𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐩𝐬 ✓

28

The next day, I walk into Chemistry expecting it to be awkward with Lexi but everything is back to normal and she is sitting in her regular seat with mine saved. Reece sits on her right and when I sit, she smiles up at me.

"Make sure to save the seat beside you for Maddox. He said he'd show." Lexi tells me and I try to gauge her expression, finding no hint that anything out of the ordinary had even happened yesterday. Like me finding her in my bed in that familiar position didn't spark every last nerve ending inside of me.

She had closed up when I called attention to it, and I cursed myself for that all night. Lexi wasn't ready to talk about it, not in any way that wasn't a joke. I'd told her that we could be friends, it wasn't her fault that everything in me fought that notion and craved more.

Navigating my feelings for her isn't easy, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that when you add amazing sexual chemistry, an endless stream of thoughts about that person, and a close friendship, the sum is an attachment in just about every form.

I want her in every way, for much more than a night.

Lexi swats my arm to catch my attention, breaking me away from my overwhelming thoughts of her and I attempt to push them away for now. Focusing on the lesson going on, I take unintelligible notes knowing that I'll be able to get Lexi's or Reece's much more detailed ones later anyway.

My phone vibrates in my pocket and I pull it out to see a missed call from my mum. It's around time for supper in England and I make a mental note to phone her back after class.

The four of us walk together to the door after the lecture is finished and I fish my phone out of my pocket, ringing my mum back.

"Mum?"

"Chase, sweetheart. How is school?"

"Very well. I'm sorry I haven't rang."

"And footy? How's that?"

"Good mum. We're just practicing for now. How's dad?"

"We're meant to attend a hen-do tonight for Laney Henderson. I don't suppose you remember her? You were small when you last saw her."

"That's lovely. Tell her I said so, would you?"

"I'll leave you be darling, I just wanted to hear your voice. I love you."

"You too mum." I say and hang up. Lexi is watching me curiously when I put my phone back in my pocket.

"Your accent gets so much more...prominent when you talk on the phone." She tells me.

"That's probably because I hear my mum's. She's never left England." Maddox and Reece must have walked off when I was on the phone, leaving the two of us to go to the library alone.

"Where in England are you from?"

"London. Probably the only place you know, am I correct?" I tease.

"No actually, I've been to Brighton, Reading, London, Oxford, Bath..." She lists and looks up like she's trying to remember more. My eyebrows fly up in surprise. "Oh! And I've been up to Liverpool too." She smiles.

"Wow. I haven't even been to all of those places. I think I've been to more cities in America than anywhere else." I admit.

"I loved England. I want to go back someday soon." She says wistfully.

"Maybe we could go together." I blurt out.

"That would be fun." She sends me a smile and continues walking. "And you could show me all the best spots that only locals know about."

"Absolutely. Next time I go, I'll let you know."

"You're not going back for Winter Break?" She asks and I shrug.

"I'm not sure," I say sadly. As much as I wish to visit home for Christmas, my parents are constantly working to ensure that my education, as well as my sisters, is covered. I have a large scholarship that covers almost everything, but living in America still puts a strain on them.

"What are your parents like?" She asks as I open the door to the library for her.

"Amazing. They love my sister and me a lot."

"You have a sister? How old is she?" Her eyes light up.

"Aurora. She's seventeen and my favorite person in the world." I grin. We sit down at a table in the far left corner of the building where we can speak without lowering our voices. Each level of the building gets quieter as you near the top levels.

"I've always wanted a little sister..." She pauses, looking down sadly. "But enough chat. Let's get this work out of the way before I have to go to practice." She says before I get the chance to ask about her family.

When it comes time for Lexi to leave, I stay where I am to finish up as many assignments as I can before it gets dark. Thanks to her help, I manage to complete everything due within the next couple of days and am not sure how to spend my free night. My first thought is to text Lexi to see what she is doing, but I know that she will be at her volleyball practice until seven tonight.

Every time that I think I'm free of her hold on me, the invisible string tying us together tugs at my end and leaves me spinning out of control.