Something hard digs into my spine. I frown, turning around, and spot the corner of a small box sticking out from between the cushions, evidently stuffed there in a last-minute attempt to hide it.

“Leah,” Cyrus is saying, close to pleading. “Leah, you can just leave that—”

I ignore him and pull the pastel-pink box all the way out, and for two seconds I don’t register what I’m holding in my hands. Then I do, and all at once, the color spreading fiercely through Cyrus’s face makes perfect sense. Silent laughter springs up inside me at the mental image of him scrambling to bury the box before I arrived, but I push it back. Raise my brows. Hold up the condoms. “What’s this?” I ask, feigning ignorance, just so I can have the pleasure of watching him struggle to explain himself.

And I’m instantly rewarded with his reaction. His expression seems to race through every emotion known to mankind in the space of an inhale. He steps forward, his hands out, like he has half a mind to just snatch the box from me and burn it. “That is—” He clears his throat. I’ve never seen him so visibly distressed before. “That is … an interesting question. I promise, it’s not what it—”

“Oh my god.” I draw upon all the acting talent I have in my body to open my mouth in shock as I read the product description on the side. “Cyrus, what the hell? I thought you called me over here to pick out the photos for the competition together. Were you planning on hooking up tonight?”

“What? No,” he says in a rush. “No, I swear—”

I lift the box higher between us. “Then?”

“It was there when we first checked into the room.” He winces. “I just didn’t want you to see it and assume—I wouldn’t even dream of …”

I let him suffer for a while longer before it becomes physically impossible to maintain my fake shock. “You can relax, Cyrus,” I say, cackling as I drop the condoms on the bedside table. “I was only messing with you. It’s kind of cute that you felt the need to hide this from me.”

His face turns an entire shade redder. “You should—we should throw them away.”

“Why?” I cock my head. Grin up at him, taunting. “What if you end up needing them? Better safe than sorry, right?”

“Do you talk to all guys this way?”