Chapter 6
Tip six; Your body speaks before your mouth ever does. Let it.
Asher
I shouldn't be here.
That's the first thought that hits me the moment I step into Ivy's room again, sunlight spilling across the bed in a way that makes my brain do things it absolutely shouldn't.
I shouldn't be thinking about her at all.
Yet here I am.
She's not on the bed this time.
She's cross-legged on the floor, laptop balanced on her knees, hair twisted into that messy knot she does when she's concentrating. Soft. Unaware. Completely and utterly dangerous.
The room smells like vanilla and paper and something that's just... her.
I already know I need distance. I should step back, leave before she looks up and those hazel eyes land on me.
I almost do.
My hands on the handle, door cracked open, escape right there-
Footsteps pass outside. Leon.
Shit.
I slip the door shut.
She looks up at the sound, blinking like she's not entirely sure why I'm here. I'm not entirely sure why I'm here.
"Oh," she says. Then, casual as anything, "I did the research you needed."
I blink.
"The... what?"
She lifts the laptop slightly. "Articles. Notes. Sources. Everything you asked for. I figured you could write it your way."
My chest tightens in a way I don't like. "You did all that?"
She shrugs, like she didn't just derail my entire day. I came here with the excuse to finish that assignment and now -
I huff out a laugh. "You're unbelievable."
Her cheeks get rosy and I grin, leaning back again her door.
I shouldn't enjoy that reaction. I do.
"Now." I trail off until those hazel eyes land back on me. "Did you do the homework?"
She pauses, eyes anywhere but on me.
A chuckle exits my lips. "Well, that pause tells me everything."
"I was busy," she says quickly.
"Busy reading?" I ask.
"...Yes."
I hum. "Reading that book?"
She doesn't answer. If she read that part I got up to-
I shake my head.
"I got to say, I'm very disappointed. I set homework and you are flunking-"
She glares up at me. "You're not my teacher."
"No," I agree. "But I am extremely disappointed."
Her lips twitch. "You'll survive."
"Questionable." I sigh. She's staring up at me, silence hanging between us and I clear my throat, moving from her door to the desk, leaning back on it and crossing my ankles.
"Tonight," I say, changing gears, "you try again."
"With the homework?"
"With the homework," I confirm. "And less reading for leisure. More...pleasure." My lips curl around the words, waiting for the reaction I know I'll get from her.
Her cheeks go darker.
I notice. It's the prettiest shade of pink I think I've ever seen.
She groans. "You're awful."
"Precise," I correct.
She studies me, then sighs. "So, is that today's lesson?"
I shouldn't enjoy this as much as I do. I lean forward, capturing her eyes. "No. Flirting."
She snorts. "I know how to flirt."
I raise a brow. "You think you do."
Her spine straightens. "I do."
I don't answer. I just look at her.
Hold her gaze.
Let the silence stretch.
She shifts. Her head tilts. She can't keep my gaze. Her eyes flick - just once to my mouth before she realises and snaps them back up.
I exhale slowly.
"See?" I say.
"See what?" she asks, defensive now.
"You're already doing it."
Her brows knit. "Doing what?"
"Flirting."
"That's not flirting."
"Yes, it is."
I push off the desk just enough to close a fraction of the distance.
"Flirting isn't confidence," I say calmly. "It's attention. It's letting someone feel seen."
"You hold eye contact when you're interested in what someone's saying," I continue. "You lean in without noticing. You go still when you're listening."
She blinks. "You've been watching me?"
I shrug. "It's hard not to notice these things."
Her blush deepens. I feel a stupid, selfish thrill.
"Flirting," I add, voice lower now, "is foreplay."
That one lands.
She swallows.
"You do it long before anything physical," I go on. "Before a hand ever moves. Before a mouth ever opens."
Her knees pull closer to her chest.
"Eye contact," I continue. "A second too long. Looking away first. Then coming back."
I demonstrate - deliberately breaking her gaze, then finding it again.
My eyes betray me, flicking to her lips.
I force them back up.
Her lips part anyway.
I accidentally look back at them and inwardly curse, forcing my eyes to hers instead and keeping them there. Her eyes move to my lips, then my eyes then back to my lips.
I swallow the hard lump in my throat and force my eyes away from her altogether, before I do something I'll regret. When I look back at her, she's staring at the ground.
"You're good at this," I say. "You just don't trust it."
She shakes her head. "I'm not trying to do anything."
"I know," I say softly. "Touch comes later," I add quickly, before my thoughts get dangerous. "Not obvious touch. Small things."
Her eyes flick to my hands.
I lace them behind my back.
"Incidental," I say. "A brush. A tap. Letting someone notice without knowing if it was intentional."
Her lips part.
"If you did that on purpose?" I continue. "You'd have control."
She looks at me like she's trying to decide if she should believe me.
I take a step back, but something stops me from leaving. Her eyes are on me and the image of them flicking from my lips to my gaze runs through my head. I swallow roughly.
"How are you with kissing?"
I watch as she freezes, before finally her hazel eyes fall on me. "I'm fine."
Fine?
"You should come to the party tonight."
"What's it for?"
I shrug, trying to act like her answer isn't the only thing I care about right now, "I don't know some celebration for something. Does it matter? It's a party."
"Won't my brother be there?"
"He's got a date tonight, so he's missing it."
She looks confused for a second, chewing her bottom lip before she seems to come to some conclusion, her eyes landing on me again. "Fine, I'll go but I'm bringing Charlie."
My jaw tightens a little at that, but I nod. "Save me a dance."
I go to leave her room before Leon comes looking for me when her voice stops me.
"I think I need to put some of your tips into-" she fades off as I turn back to face her, "-practice."
Put them into. . . practice.
"I mean... I'm learning all these things, but reading about it and being told about it isn't the same as doing it, right?
I should probably, you know... try it. At some point I need to put these tips into practice.
" She's rambling and if this were any other discussion I'd find it cute, but right now?
Talking about putting my tips into practice with another guy?
I don't know how I feel. She continues, her cheeks getting hotter and hotter.
"Like as you teach me, I need to experience it. You know?"
I’m silent, my mind reeling as everything she's saying hits me at once.
And she's still talking. "Like maybe after you've taught me, I can go out and practice on-"
I feel tense, stiff and I know I have no right to feel this way. Have no right to want her.
"And when do you plan on doing this?"
She doesn't answer right away, looking lost. And I shouldn't step in and give her an answer, but I don't want to.
"Maybe tonight. At the party?"
If I thought I was tense before, that's nothing to how I feel right now. "Tonight?"
At the party? I just asked her to attend. Fuck.
"Yeah. It's not a big deal. I'll just..."
My jaw clenches. "Who?" Get a grip, Asher. She's not yours. “Do you have anyone in mind?
"No. I don't know yet," she's looking up at me, and I realise I need to leave. I need to leave now before I do something stupid and tell her to choose me.
Or kiss her.
"There's this guy I've seen around campus a few times. Dylan. He'll be at the party. Maybe him."
Or punch a guy named Dylan.
I force words past my lips as I make for the door. "If that's what you think you need."