The Hardest Fall by Ella Maise

Chapter Eight

Zoe

The weekend after Dylan and I made the bet passed in the blink of an eye. His team won their second game, which I heard about from Jared, and the whole campus was buzzing with the sweet taste of victory. Me? Not so much.

I had watched the first half of the game before heading out to meet up with Jared, and even though I didn’t know much about football—I had a hard time following where ball the was, who had the damn ball, who tackled who, who lost the ball, who caught the ball, etc.—even I could see that Dylan became a whole other person out on field. At least, with my limited football knowledge, I thought so. His movements were sharper. He seemed super focused, super attractive, super aggressive—in a hot way, not in a Hulk way. Did I mention super attractive? He was super strong, super fast—the guy could run—and again, just in case you weren’t following, super attractive. I was very appreciative of it as a viewer. It was probably the uniform and those damn shoulder pads that made him look like a sexy beast. Even the black face paint under his eyes that was supposed make him look ridiculous did the exact opposite. He looked like a warrior out on that field.

Obviously…obviously it would be a lie if I said it wasn’t hot as fuck to watch him play. When he made his first touchdown—a forty-five-yard run, according to the announcers—I was all caught up in the excitement and did a little jump in my seat with the biggest grin on my face. I laughed when all his teammates rushed over to him as he did a little dance with his hips and they bumped chests and fists—see! Friends do fist bumps all the time. Then I saw number five run toward him—Chris. He hooked an arm around his neck as they pushed each other around, and my heart warmed at the sight. When the camera panned to the face of their coach as he paced the sideline, I turned the TV off.

I could definitely understand how the rush of the game…oh, and the uniforms…and, ah, okay, specifically those shoulder pads…and maybe those tight, tight pants affected every girl on campus. I assumed it would be a hundred times worse if you were actually right there in the stadium. I wasn’t about to give in completely and become one of his shrieking fans, but I didn’t see a problem with just watching his games every now and then either…you know, because he and I were on track to become best friends, and best friends kept up with each other’s interests. In fact, as he was rushing out one day, he’d even asked for my phone number, and then later I’d gotten a Hello, roomie. In my book, that meant we really were becoming friends.

Which was exactly what I wanted.

Exactly.

Speaking of friends, as the clock neared eight PM, I picked up my phone and called Kayla.

She answered on the fifth ring. “Hey, Zoe.”

“Hey you. I’m starving. When are we meeting? Are you done with your study session?”

I was planning on begging her to go for pizza, but I wasn’t sure if she was in one of her dieting phases thanks to Keith making random comments about her weight. If that was the case, I knew it would be a no-go, but as I listened to her sigh on the other end of the line, all thoughts of food disappeared from my mind pretty quickly.

“What’s going on?” I asked carefully, even though I could already take a wild guess.

“I can’t make it tonight. I’m so sorry, Zoe. I’ve been looking forward to it, and I haven’t seen you or Jared in days, but I think Keith is coming down with something so I’m gonna have to head home and check on him.”

It was right on the tip of my tongue, but she beat me to it.

“And before you say anything, he actually wanted me to meet with you, but his voice sounded so bad when he called so even if we went out, my mind would be on him the entire time.”

I sat my ass down on the couch and slipped off my shoes. Just minutes before, I’d been ready and excited to meet up with her.

“I wasn’t gonna say anything,” I grumbled. “And I understand, of course. You should take care of him—I’d do the same. Don’t worry about us. I can meet you tomorrow—would that work? I think Jared is free of babysitting duties so maybe he could make it too. Might even work better. Lunch, maybe? My class isn’t until four.”

I could hear her quick footsteps as I waited for her answer.

“I have two classes tomorrow, one in the morning, the other around two. If Keith gets better by then, we’ll go for coffee. That okay?”

“Anything will work. You say when and where, and we’ll be there. I just wanna see your pretty face, KayKay.”

I could almost feel her warm smile through the phone. At least her tone was warmer when she answered. “God, I miss you guys, too. I’m not even asking about Dylan because I need to hear the details of every single day and we can’t do that over the phone—and don’t tell Jared everything without me. I’m feeling pretty left out as it is, and he’ll lord it over me forever.”

“Okay. My lips are sealed until I see you in the flesh but don’t worry, you haven’t missed all that much, although on Saturday after he came—”

“Nope. Nope. You’re gonna tell me everything tomorrow, remember? This is not a conversation you have on the phone. We need coffee and carbs in the form of baked goods.”

