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Which makes the whole experiment moot, doesn’t it?
I’m overthinking this again, and besides I don’t have time for this because the doorbell rings and my heart gives a lurch.
He’s here.
***
I peer through the peephole. He’s standing a ways back, hands in his pockets, a thoughtful expression on his handsome face. My mouth goes dry, like every time I see him. His jacket is open, and that T-shirt is like second skin, molding to his powerful chest.
He looks way too good to be standing outside my door. I can hardly believe he’s going to step into my apartment, my space. Very few people have been here. Corey, obviously. A few friends.
Never a boyfriend.
He’s not your boyfriend, Pax.
With a sigh, I unlock the door and pull it open. Not fair, right? Who wouldn’t want a boyfriend like him? Handsome, strong, kind, sexy.
“Evening,” he says, and something’s off. I don’t know at first what it is as he strides inside my living room and looks around. “Nice place.”
He’s not smiling.
That’s what’s off. Every time he saw me, he gave this bright smile that made my heart pound like mad, but tonight he’s...cool. Reserved.
Blank. Like he doesn’t know me. Like we’ve only met in passing.
“Is everything okay?” I wring my hands together, worried. “Riot.”
“Hmm?” He turns toward me, gives a brief smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Oh yeah. Sorry. My mind’s on other things.”
Other things than me, than being here with me. It stings. I never realized I had his full attention every time.
What’s going on?
“Have you had dinner?” I nod toward the kitchen. “I have—”
“I’m all right.”
“Are you sure? I could—”
“I said I’m all right. Relax, Paxtyn.”
Not Pax. It’s the first time he’s called me that since I told him to call me Pax.
A shiver wracks me.
“You cold?” He sits down on the sofa without invitation. Sprawls, draping his arms over the backrest. Spreads his legs, deliberately drawing my gaze to the bulge at his crotch. “Come sit with me.”
I hesitate. He’s so distant. If it wasn’t for those gray eyes, that silky, dark hair, I’d have thought I’d dreamed all our previous meetings. That he’s a double, or…
“Do you have a twin brother?” I blurt out, and immediately I wish I could take my question back.
His pretty eyes widen, and it’s the first ingenious reaction I’ve seen from him today. “No. Why?”
I shrug. “You’re acting so differently. I feel like I don’t know you.”
Something shutters in his expression. He sits there silently, looking at me, and yet somehow not seeing me.
“Did something happen?” I try again and sit down after all. “Since I last saw you. You can tell me, Riot. I won’t tell anyone.”
