4. Savanna
Savanna
The weight of Niki’s laptop sits heavy on my thighs, and I’m too afraid to touch it, so I just sit and dart my eyes to his.
“I don’t know what to do,” I admit.
His lip quirks up a tiny bit before he says, “Believe me, I know.”
I laugh, even though I’m mortified that he saw the disaster that is my poor dying laptop.
Niki carries his around in a beautiful, leather bag and clearly knows how to use the thing, and it makes me nervous just holding it.
I’m having a hard enough time holding everything together with him in my room.
Having him here, sitting next to me with my bed right behind us, it’s a lot to take in.
I’ve never had a guy in here, and I never once thought I’d have one in here as gorgeous as him.
I try not to stare at his nose ring when he leans in closer.
His laptop instantly wakes up as he drags his thumb over the trackpad.
The scent of him fills my nose, and while he types in what has to be the longest, most complicated password I’ve ever seen, I discreetly breathe him in.
I’m pretty proud of myself when I don’t whimper, and I’m so focused on how sexy he is that I almost miss the way he angles the screen and looks into the camera while pressing his thumb against one of the keys.
“Did your computer just scan your face and your fingerprint?”
Unlike George, Niki’s laptop is insanely fast, and it doesn’t make any funky noises while it works. The screen in front of me shows a vivid image of the night sky, vibrant stars covering a very uncluttered desktop.
“I have a lot of security on here. If someone tries to force their way in, it’ll erase itself.”
“Holy shit,” I whisper. “I’m not touching it. What if I accidentally hit the wrong button and everything disappears?”
He grins and angles the screen back towards me. “You would have to know a lot about computers to do any real damage.”
“Oh, well, you’re safe then,” I say, making him smile even bigger. I know I shouldn’t ask him questions, because the less I know, the better, but my curiosity is too great for me to keep quiet. “Why do you have all this security? I mean, why do you need all this?”
He lets out a surprised breath and then runs a hand through his hair. I swear he almost looks nervous, and my mind immediately goes to porn and then I feel like a dumbass. Don’t all guys store massive amounts of porn on their computers that they don’t want anyone to find?
“I’m sorry, forget I asked,” I quickly say.
“You know what I do, right?” he asks.
“I know you’re a hacker for your family’s Bratva.”
He seems surprised that I just blurted that out, so I hurry up and add, “Don’t worry. I won’t say anything to anyone.”
“Glad to hear that,” he says. “Well, as a hacker, I can get into just about anywhere, so I know how easy it is, and for me to leave my own computer vulnerable is something that would drive me crazy, not just because it would be professionally really damn embarrassing for a hacker to get hacked, but because I know the importance of keeping certain things safely hidden.”
I don’t press and ask what those certain things are, even though I really want to. I keep it safe and ask, “Have you always been good at this kind of stuff?”
“Yeah, my dad is too.” He grins and says, “I used to change all our grades in high school so we all passed our classes.”
“God, I wish I’d known you back then. Calculus was the bane of my existence.”
“I would’ve definitely changed your grade, Van,” he says. “I’d offer to do it now, but something tells me your grades are excellent as is.” His grey eyes meet mine briefly before he says, “I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have given me the time of day in high school.”
Before I can say anything, he starts walking me through what has to be for him the most boring computer lesson he’s ever given anyone.
He teaches me how to check my settings for updates, how to properly label and save things, and then he teaches me the basic no-nos of the internet and how to easily spot fake pop-ups.
It’s the most informative hour of my life.
“Why the hell didn’t they teach me this in high school?” I ask when we’re done. “That’s so much more useful than calculus.”
“I’ve never understood that. We’re stuck having to learn shit we’ll never need to use, but they leave out all the really important stuff. I mean, filing taxes? Come on, who the hell knows how to do that?”
“You file taxes?” I ask with a laugh.
“I pay someone to do it,” he clarifies. “It’d be pretty suspicious if I didn’t file. I’m not saying it’s accurate, but it’s filed and everything looks perfect on paper.”
“Do you ever worry about getting caught?”
The grin he gives me is infectious. It’s a sweet smile.
It doesn’t scream cocky asshole, even though I know he has every right to be a little smug about his skills.