“It wasn’t actually that—”

“Oh, Zoe, I’m sorry, Keith is calling. Gotta go. I’ll text you tomorrow, okay? Love you.”

“Okay! I love you—”

The line went dead. I groaned and threw myself flat on the couch. Of course Keith would be calling. If she had ignored him and gone out with me instead, he’d have kept calling her until he made her feel uncomfortable and guilty enough that she headed back. I hoped he was actually sick and in actual pain.

I sighed and quickly texted Jared.

Me: Kayla can’t make it. Apparently Keith is coming down with something.

Jared: Asshole!

Jared: Keith, not KayKay.

Jared: You can come here and let Becky give you a makeover if you want?

Me: Your mom has the night shift again?

Jared: Yeah. Are you in? I promise I won’t post the results of the makeover on social media this time.

Me: No thank you. Getting a makeover from a five-year-old was a one-time thing. It’s off my bucket list. I’ll never make the mistake of falling asleep when she is in the same room as me again.

Jared: Oh but we worked so hard to make you pretty.

Me: I saw how hard you worked, and so did everyone else.

Jared: You coming?

Me: Sure, change the subject. I’ll just stay in and get some studying done. Coffee tomorrow?

Jared: Yes to coffee. Give Dylan a goodnight kiss for me.

I smirked. That little shithead!

I lifted my phone up high and took a quick shot of me giving him the middle finger with a sweet smile. A few seconds later, I got back one of him and his little sister as he scowled into the lens and covered her eyes with his hand.

Becky would make mincemeat out of him. Not only was she hyperactive, she didn’t get that other people needed sleep to function. She was also a little she-devil with the face of an angel. At least he was going to suffer, and knowing that gave me a little satisfaction.

Kissing Dylan good night…I didn’t think so. I was made of tougher stuff.

I knew Dylan had a team dinner and a study group because I’d overheard him talking to his friend on the phone. I wasn’t sure whether it was Chris or not, and it wasn’t like I could ask him either, but knowing he wouldn’t be home any time soon, I got comfortable in the living room and brought my laptop with me to get some studying done. If I could squeeze in some retouching of the last shoot I’d done for Leah’s fashion blog before I hit my bed, that would be even better. From the way things were going with my little photography job, I had a feeling saving up to move out at the end of the year wasn’t going to be as big of a problem as I had expected.

Facing the windows, I sat down on the floor, spread everything out on the coffee table, and got to work. The only break I took was to grab a banana and a piece of slightly burnt toast leftover from breakfast. It was a big letdown after imagining having a delicious cheesy pizza, but what’s a girl to do?

It was around nine o’clock when my eyes started to grow heavy from the school work, so I put in my earbuds and switched over to Photoshop to work on editing the fashion shots. The loud music I put on woke me up pretty fast, and I was able to tune out everything other than Leah’s photos on the screen.

This was what I loved to do. Sure, sometimes I spent more hours in front of my laptop than I did actually behind the lens, but that was how it worked. If everything went according to plan, I was hoping photography would be my future. It didn’t have to be fashion photos per se, but as long as I was using a camera, capturing different faces, emotions, memories, moments…heartbeats I knew I’d be fine.

At one point, my Spotify radio started playing “Gorilla G-Mix” by Pharrell, and in no time, I was belting out the lyrics to my heart’s content because it was one of my favorite sex songs. Everyone had those, right? I’d never had sex while it was playing—it’d be weird if nothing else—but whenever I listened to it, I could definitely see it happening if I closed my eyes.

At the very least, it always brought out my inner stripper. It was weirdly sexy, or maybe it was only sexy to me because I was weird? Might have been the latter, but I didn’t care one bit either way. Only Jared and Kayla knew about my weird R&B-hip-hop-sex obsession. Still singing, still sitting on the floor, I dropped my head back on the couch cushions, spread my arms out, and closed my eyes.

My hips moving of their own accord, I sang the whole thing, even made the gorilla noises, as if the lyrics weren’t enough. You can guess where I’m going with this, right? Because it’s me we’re talking about here.

When my eyes lazily opened, Dylan Reed was staring at me upside down. I closed my eyes, opened them again…tried it yet again for good measure…but he wasn’t going anywhere. When I’d first seen him looking down at me, I’d thought and hoped I had just conjured him up because I was feeling…a certain way. Watching Dylan Reed do push-ups and sit-ups was not something that was easy to erase from your mind, after all. Watching his muscles ripple under that smooth skin that begged you to touch, lick, and slurp, to…do all the things you couldn’t and shouldn’t and wouldn’t do to a friend…

My eyes fixed on the ceiling, I let out a long breath. He still hadn’t uttered a word. Reaching for my earbuds, I took them out, and the next song that had started playing slowly drifted away, taking Drake’s voice with it. The apartment was completely quiet. You could’ve dropped a pin back in my bedroom and I would’ve heard it from where I was sitting.

