Sorry, do you want me to stop?"

"Mmhm."

"Was that a moan or an answer?"

"Mmm."

His laughter shook our bodies, and he stopped touching me. If he reached between my legs right now, he would discover exactly how I felt. Instead, he pulled me closer, wrapping both of his arms around my torso and placing a long kiss on the nape of my neck.

"I like waking up beside you. Do you want to stay tonight too?"

That caused me to laugh. "Hit the breaks, dude. I have to get home without Reva knowing I was here."

He didn't reply. He held me in silence, our limbs intertwined, our chests rising and falling in sync. We laid there in silence, long enough for my eyes to close again, but my phone startled me.

"Oh, shit." I reached above my head and saw two texts from Reva asking if I wanted to go for breakfast with her and Penelope and that she'd pick me up on the way. Shit, shit, shit, she was stopping by the apartment.

I rolled out of Elijah's arms and dashed for my clothes on his desk.

"What's wrong?"

"Penelope and Reva are going for breakfast, which gives me time to get home." I hopped into my shorts. This was the perfect opportunity to get home without her knowing I was ever gone.

"Why don't we go for breakfast?"

My smile stretched from cheek to cheek, but he couldn't see because my back was toward him as I stripped and tossed his shirt at him. "We should. Pick a day and text me." I walked toward him and leaned in to kiss his forehead. "Thank you for yesterday. I had a great time."

"Same," he said, pulling on the tee I threw at him. "Let me walk you out."

We hustled down the stairs and out of the house, hoping we wouldn't pass any of his roommates. We got lucky because I climbed into my car without being seen.

"Text me when you get home." He patted the car hood, and I promised I would. Before I drove off, movement in the kitchen window caught my eye, and I looked up to see Jayce waving goodbye. He had a sly smirk on his face, holding a coffee mug.

Of course, Jayce would catch me leaving.

Heaving a sigh, I waved back and headed home.

I returned to an empty apartment. The lights were off, and there was no trace of Reva. I dropped my backpack on my bedroom floor and jumped face-first into my mattress. My emotions were beyond understandable.

I replayed the past two days in my head. The bar, kissing Eli, staying the night...

I dragged my fingers over my lips to my breasts and hips, feeling all of the spots he touched, unable to rid the foolish grin from my face. But, all I felt was betrayal because I was falling hard, and I didn't want to.

I scratched relationships off my plans a while ago. Now, I was contemplating what on earth I had with Elijah? He told me he liked me, and I liked him, but labeling made things real, and I was not ready for reality.

So, if we labeled nothing in the first place, then it would not matter if we didn't work out.

Needing to clear my head, I took a shower even though I would wash any remnants of Elijah away. Oh, no, I realized I forgot to text him, so I pulled out my phone.

He started typing, then stopped, and then started again. I chewed on my thumbnail, waiting.

My laughter filled the bathroom.

I faced my mirror, contemplating on sending him a picture in my towel, but decided against it and texted—

I set my phone down and climbed into the water.

When I finished showering and dressing, I sat on the kitchen island, drinking my morning cup of coffee. The front door opened, and Reva walked in with a takeout box in hand and a radiant smile.

"Hey, how was breakfast?"

"It was good. I brought you food." She handed me the box, and I stared deadpan.

"You didn't have to do that."

"I figured you didn't eat yet."

I opened the box, and the sweet scent of waffles wafted in the air. My stomach rumbled at the sight, and I grabbed a fork. "How was your night with Penelope?"

She told me everything in great detail. Starting with their date, then their sleepover, and then breakfast. Reva was smitten the entire time she talked about her girlfriend, and it made me happy to see how elated she was.

The conversation shifted when she asked how the painting went yesterday. I told her everything until Elijah came into the studio... and neglected to tell her what followed. Part of my heart cracked because it felt wrong not telling my best friend I had spent the night with someone. I did not want to drag my friends through my laughable love life because I didn't know what I was doing.

"Friday was fun," she said, waiting for her coffee to brew. "I think Saturday will be too."

The baseball game, I completely forgot.

"Oh yeah, are we still going to that?"

"Why wouldn't we? We haven't shown enough school pride this semester!" She pretended to cheer for the Trumbullen team and I chuckled. "Jayce invited Lucy and us to a bonfire after the game, too."

"Lucy and Jayce?" I choked.

"I don't know." Reva shrugged. "I was just as surprised."

"He is not her type at all."

"Yeah, but they seemed to hit it off at the bar."

I blinked. "I must've missed that." Because I was too busy watching Elijah all night, then sneaking outside to make out.

She poured the creamer into her coffee and sat beside me. "You can ask her about it tonight because the girls are coming over to watch The Bachelorette."

I SET THE bowl of popcorn on the coffee table as the front door swung open, and Iya and Lucy entered. "Hi ladies, we brought brownies."

The sun was setting in beautiful shades of purple and pink, and our windows were open to enjoy the breeze. Our semester was speedily ending, and spring was giving way to the budding warmth of summer.

We had not stopped talking about how excited we were for summer and how terrified we were going into senior year.

"I don't know how to do taxes by myself," Iya cried out, and we all laughed.

"Taxes, shmaxes." Lucy waved her arms, biting into a brownie. "I can't wait to graduate and be done with the exams."

"If I was an engineering major, I would want to be done with too."

"Too much math for me," I said.

"I think that's why I drink so much on the weekends, so I stop thinking about numbers and CAD drawings," Lucy gritted her teeth.

"That's why I'm going to teach biology, not math," Penelope said as Reva changed the TV channel. My phone buzzed with a text from Elijah, and my heart dropped, but I ignored it as the girls continued talking about their classes.

I recalled Elijah talking about what he wanted to do after graduation and how being drafted into the MLB was not what he truly wanted. Even though he hadn't opened up about what he would rather do, I could tell architecture was where his heart lay.

And he was great at it.

"Sadie, are you coming to the bonfire after the game?" Iya interrupted my thoughts.

"If you guys are, then of course I am."

"Elijah will be there," Lucy cooed, and I rolled my eyes.

They saw something between us, despite us keeping whatever we were a secret. I wondered how long it would take before the actual truth came out, and how mad they would be at me for keeping it to myself.

"Jayce invited you to the bonfire. What's going on there?"

"I don't know. He's nice."

"Have you guys been talking?" Reva chimed in.

"We chat here and there."

Iya was holding in laughter and I knew there was something Lucy wasn't telling us, so I dropped the topic.

"Okay, the show is coming on, everyone hush." Reva turned up the volume, and we all faced the TV.

Still, I surveyed Lucy, who stared at her phone, her thumbs moving vigorously across the keyboard. I wondered who she texted because, from the looks of it, it seemed serious.

She glanced up at me and smiled brightly. I smiled back, feeling embarrassed about being caught, and finally looked down at my phone.

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: Describe yourself in three words

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