The Firefly Effect (39 page)

“I’m not the one laughing,” he reminded me.

“All right - fine, you got me back. Ha, ha, you’re
so
clever. At least hand me a towel.”

“Mm…I don’t think so.”

“Hand me a freaking towel!” The water was getting perilously low, and I shoved one foot over the drain to try and diminish the flow.

“You didn’t say please…” he sang softly.

“Rob…” I looked straight at him then, directly into those hazel eyes, and something I saw in them squashed my impulse to laugh. I don’t know what it was, but all of a sudden the only impulse I felt anymore was the overpowering urge to kiss him. And not only that. I had the craziest compulsion to wrap my arms around his neck and pull him on top of me and let him do me six ways to Sunday, right there in the bathtub.

My expression must have been transparent because his smile inexplicably faded. He hesitated for a moment, his eyes searching mine. For what, I can’t say. But I guess he didn’t find what he was looking for there. Straightening, he tossed me the drain stopper and walked out without a word.

I climbed out of the tub to close and lock the door behind him, then leaned against it while waiting for my rapid breathing to slow. Water dripped from my wet hair into small puddles on the floor, and I finally reached for a towel. I hadn’t realized it until just now, but I was trembling all over. He’d shaken me to the core with just one lingering look. And what the hell was
up
with that? The guy was a prick! Why on earth would I want him anywhere near me?

Still unsettled, I quickly towel dried my hair, brushed my teeth and then padded into my room to pull on some panties and a nightshirt. With the only way into my bathroom being through the bedroom, I’d never seen a reason to lock the door before. It looked as though that was about to change. Next time the jerk might decide to snap a photo with his cell phone or something. Yeah, that was all I needed. My naked ass plastered all over the internet.

I was just crawling into bed when Dad called from DC to check on things, so I filled him in on everything that had been going on. Well…not
everything
, obviously. Mostly just talk about homecoming. And when I got a text message two minutes after saying bye to Dad, I figured it had to be from either Dana or Riley.

It was from the idiot down the hall:
Nice rack, btw.

I probably should’ve been indignant, but instead it made me smile. My snarky reply:
How r u texting with only one free hand?

Him:
It isn’t easy!

Me:
Lol, shut up and go to sleep.

Him:
I will after I’m done.

Me:
PERV!

Him:
L8r. Need both hands for this.

I was still smiling when I drifted into sleep.