The roar in my ears started low until it drowned out pretty much everything. It felt like my heart was pounding in my brain like an intense bass line. Feeling a little lightheaded from the embarrassment, I sat up and the world righted itself. Biting my bottom lip, I gripped the top of my laptop with clammy fingers, clicked it shut, and then gently placed the earbuds on it. My face must’ve turned every color in the rainbow by then.

“You can say it,” I choked out in a low, low voice.

Eventually, he came into view and stood right next to the giant leather couch that was made for snuggling. I kept staring forward, out the window, but I could see his lips twitching in my peripheral vision.

He cleared his throat, and I bit my bottom lip harder.

Could I never win with this guy?

He sat down on the wide arm of the couch, and I shifted and pulled my legs underneath me, feeling vulnerable.

“I heard you when I was coming up the stairs,” he admitted.

I nodded, still keeping my gaze away from his. I tended to forget my volume; the whole building had probably been listening. Dylan kept going.

“I came in and called out your name, but you seemed to be too engaged. I didn’t want to scare you so I…waited.”

“Were you…uh, have you been standing there for long?”

There was a long pause then his voice came out low and deep. “I think I heard…’pussy growl’ at one point? That stuck for some reason. Let’s say it was a little before that.”

Yup. Okay, then. So he saw me squirm in my seat too.

Still avoiding his eyes, I nodded and stood up. I wanted to cry so badly. He stood up with me.

“I’m just gonna go jump off the building now,” I mumbled, ducking my head and trying to shuffle past him.

I knew it wouldn’t be that easy, but I wasn’t expecting an electric current to go through my body when his big hand encircled my wrist in an attempt to stop me. Goose bumps prickled my skin where he was touching me and all the way up my arm. My hand flexed, but he got what he wanted. My body stilled, and I waited for him to start laughing or making fun of me at any second. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew he wasn’t like that, knew he wouldn’t want to embarrass me, but he’d still think it, would still tell his friends about his weird roommate. I wasn’t mortified because he’d caught me singing, but singing that song?

“Can you look at me, Zoe?”

When nothing happened, my eyes flicked up to his forehead, and I watched his brows slowly form into a frown.

I blinked, and the next second he was pulling me toward the kitchen sink. Letting go of my wrist, he tore off a piece of paper towel and held it under water until it was soaked. When he moved toward me, I arched back and made sure my head was out of touching distance. His frown getting even deeper, he reached out and curled his hand around my neck to keep me in place. Apparently, I was still in touching distance.

“Stay still,” he ordered, his tone practically bordering on anger. What had I done except make an ass of myself yet again? As his eyes wandered to mine, for a brief moment, I wished he could’ve been at least a little unattractive; it would’ve helped me act normal around him. Even his slightly crooked nose added to his allure. “Your lip is bleeding,” he muttered, almost to himself.

Ah, so that was the bitter taste I had swallowed—and here I’d thought it was the bitter taste of humiliation.

“My lips get really dry sometimes.”

When the wet cloth touched my bottom lip, I winced and reflexively curled my hand around his wrist to stop him—more like halfway around his wrist, since my hand was tiny next to his. Even though it shouldn’t have worked, it did, and his hand stilled. I was so stupid that even his forearm looked sexy to me, the veins lining his skin. There were also those arm hairs I could still feel on my skin if closed my eyes and thought about the day I’d attacked him in the apartment, and then his big hand with its big, strong fingers gently touched my lip, bringing me out of my daydreams.

My eyes met his. “Sorry,” he murmured, his voice low, so low that my heart went from zero to sixty in two seconds flat.

Don’t look him in the eye, Zoe. Don’t do it.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered sheepishly as I pulled my hand down.

He turned his wrist once as if I had hurt him. I doubted it. He cleared his throat and resumed cleaning my lip. I let him, openly enjoying the attention I was getting. Okay, maybe not so openly, but at least I hadn’t done anything stupid—yet. When he was done, he balled the paper and tossed it into the trash. My eyes followed it, and if they weren’t failing me, there wasn’t much of anything on it, just a hint of pink, so what was with the sudden first aid help?

