Falling in the Dark | ✓

34 | Trouble

The fluorescent light flickers above my head as I rap my knuckles against Liam's door.

There's a sudden explosion of two male voices from one of the rooms nearby — aggravated cries interspersed with colorful swears. Angling my body towards the sound, I strain to catch the words until I realize that the boys are squabbling about the controls of a video game.

Rolling my eyes, I turn away as the door in front of me opens with an audible click, revealing a smiling Liam dressed in black jeans and a white Ivy University sweatshirt. I return his smile and step into the room. As always, Liam's side is far messier than his roommate's. But today, his roommate's bed and desk look particularly barren, more immaculate than usual.

I turn to Liam. He's leaning against the door with casual charm, watching me with his steady, unnerving gaze.

"Has your roommate left already?" I ask hesitantly, fumbling with the open buttons on my coat while my eyes trace the short distance between us.

"Yeah, right after the final. When are you and Vera going home?"

"The twenty-third. And you?"

Liam nods to himself like he's mentally recalling a plan for the hundredth time. He presses his back against the door, causing wavy tufts of his dark hair to stand up behind his head, and says, "I'm not leaving until after Christmas. Rick's also staying back to finish and launch the website."

"Oh. Will I get to see it then?"

"You'll be the first one to."

I smile at the unequivocal thrill in his voice. There's a short lull of silence before Liam begins, "So—"

But at the exact same time, I blurt out, "I broke up with Felix."

I exhale in a gush of relief at the sound of my own words. Immediately, the edges of Liam's mouth curve up in a big smile. I end up staring at his lips for a moment too long before I can drag my eyes away.

I clear my throat audibly, fumbling for something to say until I recall Felix's baffling stiffness from our last conversation.

"What happened after I told you he found out about us?" I say. With a mystified chuckle, I add, "He couldn't even look me in the eye today! What did you do, hack him?"

A teasing smirk takes over Liam's face as he says, cryptically, "Maybe."

"Wait, what?" I hold up my hand, my laughter dying down abruptly. "Liam, did you? You could get in trouble for th—"

"I didn't. Well, not really," he says, and I fail to sense any dishonesty in his features. Several seconds pass as I peer at him expectantly for an explanation, but he only replies with silence.

"Liam, why won't you tell me?"

I step forward — my head tipped up to meet his eye — until I'm close enough to feel the warmth of his skin. I exhale deeply through my lips to collect myself as my thoughts start drifting in directions that I don't want them to go.

Liam looks at me for another beat of silence before putting a hand to his heart and saying, "A programmer never reveals his codes."

I can't stop myself from raising my eyes to the ceiling and smirking at this. "Oh, come on."

In a seemingly automatic action, Liam touches his thumb to my lower lip in the same gentle way he had done before. Startled, I look back at him and find him watching me with so much attentiveness that my cheeks start to heat up.

"Um, are you trying to distract me?" I intend to feign annoyance, but my voice comes out too soft and flustered.

"No," Liam replies, lowering his hand to hook his index finger under my chin. He pauses for a moment, then peers closer into my eyes and asks, "Is it working?"