Married to My Enemy

I swallowed a sigh as I walked the hallway of the campus, heading for the organic chem lab. I needed to fit in some studying before I had to pick up Noah in a few hours. I was behind on the material with dealing with my family drama.

The lab was usually empty around this time and I wanted to take advantage of the quiet space.

My mind was on my brother and I wasn’t really seeing where I was going, my body moving on autopilot when I stepped into the lab.

I abruptly stopped as I noticed that I wasn’t only one who thought to use the empty lab to study.

Wyatt was seated in his usual seat, his head bent over an open text book and headphones plugged into his ears.

My eyes couldn’t help trailing over him in appreciation of his own unique brand of male perfection. Shit, why did he do these things to me?

His hair was mussed as if he had dragged his fingers through it a few times. It was getting longer as the days passed and falling over his brow. My fingers itched to push it back.

He wore a simple tee shirt and full-length cargo pants over brown boots. The fabric clung to his hard body. The muscles his arms looked like one good flex would tear the clothes off him.

Yum, came the unbridled thought even as I fought to control my hormones.

He had respected my wish to keep things plutonic between us. Apart from a few teasing comments that were rather tame for him, he had made no moves toward me. We still sat next to each other for bio labs but he kept his attention on the lecturer during those times and left with an impersonal smile and goodbye after the professor dismissed us.

We were just as I demanded – classmates and nothing more.

I couldn’t explain why the fact left me feeling annoyed when I should be ecstatic. He listened to me, he never fucking listened to me. Why now?

Yet…

Yet my heart was silently asking that he ignore my words.

I should not be here with him. Alone.

I had a feeling I would do something stupid if he even just looked my way.

He looked up just as I was about to turn and leave. Of course.

For a moment, we just looked at each other. So much was said with that lingering look yet nothing at all.

He pulled the wires away from his ears and the movement mesmerized me. I watched his big hands and remembered the pleasure they could inflict.

“Don’t leave,” he said eventually and even though I knew I should, I found myself stepping deeper into the room.

I settled next to him without a word and pulled out my books. He turned his attention back to his books but left the headphones off.

We were quiet for a time, each of us looking down into our books. There was only the sound of a ticking clock and paper being turned.

My cell phone beeped. With a few swipes of my finger, I unlocked it and saw a text from my dad, telling me Joe had skipped school today day. Again.

He was thinking we needed to have an intervention as a family.

I frowned, thinking that would only push Joe further away.

“What’s the matter?” Wyatt asked, pulling my attention toward him.

He was watching me, concern marring his forehead.

“What do you mean? Everything is fine,” I said, trying to downplay the whole situation. He didn’t need to hear about my family drama.

“Something’s bothering you. I can tell. What’s up?”

I hesitated. I did want to talk to him about it but it felt wrong after I had been so harsh with him over the last two weeks.