“Why is it that you always see me at my worst?” I asked, hoping he’d have an answer for me because I was coming up blank. I struggled to find someplace to put my hands—across my chest? On the island? Behind my back? On him? “I mean, getting caught singing is never the best feeling since it’s a private moment, but I was also semi-dancing, as I can imagine you saw, which I guess is weird when you’re doing it while sitting, but it still counts. To top it all off, that song? Why didn’t you walk in when I was singing to Ed Sheeran? I don’t sound so bad when I’m singing one of his songs. Getting caught by you, during that song?” With each sentence, my voice came out like a squeak. “Never mind.” I slowly walked around him and headed toward the hallway. “Any chance you won’t make fun of me for this?”

“Zoe—” he started as I managed to make it almost to the entrance of the hallway, but before he could finish whatever he was about to say, the power went out, shrouding us in darkness.

“What the hell?”

What the hell, indeed. There was a long eight-second pause where we stayed frozen, waiting for the power to come back on. “Uh…” I moaned, already going into panic mode. “I’m gonna say something, but you can’t laugh.”

“What?” he asked distractedly. He had already pushed away from the kitchen sink and was heading toward the windows, at least that was where his voice came from.

I cleared my throat and hugged one arm across my stomach. “Could it be a thief, maybe? Or thieves, plural? More than one? More than three? I stayed here last semester, too, and there was a series of robberies in the neighborhood. They could’ve cut off the power or something to make it easier to break in. We’re being robbed, I think. I saw this movie once with my dad where…” I trailed off.

It was looking like the few buildings around us had also lost their electricity, and the silver moonlight spilling into the apartment made it possible for me to see Dylan’s silhouette turn to me.

Instead of answering, he opened a window to check out on the street. “Yeah, the whole block is down. It’s fine, Zoe. I—”

“Actually, I’m not the biggest fan of—”

“I think you should ease up on the movies.”

“What?” Was that amusement I was hearing in his voice? “Are you smiling right now?” I asked incredulously.

I heard a low chuckle, but before I could respond to it, the universe decided to wrap everything up with a little red bow. The room started spinning, and I glanced down at my feet in confusion. Was I getting dizzy? I wasn’t that scared of the dark. Then the building started shaking, and my horrified gaze flew to the shadow of my roommate.

“Dylan,” I choked out in panic, an intense tremor in my voice.

Two seconds.

“It’s okay. It’ll pass.”

Three seconds.

I turned back and focused my gaze toward where the door was. Run away or stay? Run away or stay?

Four seconds.

“Dylan,” I choked out again, this time louder and more urgently as I swayed forward. My feet were dying to run—to the door, to Dylan, anywhere, really—and take refuge, but at the same time, I couldn’t seem to move an inch. I wrapped my shaking arms tighter around myself.

It would stop.

I heard footsteps.

I swear to God, if he runs away and leaves me behind, I will—

Five seconds.

Six seconds.

The earthquake stopped at the exact moment I felt Dylan’s front at my back and his hand curled around my shoulder.

“That was weird, but it’s over,” Dylan said casually, keeping his hand on me.

My heart started doing this weird thing it had never done before, big powerful thumps in slow motion. I hadn’t even realized I was holding my breath through the whole thing until I finally released it. My body started shaking as I pulled in deep breaths and let them go through my mouth.

That’s when Dylan put his other hand on my left arm and started rubbing up and down.

“You’re cold,” he mumbled.

Yeah, the dead are usually cold, I thought, but kept it to myself.

I couldn’t even give an answer as I struggled to get my breathing under control. Half an hour before, I would’ve said it was too hot when I was singing. Even the short-sleeved t-shirt I had on had felt like too much at some point, and that was L.A. for you. Now, as Dylan’s hands moved on my naked arms, I felt nothing but cold seeping into my skin. His thumbs slid under my t-shirt every time he swept up.

“We need to get out. We need to get out, right now.” I moved to run straight out the door, but his hands stopped me before I could take more than a few steps.

“Wait—wait a second.” He gripped my elbows and turned me to face him.

“We need to get out,” I repeated, breathing heavily.

Even standing so close to him, I couldn’t see the details of his face, but from the way his head was tipped, I knew his gaze was on me.

“It’s okay, Zoe. It wasn’t a big one.”

“Who says the next one won’t be?”

His hands started moving again, from my wrists, over my elbows, and up, up, up, at a slower pace this time.

“We’re fine right where we are.”

