I shook my head and scolded myself for the direction my thoughts had taken. What was it about Alexander that made me forget why it was a bad idea for us to be together?


    “Would you, um, like a ss of water?” I asked him just to fill the loaded silence.


    “Only if you have some mint to add in there.”


    Iughed because I thought that he couldn’t be serious. But when his face remained expressionless, I realized that he wasn’t joking.


    Before I could mutter something about rich people and the weird way that they took their water, I reminded myself that I was trying to turn over a new leaf with him.


    “I’ll see what I can do,” I said.


    Five minutester, I set two ice-cold sses of water on the counter. A slice of lemon was floating on the top of our drinks. “I didn’t have any mint. I hope lemon will suffice.” I tried to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.


    I wasn’t sure how sessful I was because Alexander was smiling as he picked up the wedge of lemon and squeezed it into his water. He probably only asked me for a mint just to mess with me.


    After he stirred his drink around, he just set it back down on the counter. Since he didn’t drink it, I eyed him and crossed my arms. “Would you prefer a cup of tea instead?”


    “No, this is great.” He gestured for me to sit down.


    102710


    I was a little annoyed at being asked to sit down in my own house, but I reminded myself that I was trying to keep the newfound peace between us.


    We went to the living room, and my stomach stiffened when I realized that the only piece of furniture I had in the living room was my small couch. Once we were seated, my hands started to shake at the fact that our thighs were pressed together. But there was nowhere else for us to sit. I cleared my throat and sipped my water just for something to do.


    a


    “So, why did Mike start growing sour grapes?” I asked, trying to break the tension that had fallen over the room.


    Alexander shrugged and sipped his water. “I think just to help with facial paralysis, but you’d have to ask him.”


    Then, I changed the topic to how the weather in Ldpared to the weather in New York. Alexander allowed me to chatter on, only asionally adding to my runningmentary.


    Thankfully, on the outside, I seemed pretty calm and rxed, but inside my mind was going a million miles a second, wondering when Alexander would leave.


    In the middle of my monologue about how I was going to fold myundry, Alexander put his hand on my leg. My words caught in my throat as he leaned toward me. His warm hand gently squeezed my bare skin. He looked right into my eyes and whispered one word under his breath.


    “Oli…”


    My nickname on his lips made my whole body tremble.


    *Olivia*


    “Oli,” he repeated in an even softer voice this time.


    The nickname and his nearness made a shiver run down my spine. Even though he was only touching my thigh, it felt like he had run a hand slowly down my back. Why did the one man that I couldn’t have make me feel like this? It wasn’t fair.


    His gaze fell down to myp, and he eyed the empty water ss in my hands.


    “If you’re still thirsty, you can have some of my water,” he murmured and handed me his ss that was half full.


    I stopped breathing. The only sound in the room was the ice cubes in the ss gently clinking against the side of the cup. When our fingers grazed as I epted the cool drink, my stomach swooped.


    With my eyes still on his, I lifted the ss to my lips and took a slow sip from his cup. The intimacy of sharing a drink wasn’t lost on me. His mouth had just been on the same spot as mine. That thought made my hand tremble, and the ice clinked against the ss even more.


    I drained the rest of the water in the ss in one swallow. After I lowered the cup, Alexander tilted his head slightly, and he leaned toward me.