That’s not how Niki is, though. He’s more likely to dismantle an infrastructure and then quietly grin to himself about it in the corner, not needing the outside recognition and praise for actually doing it.
“I don’t worry about getting caught because I know I have the power to destroy any case they ever try to make against me. I can wipe out their entire system if I need to. I’m also very careful to never leave a trail.”
With his face turned to mine, there’s only a few inches separating us, and it’s impossible to not notice how beautiful his eyes are. They look exactly like the sky right before it rains and when you add in the dark, long lashes, it’s mesmerizing and hard to look away from.
“You have really beautiful eyes,” I blurt out before I can think better of it.
He lets out a surprised laugh while my cheeks heat up.
I quickly look away, feeling like an idiot.
Niki is the kind of guy who could have any girl he wanted.
He’d laugh if he knew my sexual experience consists of a couple of truly terrible make-out sessions with my high school boyfriend.
Both times were strictly over the clothes and involved kisses that felt way too slobbery and left me wishing my curfew would hit so I’d have a good excuse to leave.
Something tells me Niki would be very good at kissing. I have a feeling he’s very good at a lot of things, and that thought leaves me feeling even more embarrassed and out of my element.
“Thank you,” he finally says. “I think your eyes are beautiful, too, Van.”
My blush deepens at his words, and when I turn my head, I can’t resist asking, “Why do you call me that? No one else has ever called me Van but you.”
He gives me that sweet smile of his and says, “That’s kind of the point.” His eyes stay locked on mine for a few seconds before he adds, “Van.”
I can feel myself grinning like an idiot, but I can’t seem to stop it. There’s no way to contain how I feel right now and keep a nonchalant attitude about it. I’ve never been good at games like that, and I didn’t suddenly learn how to do it since Niki walked into my room.
There’s still only a few inches separating us, and I desperately want him to close the distance and press his gorgeous mouth to mine, but he doesn’t, and I’m too nervous to do it myself.
After a few seconds, he sighs and puts his focus back on his laptop, shutting it down quickly and then slipping it back into the messenger bag at his feet.
The buttery-soft leather molds to the machine inside, keeping it safe as he pulls the strap across his chest again.
He stands and says, “I should get going. I know you need to get up early.”
“Oh okay,” I say when what I really want to do is fling my arms around him and beg him to stay the night. I don’t think I could handle hearing him say no, so I step aside and then walk with him to my door. “Let me make sure it’s clear.”
I peek my head out and scan the empty hallway.
I know it’s safe, but I still wait, stalling so I can have a few more seconds with the man standing right behind me.
Miss Francis hardly ever comes upstairs, and even if one of the other girls sees him, none of them will care.
It’s an unwritten rule that no one talks about the guys who occasionally sneak in and stay over.
Knowing I can’t keep standing here with my head hanging out the door, I finally straighten and turn to face him. “It’s clear. Come on, I’ll walk you out.”
He nods and then follows me into the hall, staying right behind me until we walk through the French doors and we’re back out on the balcony.
My heart drops when I see Deirdre sitting in one of the lounge chairs.
From this angle I can see she’s mindlessly scrolling through her Instagram, checking to make sure every single photo she’s posted of herself looks amazing.
As soon as she hears us, she turns, and when she catches sight of Niki, I wish I could whisk him right back inside and hide him in my room again.
I know that look. I see it on her face every time we’re forced to hang out with the Alphas.
It’s the I really want to get laid, and I choose you to be the lucky guy look.
Ignoring her as best I can, I turn back around and face Niki instead. “Thanks again for helping me. It must’ve been pretty boring for you, but I really did learn a lot, and I promise I’ll take good care of your old computer.”
“I wasn’t bored at all, and I know you will.”
I watch his face, and when his eyes dart past me, I know Deirdre has decided to stand and walk over.
I’m guessing he’s getting an eyeful of very short sleep shorts and a crop top with her braless beneath it.
I’m expecting him to keep staring at her, but his eyes quickly turn back to mine, even though I can hear her footsteps behind me.
There are so many things I want to do, but instead of pulling him closer and kissing him or even giving him a big flirty smile and asking him to call me sometime, I reach out and give his finger a squeeze, just like I had on his motorcycle.