"I will be fine." I smiled at her caring nature before laughing into the phone "No doubt you have plans with Loverboy tonight."

The other side of the line went quiet before she spoke again "Maybe."

"Enjoy school." I remarked sarcastically "Have fun in English without me."

"It will be quiet in class today." She stated before explaining "Stone is not here either. There must be an illness going around. Brennan mentioned that last night Stone said he was not coming to school today."

"Last night?" I repeated, deducting that Stone had already decided we were both not going to school before this morning.

Speaking of the bane of my existence, I heard him shut the bathroom door being him.

Lana asked, "What have you caught?"

I swivelled on the stool to keep myself entertained but when I noticed the sight in front of me, I stopped.

Stone was standing at the doorway with nothing on but a towel around his bottom half. A very low hanging towel.

His dark hair was wet, and a strand fell onto his face. His black tattoos glistened under the light and his eight-pack was soaking wet. A drop of water fell from his hair and ran down onto his chest, making me watch it as it did so.

The only thing stopping him from being fully naked in all of his glory was a towel.

"Ella?" Lana called to me "Are you still there?"

"Yeah. Sorry." I put my phone back to my ear and forced myself to look away "What was your question?"

"What have you caught?" She repeated before suggesting "The cold? The flu?"

My attention had been compelled back to the half-naked giant and how the veins bulged in his muscular arm as he adjusted the knot on his towel.

I panicked and ended up answering "Lurchiatias."

"I don't think I have heard of that." Lana hummed to herself, not picking up on the significance of the name before asking "What are the symptoms?"

"You feel hot." I muttered to her "Your body feels all hot all over."

"Okay. Hope you feel better." She delivered gently "I love you."

"I love you too." I replied before saying a quick goodbye.

I placed the phone down on the table and faced Stone. I pretended to be unaffected by the sight of his soaking wet upper half in front of me as I glared at him.

He had his big arms crossed over his chest as his deep voice demanded to know "Who was that?"

"Lana." I told him before asking "Why did you not wake me up for school?"

"We are skipping today." He stated like it was non-negotiable.

I studied his face for a good few seconds. I forced my gaze to remain centred upwards.

"Why are you doing this?" I sighed before elaborating "I said I was lonely but I'm not a little home-goblin that doesn't leave her house. I don't need cheering up."