Were we though? Really, were we? I didn’t think so, not with the way the goose bumps prickled my skin where his hands were traveling up and down.

After a few seconds of staring up at the dark shape of his head, I dropped my head and sighed. There was magic in his hands, and slowly their warmth started to warm me up. They weren’t soft, not like my last boyfriend’s had been. He’d used more hand cream than me, which was fine, but Dylan’s hands—they dragged on my skin in the best possible way. I knew I’d remember the feel of them. He was sort of unforgettable.

“I’m really scared of earthquakes,” I whispered, just in case he hadn’t noticed.

“It’s over now. We’re okay.”

“I’m really, really scared of them, Dylan. Why is the power still not back on? Did it go out because of the earthquake?” I was still whispering. Unable to stop myself, I took a step toward him. I was maybe half a step away from actually standing on his feet, my face only inches away from his chest. Me shuffling closer wasn’t a cry for a hug by any means, but when his hands dropped away from my arms and a chill took their place, I felt like a complete idiot, a complete idiot who knew she was an idiot yet still couldn’t find it in her to back away from the safety of the big guy in the room. They always said you should take cover next to strong, sturdy things, right? Well, Dylan Reed was plenty strong and sturdy.

Then I felt a big palm at the base of my spine, which pulled a quiet gasp from somewhere deep within me and caused a very small shiver to work its way through my body. His hand slowly started inching up on my back as if he wasn’t sure if holding me would be okay.

Uh…

That was enough of an answer to a question I wasn’t even thinking of asking. I didn’t wait for vocal confirmation, just buried my cheek in his rock-hard chest and held my breath. His other arm reached around me and rested on my back, a little higher than the other one, and I felt like it was okay to close my eyes. He’d make it okay.

“It was probably just a coincidence and has nothing to do with the earthquake.”

My arms were still wrapped around my stomach so when Dylan gently pulled me even closer to his body, closing that little half-step gap between us, my arms fell apart and I lifted one to rest on his chest, right next to my face and gripped his shirt at his waist with the other.

It was a little unsure, a little awkward. Fine, maybe it wasn’t so much awkward as the best hug I’d had in a while. Let’s call it the best half hug, maybe, because it wasn’t as if he was crushing the life out of me. That would’ve been the perfect hug. The embrace was pretty loose, but it was still a hug, and it was still appreciated.

And dear God, his touch was warm and strong. His cologne was different, dizzying, something warm and spicy, maybe a hint of cedar. Basically it was magic. How did he smell so good at that time of the night? Had he been on a date?

Was it too forward to hug a friend like this? If we were being honest, calling him my buddy or friend was stretching the truth a bit but was I gonna stop or back away? Nope, not a chance in hell. If this was the big one for California and the building was going to come down, I was going to be in the arms of this guy.

With our close proximity, I could hear his strong heartbeat. I tried to keep my focus on that rhythm and match my breathing to it, strong and steady.

When I had it mostly under control, I let out another deep breath. “You must think I’m crazy,” I muttered into his chest.

There was a four-second aftershock right at the tail end of my words. It was smaller than before but still noticeable. I buried my forehead in his chest and groaned.

“Shhh, it’s fine. You’re fine. It’s just a small one.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and closed my eyes tighter this time, my hand curling into a fist. His arms weren’t moving anymore, but he hadn’t let go of me either.

“And I don’t think you’re crazy. My mom is not a fan of earthquakes either.”

“Yeah? Would she jump into a stranger’s arms, too?”

His chest moved with silent laughter. “I thought we were friends. When did I turn from the best buddy to the stranger in this scenario? And to answer your question, she wouldn’t get to jump into a stranger’s arms because my dad would be right next to her, ready to catch her if she decided to faint or anything. She always clings to his hand for dear life.”

His gravelly voice helped me relax further.

“She faints?”

“Thankfully it hasn’t happened yet, but I wouldn’t put it past her. She always threatens us with it though.”

I waited a moment before I spoke again. “Scientists are expecting a mega-earthquake to hit California, right? The power is still out, and I feel like something bad is going to happen. What if this is it?”

He hummed for a few seconds, and I could feel the vibrations through his body. “Do you have any regrets? Maybe someone you’d want to ask for a kiss before an untimely demise?”

He surprised me enough that I tilted my head back to look up at him. Thanks to the new angle we were standing at, it was easier to make out his features in the dark, and I could definitely see the playful grin on his face.

