But then Nina’s voice came through the earpiece, and it reminded me of the last scene I’d done—and who I’d done it with.
At first, I thought finals week would save me. I’d be too busy studying and finishing up projects to give any of my thoughts to Colin, but the universe had other plans.
It was unseasonably hot and humid in Nashville for mid-May, and by Monday the temperature outside soared to almost ninety degrees. Scott claimed to have turned on the air conditioning . . . but it obviously wasn’t working.
It was especially bad upstairs, where the worst of the heat collected. Only dry, warm air came out of the vents, and as the temperature outside climbed, so did the thermostat inside.
“I’m sweating my tits off,” Abbie proclaimed at our house meeting.
“I know,” Nina said, looking apologetic. “We called the HVAC place, but the earliest they can come out is tomorrow afternoon. We’ll bring the fans over from the gym, and you can sleep in the living room or the studio downstairs tonight if you get too hot.”
Abbie glanced across the table, and a smile slunk across her lips. Her tone was sultry. “Hey, Jaquan.”
He laughed knowingly. “Hey, girl. I’m looking real good tonight, huh?”
“You sure are.” She swooned dramatically. “What with your big muscles, and your beautiful smile . . . and all that sexy cold air in your room.”
“Wait,” I said. “The guys have AC?”
“That side of the house is on a different unit,” Scott explained. “We’ve cranked it down and put a fan in the doorway to help push the air, but it’s a smaller unit. It can’t keep up.”
My envious gaze flicked to Colin. He was looking at the table and seemed lost in thought. Maybe he was thinking about how he hadn’t gotten such a bad deal after all with the smaller room.
Shit, it was so hot on the second floor. It wasn’t as bad here in the dining room, but it was still uncomfortable, and we only began to pitch ideas before Nina lifted a hand.
“You know what? Let’s postpone this to tomorrow night,” she announced. “The heat’s making me cranky, and everyone looks like they’d rather be somewhere else.”
Which was true.
But I lingered at the table while everyone else got up and dispersed from the stifling room. I wasn’t eager to deal with my options. I needed to study because my final tomorrow morning accounted for a fourth of my grade, and I needed to get some sleep because I couldn’t be a zombie for the test either.
It was too late to think about getting a hotel room, and probably too expensive, plus I’d have to pay for a rideshare to get there and back.
“Mads.”
Colin’s voice startled me out of my thoughts, and I looked up at him. While everyone else had cleared out, he’d remained. He stood beside his chair, and a bead of sweat from his temple ran down his handsome face as he gazed at me with a cryptic expression.
“If you want,” he said, “you could, uh, stay in my room tonight.”
My heart skipped at his offer, but my brain issued a warning. I needed to focus right now, and that would be impossible if he was around. It wasn’t that hot, I told myself. I’d take a cold shower before bed, sleep naked, and survive the night.
“Thanks,” I said, “but I’ll be fine.”
He almost looked relieved that I’d turned him down. “If you change your mind, you know where I’ll be.”
I spent the rest of the evening studying at the kitchen table, and at ten-thirty, I went upstairs and took a shower that was reminiscent of the ones I’d had at the Lambda house. There was an oscillating fan at the top of the stairs that was pushing air down the hall toward my room, but it wasn’t helping. The upstairs thermostat read eighty-five, and it was warmer than that outside, so opening the windows wouldn’t do anything.
I stripped off my clothes and everything from my bed so it was just the sheets and climbed in. For once, I viewed my warm-natured body as a curse and not the blessing it usually was. Unlike my friends, I rarely got cold or needed to wrap myself in a blanket while hanging out around the house.
Ten minutes in, I was so sweaty, I felt like I needed another shower.
Thirty minutes in, I was doing the math in my head about the amount of sleep I’d get if I fell asleep in the next hour, and if it’d be enough.
After an hour, I was filled with dread about the rest of the night, and regret that I’d turned down Colin’s offer. I turned onto my side and glanced at the clock, which made me scowl. It was late. Probably too late to show up and ask him if his offer was still good. He had finals tomorrow, too, and was probably fast asleep between his crisp, cool sheets.