What had I been thinking? I pushed against his chest. “I’m fine now.”
His arms dropped and he backed up.
I couldn’t be alone with him any longer, but didn’t want to leave him yet either. “I’ll stay a while. I just got here.” Tomorrow I’d be rested and would see things more clearly. Slim chance I’d be less attracted to him — but I could hope. No doubt though, soon enough he’d once again become the jackass he was born to be.
“Hey.” He stared at me like he needed to say something.
“Yes?”
He rested his palms lightly at my hips. “Let’s try.”
“Try what?” Staying focused was difficult with his hands on me.
“The boyfriend-girlfriend thing.”
For an instant, I stood there, mouth parted. “What? You mean you want to be my boyfriend, like officially?”
“Yes.”
Breathing became more difficult than it should have been and I already anticipated his lips on mine. Maybe he had a different definition for boyfriend than I did. For all I knew, he meant that he’d dump me tomorrow. “But with no strings attached?”
“Not if you don’t want strings.” His fingertips skimmed along my neck. “But when I said boyfriend-girlfriend, I meant with strings. That’s usually the way it’s done, right?”
He’d probably never had a girlfriend before and didn’t understand all the ramifications of what he was suggesting. “If there were strings, then on Monday everyone at school would know you’re off the market. You’re okay with that?”
“Whatever it takes.” Hayden’s eyes smoldered.
“So…” Hayden was inviting me into a real relationship? If I gave in and we made it public, would I be ridiculed by his friends and possibly the rest of the school once it was over?
I couldn’t agree to his offer. It would only end badly. But was I capable of rejecting him at this point? “Whatever terms I want?”
His fingertips brushed my cheek. “We’ll play it however you say.”
“You have to agree to exclusivity,” I said.
Hayden’s brows furrowed.
“Meaning you won’t be with anyone else,” I said.
He looked into my eyes, both hands cupping my face. “Easy. What else?”
A huge part of me needed to say no, to protect myself, but who knew how long I could keep that up? Better to fall into a relationship when I was in control than to slip into it accidentally and lose my advantage. “That’s my only condition — for now.” I grinned.
A smile teased his lips before they met mine, softly as though it were a test. Hayden released me abruptly and bolted for the door. I’d agreed to be his girlfriend and he was leaving? I should’ve known better.
When he reached the doorknob, he turned the button, locking it. He spun, his gaze fixing on me, and headed back. Grabbing my waist, he lifted me onto the sink.
I closed my eyes and let him take over, allowing the sensation and emotion to be the victor until my insides ached for him. My knees rested against Hayden’s hips; my hands at his waist brought him closer, so I could take the kiss deeper.
He leaped away. “Jesus, Tessa.”
“What?”
Hayden backed against the wall, running his hands through his hair.
“What did I do wrong?” Had I screwed up already?
“Maybe you should be a little less… uh… cooperative.”
“You mean easy?” I squinted, praying that’s not what he meant.
“No.” In a flash, he positioned himself where he’d left off. “I’m having a hard time holding back. So unless you want to be mauled, try not to be so…”
“Easy?” I suggested again.
He chuckled. “Incredibly persuasive.” He lifted me off the sink and set me on the tile floor. “Let’s get out of here before you’re compromised.”
I followed him out the side door where the noise intruded a little less.
“It might not be such a good idea to sleep in the same house.” Even though I wanted him nearby. The withdrawals would be awful, as I’d already discovered earlier that evening. I pressed the button on my clicker and the lights came on in my car across the street. “I… I don’t work that way, Hayden.”
“What way?” He stepped off the curb with me.
“It’s hard for me to… you know.” I realized how that might sound and quickly pushed on. “I mean, I’m not frigid or anything.”
“You’re anything but frigid,” he said firmly, stopping in front of my car.
Leaning an arm on the driver’s side rearview mirror, I stared at my toes. “If we slept together too soon, I might freak. Of course, that wouldn’t matter if you were done with me anyway—”
“It’s not like that, Tessa.”
Hayden hadn’t thought this through. Otherwise he wouldn’t give up other girls for me. It wasn’t his way.
“It doesn’t seem like that to you right now.” I took a deep breath, knowing I was about to give him a way out. I didn’t want him to take it. Still, he needed to know it was there.
“It isn’t as simple as giving in to each other, then breaking up later,” I said. “Hayden, they’ll figure out what you are and when they do, you’ll have to make a decision. And what if we choose opposite sides? Until then, we’ll have to work together and we can’t let ourselves get so screwed up over each other that we mess up somewhere. One stupid mistake could get either of us killed.”
He tipped my chin up and looked into my eyes. “I realize that.”
I nodded and sagged against the car door in relief.
“What’s your plan? Any idea yet which side you’ll choose?” he asked.
“First, I want to find out who killed my sister. I also need to find out why there’s more than one witch in my family. Then I have to figure out a way to raise Bree without putting her in danger. Somehow, I need to be the exception and not have to choose sides.”
“Choose Frank and Lila and you’ll be safe. Simple.”
“And if I learned that one of them killed Zoe?”
Hayden’s jaw tightened. “Then don’t poke around.”
“Can’t do that.” I shook my head. “If something’s wrong, I can’t sit on it and do nothing. I’m not made that way.”
He nodded. “As much as I hate that about you right now, it’s the thing I like most about you. I’m in. But I didn’t hear you mention an actual plan. Do you have one?”
“No. All I know is that you can’t distract me, so we need to keep things light. Which means you can’t spend the night.”
Hayden took a deep breath, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I hate to admit it, but you might be right. We need to concentrate on staying alive.”
“So we sleep at our own houses from now on?” I said, not quite believing he’d agree to it. Hoping he’d shoot down my plan.
“Nope. Because I won’t sleep if I’m somewhere else worrying about you. Nothing has changed. You’ve still got sorcerers with questionable intentions watching you.”
“Do you really think they’d hurt me? They have no reason to do anything until I choose sides.” As the words came out, my stomach clenched. Everyone had assumed that Zoe had been killed for choosing wrongly. Maybe there was some other reason we weren’t aware of. If I didn’t have all the facts, I could make the same mistake and die too.
“Is it really worth the chance that someone like Rena might decide to get rid of you?”
“No.” I grasped the handle of my car door.
“I’ll follow you home.”
Chapter Twenty-six
Hayden
Bad idea. Worst plan yet.
We were about to spend the night in the same house, as boyfriend and girlfriend. I had Tessa right where I wanted her. But if her cravings were even half as intense as mine, we’d end up in bed together. I had no problem taking our relationship to the next level, but she would — as she’d already said. The last thing I needed was Tessa feeling guilty over what she’d done. Guilt could make you do things you wouldn’t normally do and I couldn’t risk her breaking things off with me.