Just act fucking normal.
But that was easier said than done. When Leon’s blonde head came up, a familiar half grin tugging at his lips, I became hyper aware of the fact I’d spent the last couple of months scoping this guy’s social media pages and trying to dislodge the image of that smirk from my head.
“This is tidy compared to normal,” he told me with a quick wink.
When my lips twitched, I dipped my gaze to my sneaker-clad feet and crossed my arms over my chest, refusing to let the smile take root.
“You coming in, Snow Queen?” Leon’s playful drawl pulled my head up, and I swallowed roughly as he folded his thick arms across his bulky chest and propped a hip against the counter, those ocean blues poised on my face. “Or were you planning on hanging out by the door all night?”
My mouth tilted again, and I cleared my throat. “I don’t know, Pretty Boy. What are the chances I’ll catch something if I sit down in here?”
“Ahh… there she is.” His lips hooked up, his expression softening as he straightened to his full height—six foot of blatant masculinity draped in tight, black cotton that molded to every carved ridge of his ripped abdomen.
I pried my gluttonous eyes from the chiselled torso his shirt failed to hide, making it as far as his face, which wasn’t much better for my sanity. The muscle that pulsed in his jaw as he shifted his weight amplified the building tension in the room, and Leon’s eyes darkened as they searched mine, flickering from hungry to curious, like he couldn't decide whether to interrogate me or strip me naked.
My legs weakened at the thought. I withdrew my gaze with a jerk of my head, but all the feeling and awareness I’d tried to ignore came crashing down on top of me.
It suddenly occurred to me I had no clue how to act around him anymore.
Seeing his face on a computer screen didn’t hold a torch to seeing it in person. Seeing him as more than just the guy who bugged the crap out of me? I was still struggling to process that.
In an effort to gain some perspective, I reminded myself he’d likely spent his summer, and every weekend since, slamming his dick into an assortment of skanks.
But then came the jealousy.
I paced to the couch then stopped, peering back over my shoulder with a questioning brow hiked.
Leon flashed a grin and wagged his head. “Don’t bring girls back here, Snow Queen,” he assured me with another wink, then turned to pull open the fridge door. “Can I get you anything?”
“No. Thanks,” I said, sitting as he snagged a tumbler from the cabinet and positioned it under the faucet.
He filled it halfway, then walked over to me and held it out. “Drink this.”
Narrowing my eyes, I wrapped my hand around it.
“Want to tell me what’s bothering you?” he asked quietly, hovering over me.
My fingers constricted around the glass; his question forcing my mom’s revelation to the surface. I flattened my lips. “What makes you think something’s bothering me?”
His head tilted. “You seem different. Quieter. Sad, maybe.”
The fact he’d noticed threw me for a loop, and I jumped on the defensive without thinking—a knee-jerk reaction. “Don’t act like you know me, Pretty Boy. You don’t know anything about me.”
Leon’s eyes flared with heat. “You think I don’t know you, Alissa?”
The husky timbre of his voice brushed over me like crushed velvet. Like soft summer rain to the spark of anger lighting inside of me, snuffing it out before it had the chance to flame. I was left floundering, trying to figure out what the hell to feel.
“Why not bring girls here?” I asked, diverting the conversation away from me.
Leon stared down a while longer. “Easier to get out before they wake up. Avoids the awkward morning after conversation.”
And that’s why we don’t listen to pretty boys and their pretty fucking words.
My heart tanked into my stomach as his words sunk in. “You’re an asshole,” I muttered, jerking to my feet.
That’s what lurked behind every GQ cover face—a guy who wanted to get laid, then get out.
I knew it; I just hadn’t realized how much I’d hoped this guy might prove me wrong. Might actually be something more; something different.