I wanted to say that I was allowed to want to look nice for myself, but I knew that she would just argue her point even more.

    “My biggest piece of evidence is that you didn’t even seem surprised when Alexander had put his hand on your waist.”

    She crossed her arms and waited for an answer. I shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. I had no idea what I was going to say. But then, Ava’s eyes widened with realization.

    “Holy shit, you slept with him, didn’t you?” she hissed, then her eyes went down to my neck.

    It had been a long day, and I bet that my concealer had rubbed off.

    Sure enough, Ava pointed at my neck. “You totally slept with him! You have the hickeys to prove it!”

    “Would you lower your voice?” I snapped. “Your brother could walk in at any moment. Besides, those aren’t hickeys. They’re hives. I had an allergic reaction to a newundry detergent that I started using.”

    Ava’s mouth pursed. “Sure.”

    I unplugged the stopper and watched the soapy water drain from her sink. “I have to go,” I said. “I have an early meeting tomorrow.”

    Ava’s face changed. “Aw,e on. Don’t go. I was just teasing you.”

    “No, it’s not that,” I lied and gave her a quick hug.

    My hands shook slightly as I walked out of Ava’s apartment. I nodded

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    at Aiden as I passed him, not in the mood to stop and say goodbye. Since I’d been drinking, I took out my phone to call a cab. I would just get a cab to drop me back off in the morning before work.

    When I turned the corner, I almost ran into Alexander.

    “Hi,” he said.

    “What are you still doing here?” I asked.

    “I was worried about you driving your car home since you can’t see anything at night.” His lips twitched. “I don’t want you to drive into a pole or anything. Come on.” He offered his hand. “I’ll walk you home.”

    I stared down at his hand, my stomach swooping when I remembered the warmth andfort that holding his hand brought me. After a few moments, I ced my hand in his, hoping that I hadn’t just made a huge mistake.

    The heating off his skin automatically rxed me. As we walked down the busy street, Alexander inteced his fingers with mine, making an electric bolt surge down my spine. It felt like we were an actual couple just going for a nightly stroll. I couldn’t deny that I liked the feeling.

    When we were halfway to the apartment building, my legs started to be sore from the long day. When I told Alexander this, he immediately took out his phone.

    Ten minutester, Richard pulled up to the curb to pick us up. When we got in the car, Alexander grabbed my hand.

    “Put up the divider, please,” Alexander told Richard.

    After the ck divider was in between us, my skin tingled with

    nervous excitement. Did this mean that Alexander wanted to make out

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    in the car? I didn’t think I would have the strength to deny him.

    *Olivia*

    Even though my body was begging me to touch every inch of Alexander, my rational side warned me to take things slow with him.

    If we jumped in bed together every night, then everything would just be moreplicated between us. When would we ever have time to talk? But how was I going to resist him when my hormones were begging for me to close the small space between us and kiss him?

    With a heavy heart, I moved away from him. Part of my mind was protesting loudly, demanding that I move back towards the warmth radiating off of Alexander’s body. Somehow, I managed to resist the temptation.

    Because of my odd behavior, Alexander frowned in concern. He put the back of his hand against my forehead, and I couldn’t help but lean into his warm touch.

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