and pulled out Freddy’s Belgium chocolate.
Her pretty green eyes went huge and she licked her lips.
Jesus.
Before my tenuous control snapped, I handed her the chocolate and got the fuck out of there.
I need to stay the hell away from her.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The One with The Time Jumps
Juliet
Three Weeks Later
I WAS BORED.
Beyond bored.
So bored, I was voluntarily working ahead on my schoolwork. Sitting on my bed with my computer, I flipped through my remaining assignments and sighed when I realized I couldn’t do anything else yet. I closed it and got onto my knees, moving the curtain aside to look out the window.
Still raining.
Damn.
I walked into the sitting room and knocked on the door.
Cole opened it. “What’s up?”
“I’m bored.”
“Want Ash to give you more math?”
“God, noooo,” I drawled dramatically. “I said I’m bored not that I want to be so bored, I’ll die.”
He half-smiled. “What do you want?”
“To do something. I feel all fidgety.”
“It’s still raining.” Holding the door with his body, he gestured out. “Want to walk around the house?”
Surprisingly, I didn’t.
With the exception of some off-limit areas, I’d already been around the house a bunch. Gorgeous room after gorgeous room had been exciting the first few times, but the appeal had faded fast.
I preferred my area to the rest of the house. It was the first time in my life I had my own space—even if temporarily.
Sometimes, late at night when dark thoughts took root and wove through my brain, I wondered if they were even keeping me locked in anymore.
Or if I was doing it to myself.
“Will you show me the forbidden rooms?” I asked even though I knew the answer.
“No. Want to use the gym?”
“Yuck, definitely not.”
He chuckled. “Media room?”
I shook my head and hooked a thumb over my shoulder. “I’ve got movies here.”
“Yeah, but not the big screen with recliners and popcorn.”
“Still not active enough.”
“You’ve gotta give me a little more to go on.”
“I want to… I dunno. Draw. Knit. Mess with clay. Hell, I’d try macramé and I don’t even know what that is. I just want to do something.”
He didn’t make fun of me or roll his eyes that I was asking a big badass to procure arts and crafts supplies. “I’ll see what I can do.”
The door closed and, since desperate times called for desperate measures, I grabbed my iPad and played some of the math games Mr. Reed had recommended.
Nothing about math was fun and games, but at least it took my mind off my boredom for a while.
Or, like, fifteen minutes.
I switched to iBooks, but nothing grabbed me, so I turned on the TV and flipped channels.
When I was sitting on the couch with my legs up the back and my head hanging upside down off the cushion, the door opened again.
“You really are bored,” Cole said, setting two loaded plastic bags against the wall.
In my excitement, I sat up so fast, my head swam. “I just do it for the sweet, sweet headrush.”
“Man, if you think that’s a headrush, wait until you try tequila.”
“Is that an offer of a shot or ten? Extra lime and salt, please,” I joked.
“No thanks, I don’t feel like getting shot today.”
“Huh?”
“He doesn’t even like you having caffeine. If I gave you liquor, he’d shoot my kneecaps.” He bent and extended his leg. “And I like my kneecaps.”
“I thought Ms. Vera was the one limiting my caffeine.”
Not only did Cole not respond, he avoided looking at me.
Ah, just like old times.
I got the feeling sharing any info was a big no-no. Taking pity on him—and not wanting to return to being ignored—I let it go. “I bet I’m more of a piña colada gal anyway.”
He still didn’t speak, but he did shoot me a half-smile. Holding the door with one foot, he reached into the hall for more bags.
Can’t they do anything half-assed?
I flung my hand toward the purchases. “I just wanted a thing of yarn or some colored pencils or something. I didn’t need all this.”
He shrugged. “Now you’ve got options. Yell if you need anything else.”
What else could I possibly need?
When he left, I pulled everything out and lined it up, hoping inspiration would strike. There were a dozen yarn bundles of different textures and colors, knitting needles, and some hooky thingies of various sizes, plus a couple adult coloring books with colored pencils and gel pens.
Going for the yarn, I grabbed the brightest color and two of the needles before loading a beginner tutorial on YouTube. I discovered how much fun it was