“Yeah, nice try, but I don’t think so. I told you I’m made of tougher stuff when it comes to bets. I won’t back out that easily—though, if the building actually starts crumbling down, all bets are off and I’ll probably try to crawl right into you.”

This time his laughter was audible. “Okay, I’ll make sure to be ready for it.”

Thinking he must’ve been starting to feel weird or uncomfortable holding me, I dropped my hand from his chest and took that half step back again. As soon as his arms released me, my body temperature started to come down.

“How come you’re so calm anyway? Have you never watched 2012 or SanAndreas? I just rewatched them last week so I’m thinking that’s not really helping at the moment.”

It sucked that I could feel exactly where his hands had held on to my body; it made me too aware of the fact that they were no longer around me.

“Is that why you’re so afraid of earthquakes? Because of the movies?”

“Who in the world wouldn’t be afraid of earthquakes? How can I not freak out about getting smooshed under a building?”

All of a sudden, my hand was in Dylan’s and he was staring down at them as if he wasn’t sure how it had happened when he was the one who had reached for it. His hand squeezed mine once, twice, and my heart rate picked up.

Shit.Slowly, as if my hand had a mind of its own, I stretched my fingers and linked them around his. It seemed like exactly what he was waiting for because before I could even process the butterflies in my stomach, he was pulling me toward the couch.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m dead on my feet, Zoe. I had a long day, and then the study session went longer than I expected, and I had to hit the weight room before I came here. I’m wiped out, so we need to sit.”

Oh.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled as he sank into the couch with a heavy sigh and pulled me down next to him.

“I should get up and look for a candle or something,” I mumbled and tugged my hand.

Instead of letting me go as I expected him to, he turned my hand in his then threaded his fingers through mine, palm to palm. Sitting at a weird angle, I stared at our hands, not sure what was happening. He lifted them and placed the back of my hand on his thigh. I tensed. Dropping his head to the back of the couch, he scooted a little lower.

“Stay. Let’s relax for a minute. Keep me company. The power will come back any minute now.”

Keep him company with his hand wrapped around mine? Sure, what the hell? What were friends for if not this? I already mentioned that I was an idiot, right? I was actually happy he hadn’t decided to go back to his room to crash, so I shifted in my seat, leaned back, and got comfortable next to him.

“Oh, and Zoe, no more of those movies for a while, yeah? Maybe stick to something that won’t scare you. You said you liked animated movies—those should be good.”

“Those usually make me cry,” I mumbled under my breath as I turned my eyes on him.

“I think…”

When I didn’t go on, he rolled his head toward me. Our eyes met in the moonlight and I flicked my gaze back up at the ceiling again.

“I think…it has something to do with you. I don’t act nearly this wacky around anyone else. Don’t get me wrong, I might come close, but not back to back, not like this.”

“So what you’re saying is that I’m a special friend, huh?”

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and saw he was still looking at me. I gazed at his temple. I remained silent, and he finally turned his head away.

“I like that,” he murmured in a low voice, and I thought it was safe to look again. His eyes were closed, so mine could roam every inch of his face to my heart’s content.

He groaned and arched his back, getting more comfortable. I couldn’t say the same for myself, but I didn’t move from my spot either. The alternative wasn’t appealing at all.

I felt something touch my leg and when I looked down, I saw Dylan’s thigh—which had been nowhere near mine just seconds before—lightly resting against mine.

“Did you have a good day?” I asked when he stayed silent.

“Yeah. Long one, but it was good. You?”

“Same. I was working before you came in, so maybe I should go back to that until the power comes back on and let you sleep—though I’ll have to wake you up if there’s another earthquake.”

A low chuckle. “Oh yeah?”

The rumble in his voice rendered me speechless. I closed my eyes and held back a moan.

“Just giving you a fair warning, that’s all.”

“Feel free to wake me up whenever you want. I won’t mind.”

I wasn’t going to comment on that one.

“Hey, Zoe?” he asked, his voice somewhere between husky and sleepy, heavier on the husky side.

“Yeah?” I croaked, not sounding nearly as sexy as he did. I was still trying to recover from what his voice was doing to me.

“Where is your boyfriend right now?”

Oh.

I stiffened and tried to pull my hand away from his, but I couldn’t break his hold.

“Why are you asking?”

“He’d know you’re scared of earthquakes, right? If he is your boyfriend, he knows. I just thought he’d call to see how you are by now. If my girlfriend was afraid of earthquakes, I’d be there for her.”

“I told you it was complicated.”

You’re such a little shit, Zoe.

“Okay. If you say so. I was just asking.”