There was also a new sound: a sort of hybrid between an exhalation and a low moan. It made him realize that she’d always been quiet before when they’d been intimate. She had gotten a little breathless from time to time, but that had been the extent of it.

He liked that sound. He liked the grown-up version of kissing Evie Abbott. He alternated kissing with gently scraping his teeth over the pulse fluttering at her throat. He was trying to make her make that noise again, but he wanted it heavier on the moan this time.

Then another sound: the unmistakable slide of a key card being inserted in a door.

The unmistakable sound of reality crashing in on them.

Evie heard it, too, somehow, even though the noises she’d been making should have drowned it out.

She hurled herself away from him, so hard he grabbed for her to make sure she didn’t fall, or crash into the nightstand. But she bucked her torso dramatically to twist out of his grip and catapulted herself onto the other bed.

Clara was struggling with the door. Both of their key cards were being a little persnickety, a fact he was grateful for now.

“That was not a friendly activity,” Evie whispered urgently as she smoothed her clothing.

He picked up the remote and raised the volume on the movie, as if singing sea creatures could magically cover the fact that Evie looked exactly like someone who had just been thoroughly kissed. Her skin was pink and blotchy, her hair was messed up, and her lips were slightly swollen. She had only half finished braiding her hair.

He grabbed a pillow and set it on his lap. “It’s okay. We just overcalibrated for a second there.”

“Overcalibrated?”

“Yeah. On the friendship thing. You upgraded me, and we overcalibrated. No big deal. Things will settle down.” Please let things settle down.

She shot him a look as Clara burst into the room. “Hi! Oh! Eve, hi!”

Sawyer cleared his throat. “Hey, kiddo.”

“The Little Mermaid!” Clara dumped her bag and perched on the end of his bed, her eyes never leaving the TV. “I love this movie!”

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Things did not settle down.

Sawyer had been hoping the whole making-out-in-Toronto thing had been about the fact that they’d been in Toronto. Away from his daily life in Moonflower Bay. In a placeless hotel room far from his usual responsibilities.

But a month later, firmly ensconced back in his routine, he had still not recalibrated.

“Jake.” Maya sighed theatrically. “Why is your hair so beautiful?”

It was a Friday in November, and Sawyer was hanging out at the bar with Jake and Law. Some of the wider crowd had also assembled: Maya, Jenna, Jordan.

Jake—who did have great hair, objectively speaking—shrugged.