Chapter 87 CAREFUL CREATURE
MERRIELYNN.
When I got back to my dorm, it felt like I’d spent the whole day living someone else’s life.
Everything was off—like I wasn’t entirely me anymore.
Every step I took, every movement I made, I could smell Cormac on my skin. His scent clung to me stubbornly and it was like it had embedded itself into my very being.
I pulled at my clothes—his clothes that I still had on—and tossed them on the bed. The shirt smelled like him too, and that only made it worse.
I headed straight for the shower, turning the water on as hot as I could stand it.
The steam quickly filled the room, but even as I scrubbed, my hands against my skin reminded me of him.
His lips.
His hands.
The way his mouth had moved against mine, then my neck, then…
“Stop,” I muttered under my breath, pressing my forehead against the cool tiles for support as I squeezed my thighs together.
The water washed over me, taking the edge off my racing thoughts, but just for a while.
When I finally stepped out, wrapping a towel around me, I felt no better. I glanced over at the bed and I saw it again—His clothes.
They were right where I left them, folded neatly on the edge of the mattress.
It was a quiet reminder of everything that had happened between Cormac and I. My fingers tightened on the towel as I stared at them. For a moment, I thought about putting them back on.
But no. I shook my head, forcing myself to look away. Cormac and I weren’t some fairytale couple.
We weren’t a couple and whatever we had, it wasn’t that.
Giving him my body was one thing, but I wasn’t stupid enough to hand him my heart. That was a line I couldn’t cross.
And I wouldn’t.
Taking a deep breath, I looked away and fixed my face on something else.
I slipped on a simple camisole and a pair of underwear before crawling into bed and pulling the covers up over me.
My body ached with exhaustion, but sleep wouldn’t come easily. My thoughts kept circling back to Cormac, to the feel of him, to the way his scent seemed to cling to me even after that shower.
When I finally drifted off to sleep, it wasn’t peaceful. My dreams were restless, filled with images that had me waking up shortly after.
My chest was tight and my skin felt hot. Still drowsy, I reached out and grabbed Cormac’s shirt which was still at the edge of the bed and I pulled it over my head without thinking.
The fabric was soft against my skin, and as I pressed it to my nose, his scent surrounded me.
It didn’t calm me, not exactly, but it was enough to pull me back into bed.
I curled up, holding it close, and eventually, I slept off.
\-x-x-
Monday afternoon, after school, I was seated away from all the chatter, rifling through a stack of papers backstage in the auditorium. The committee meeting was supposed to start soon, and I wanted to get everything organized.
My focus was on the pages in my hands when, suddenly, they were yanked away.
I looked up, startled, to see Cormac standing there, flipping through the stack like he hadn’t just snatched them from me.
“Umm. What are you doing here?” I asked, glancing around to see if anyone else was nearby.
His gaze slid lazily to mine, and the air seemed to thicken between us.
His green eyes caught mine, and I felt a sizzle of heat crawl through me, making it hard to breathe.
It wasn’t just a look—it was more like a replay of every sinful thing that had happened in his room. It all flashed back at me, and looking into his eyes, I knew he was remembering it too.
My cheeks burned, and I broke eye contact, focusing on anything else but his eyes. “Why are you here?” My voice sounded steadier than I felt, but just barely.
“I have duties of my own to uphold,” he said, his tone as casual as ever. Then he added, “Or did you forget?”
I stared at him.
He sounded just like his usual self.
But... was I imagining the softness creeping into his voice. Was it real? Or was it just me, reading into things that weren’t there?
When I met his gaze again, I couldn’t help but wonder if he could tell how I'd been coping.
Could he see how restless I’d been since our last encounter?
How I’d buried his shirt at the bottom of my dresser to stop myself from sleeping in it again?
Before I could say anything, Cormac handed the papers back to me. I reached for them, but as I did, he leaned down, and I flinched when I felt his breath against my ear.
“Careful,” he whispered. “You’re wearing our sins like a neon sign. Would hate for anyone here to know we’re mixing business with pleasure.”
My gaze shot up to his as he pulled back, and I caught the faint smirk tugging at his lips.
It was infuriating and maddeningly confident. And then, just like that, he turned and walked away, leaving me sitting there, holding the stack of papers like an idiot.
I watched him until he was out of sight, and I realized how much I missed Emorie.
She wasn’t even here to help me make sense of all of this. She’d gone to visit her mom, and I still had a little longer to wait before I could unload all of this on her.
The rest of the meeting was a blur.
No matter how hard I tried, my attention kept slipping back to Cormac—his voice, his words, that stupid smirk.
I couldn’t even focus on anything else.