We raced back to the house and, of course, Evan beat me yet again. Then we paused outside on the porch to cool down.

Now that I knew Evan had these dirty thoughts about me…

I couldn’t help that I was enjoying using it against him and watching him squirm.

I knew it was bad that I was enjoying it so much. But it was kind of Evan’s own fault.

Maybe I was making up for all the times he teased me when we were kids. He always got away with it and got the better of me.

Now I had something on him. And he made it so easy…

We’d left water bottles on the porch. They were cold to the touch, telling me it was still freezing out, despite how warm I was feeling inside after the exercise.

Evan took a gulp of water, then threw some on his face. He took his other hand and wiped some of the water off, then combed his hair back with his wet fingers.

I’d seen him do that a million times before. On water breaks at his games, while working out, or whatever.

But this time I had a reaction to it.

My mind made a little movie, in which I had my hands on Evan’s face, and was licking that mixture of water and sweat right off his skin…

I shivered, suddenly feeling cold.

Evan met my eyes and snapped me out of the silly vision.

But suddenly I could smell his sweat. And just had a craving to taste it.

We were locked in eye contact, trying to figure each other out.

Evan broke away first. He pulled his sweatshirt off over his head.

As he did, his t-shirt rode up with it… and I couldn’t help but let my eyes drop to his muscular stomach.

Evan had always been fit. But he hadn’t ever lifted weights before, and maybe that boot camp workout that he was doing…

He was looking good. A lot stronger. Bigger.

This time I tore my eyes away before he could catch me looking, though.

Then I heard Lily’s voice, laughing…

“I told you this would happen,” she said. “Didn’t I??”

“Nothing’s happening here,” I told her.

I wasn’t actually going to do anything with Evan… this was just for fun.

And it was innocent enough.

Lily went back to laughing at me.

“Silly girl,” she said, “you’re playing with fire…”

I had to admit to myself, I was also kind of messing with Evan just to keep my mind off Nolan. Just to do something with all my pent-up energy.

“I’m gonna go take a shower,” I told Evan. My temp was dropping now that we’d been idle for a few minutes. “When did you want to go for our drive?”

I cracked the front door open and the smell of Tina’s homecooked breakfast came wafting out. Evan caught the scent and was right behind me a second later, following me into the house.

“Whenever you want,” he said. “Let’s eat and see how you feel after.”

“You go ahead, and tell Tina I’ll be there in a minute. I just need to get clean and into some dry clothes first.”

I showered quickly.

That was easy to do that here. The water temperature changed so much second by second. I was always trying to get in and out fast.

It was nothing like the luxury of the unlimited hot showers and baths at the palace.

Back in my room, I got changed into sweats, bundling up against the cold.

The exhaustion from the run was starting to hit me now that I’d gotten cozy. I could still smell the breakfast smells that were floating up from the kitchen, and my stomach was growling. But I was so very tired.

I lay down in my little bed and pulled a blanket over me. Just wanted to rest for a quick second.

My sleepy thoughts were drifting all over the place…

First, my mind went to the feeling of the crisp cold air, and Evan’s citrusy smell, and the sound of his heavy breathing, when we were out in the woods…

But then…

My thoughts went back to Nolan.

I was too tired to resist thinking about him. Or to deny how much I was missing him.

I pictured his green eyes and imagined the feeling of his soft black hair. Remembered his penetrating gaze that looked right through me…

I got lost in a memory of him sweeping me off my feet and up into his arms. I was wrapping my legs around his waist and he was carrying me to bed, then throwing me down and getting on top of me…

Suddenly I was wet, and my heart was beating fast.

I slid one hand down under the blanket and pressed it between my legs. All I needed was a little touch and the image of Nolan’s strong, broad shoulders… and thinking about the feeling of his sharp teeth biting down on me… and the way he filled me up completely, and took total control of my body…

Finally, I got a little bit of release. I gasped through the moment quietly. Then rolled over onto my back to catch my breath.

And then fell right asleep and slept the whole rest of the morning.

LUCY

Lucy pulled her ringing phone out of her purse and frowned. It was Adan calling.

She never knew what would set Adan’s temper off. And she was starting to feel like he might not even really like her that much.

And Lucy was realizing… it was probably a bad idea to start dating him in the first place.

She really hadn’t known him at all in the beginning.

She was just infatuated with the professor. But she should have known, with him being so much older and more experienced, that things wouldn’t be really balanced between them…

What she had no way of knowing was that he sometimes acted like a different person.

Like there were two versions of Adan.

Most of the time, she got the sweet one.

But other times she caught a glimpse of another side of Adan. One that he tried to keep hidden.

The call had almost rung all the way through to voicemail…

She had about two more seconds to decide if she was going to pick it up.

…She did it.

“Hey baby.”

“Hi sweetie.” Adan’s voice had that rich, velvety quality to it right now that she loved.

And Lucy couldn’t help but smile.

“What are you doing?”

“Well,” he said, “I’m just at home… thinking about you. What are you doing, Luce?”

She sighed.

Thinking about breaking up with you…

Thinking about how scared I am of you…

“I was thinking about you, too,” she said.

“Can I take you out this weekend, sweetheart? We can go to dinner somewhere fancy, or anywhere you want.”

“Hmmm.”

Lucy thought about her options. She didn’t know yet how she was going to break up with Adan, so…

“Sure,” she said. “Sounds amazing.”

“Great! Anything in particular you’re craving? I’ll make us a reservation.”

“Oh, whatever you want is fine. If you don’t mind choosing.”

“I don’t mind at all. So how about I pick you up around six on Saturday?”

“Okay. I’ll see you then.”

“Can’t wait.” Adan cleared his throat. “And I hope you don’t mind I can’t invite you over another night this week. It’s just that I’ve been busy lately—”

“Don’t worry about it, baby,” Lucy interrupted. “I understand.”

Adan sighed. “That’s why you’re the best.”

Lucy’s eyes narrowed.

“I’ll see you Saturday. Gotta go now. Bye, Adan.”

He said, “Bye, Luce,” before she hung up.

Adan always sounded so sincere. But something instinctive was telling Lucy that he didn’t have all the warm, loving feelings for her that he said he did…

Actually, sometimes it kind of felt like he completely hated her.