charged it. All you have to do is program your numbers in there.” He grinned down at me. “I took the liberty of programming my number as your first contact.”
I stood and hugged him. “Thank you. You are the awesome sauce.”
He laughed, easing his arms around me. “Ah, I have to buy your love. I see.”
“No! Not at all. I’d—” I stopped myself before I said something I couldn’t take back, and lifted my gaze. Half of his face was shadowed, but there was a strange look in his eyes. “I mean, you’d still be cool even if you hadn’t bought me the phone.”
Zayne tucked my hair back behind my ear, his hand lingering on my cheek. Bending at the waist, he pressed his forehead against mine. I felt him take a deep breath, and his hand flattened against the small of my back.
“Make sure you keep the balcony doors in your bedroom locked,” he said finally, his voice deeper than normal. “And try not to roam around the house in the middle of the night. Okay?”
“Okay.”
He didn’t move. A slow burn started to slither under my skin, different than my body reacting to his. I forced myself to take a shallow breath, to focus on Zayne, but my eyes drifted shut. I tried to stop it from happening, but my imagination took hold and ran wild. I pictured his soul—his very spirit—warming the cold, empty places inside me. It would feel better than a kiss, better than anything. I swayed, my body leaning toward his, drawn in by two very different wants.
Zayne dropped his hands, backing off. “Are you okay?”
A tide of hot mortification burned through me. Stepping back, I held the phone between us. “Yeah, I’m fine. We—we should head back.”
He studied me a moment, then nodded. I watched him turn and duck back into the tree house. I held my breath, waiting until I heard him drop to the ground below.
I couldn’t continue living like this.
But what choice did I have? Go full-throttle demon? That would never be an option.
“Layla?” he called out.
“I’m coming.” I lifted my head, and as I started forward, something caught my attention. Frowning, I squinted at the tree branch directly above the observation deck. Something wasn’t right about it. The branch seemed thicker, shinier.
Then I saw it.
Curled around the branch was an abnormally long and thick snake. Its diamond-shaped head turned down, and from where I stood, I could see the unmistakable red gleam of the snake’s eyes.
I jumped back, gasping.
“What’s going on up there?” Zayne asked.
I glanced down for maybe two seconds—that was all—but when I looked up, the snake was gone.
CHAPTER FIVE
By the time I followed Stacey into bio, I wanted to smack her. She wouldn’t stop talking about Roth. Like I needed any help wondering if he’d actually show up today. I’d stayed up all night thinking about that damn snake in the tree. Had it been there the whole time, watching me as I slept and listening to my conversation with Zayne?
Creepy.
All of it was made worse by the reminder of how Roth had pressed against me in the bathroom. Because when I thought of him, I thought of how that had felt. No one really got that close to me. Not even Zayne. I wanted to crawl inside my own head, surgically remove the memory and then douse my brain with Clorox.
“He better be,” Stacey was saying as she threw herself into her seat. “I didn’t sneak out of the house dressed like this for no good reason.”
“No doubt.” I eyed her short skirt and then her cleavage. “We wouldn’t want your boobs to go to waste.”
She gave me a sly smile. “I want him to think about me all night.”
I pulled out my textbook, dropping it on the desk. “No, you don’t.”
“I’ll decide that for myself.” She shifted, tugging her skirt down. “Anyway, I can’t believe you don’t find him hot. There’s something wrong with you.”
“There’s nothing wrong with me.” I looked at her, but her eyes were glued to the door. I sighed. “Stacey, he’s really not a good guy.”
“Mmm. Even better.”
“I’m being serious. He’s...he’s dangerous. So don’t get any perverted ideas in your head.”
“Too late.” She paused, frowning. “Did he do something to you?”
“It’s just a feeling I have.”
“I have a lot of feelings when I think about him.” She leaned forward, planting her elbows on the table and cupping her chin in her hands. “Lots of feelings.”
I rolled my eyes. “What about Sam? He’s totally in love with you. He’d be a better choice.”
“What?” She scrunched her nose. “He is not.”
“Seriously, he is.” I started doodling on the book, keeping my attention off the door. “He’s always staring at you.”
Stacey laughed. “He didn’t even bat an eye when he saw my skirt—”
“Or lack thereof.”
“Exactly. Now, if I wore a binary code on my legs, then he’d notice me.”
Mrs. Cleo shuffled in, ending our conversation. I almost keeled over, the relief was that powerful. I didn’t even care when Mrs. Cleo eyed me strangely. Roth was gone, I thought, drawing giant smiley faces all over a diagram. Maybe his stupid snake ate him.
Stacey’s arm thudded off the desk. “I guess today is just going to suck.”
“Sorry,” I chirped, twirling my pen between my fingers. “Wanna grab—”
The door swung open just as Mrs. Cleo wheeled out the overhead projector. Roth strolled into class, bio book in hand and a cocky smile plastered across his face. The pen slipped out of my grip, flinging forward and smacking the head of a girl sitting two seats in front of me. She whirled around, throwing up her hands as she shot me a dirty look.
Stacey popped up in her seat, emitting a low squeal.
Winking at Mrs. Cleo, he edged past her. She just shook her head and fiddled with her notes. All eyes were on Roth as he sauntered down the center aisle. Jaws dropped and girls turned in their seats. Some of the guys did, too.
“Hey there,” he murmured to Stacey.
“Hi.” Her elbows slid across the desk.
Then he turned those golden eyes on me. “Good morning.”
“My day is made,” Stacey whispered, grinning at Roth
