Taylor

"What was that?" she asked.

"Nothing."

It had been a constant battle to get my brother to stop interfering in my life and I wouldn't allow him to now. I couldn't stop him from doing a background check, but I didn't have to look at what he'd had found. The part that Sin played in my life was nobody's business but my own. I wasn't even sure he still wanted to play the part anymore after he'd seen me with my brother.

I think he might have gotten the wrong idea. One of the rules of our arrangement had been that we were exclusive. I picked up my phone and couldn't stop the disappointment I felt when I saw I'd received no calls or text messages from Sin. Sighing, I dropped my phone back on the bed and rubbed my hands over my face.

"You okay?" Jordan asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

I was determined not to allow my brother's surprise visit to cause havoc in my life. I loved my brother, but there were times I could happily wring his neck.

That night, I couldn't sleep. I kept picturing Sin's expression when he saw me with my brother. I wanted to pretend nothing had happened and our arrangement was still intact.

The next day, I went about my day feeling tired. I kept looking at my phone wishing it would ring and I had to stop myself a few times from dialing his number again.

"What were you doing last night when you should have been sleeping?" asked Caleb in a teasing tone after our class. I suppressed a yawn as I walked beside him.

"I wish it had been that exciting. Truth is I just couldn't sleep," I admitted with a shrug. There was no way I was going to tell him the truth.

************

Friday night, Jordan told me we'd both been invited to another party at Slater's house. I had no idea how they could afford to throw a party nearly every single weekend. I wrestled with the fact that I still hadn't heard anything from Sin and I wasn't sure going to a party at his house was such a good idea.

"Come on, you have to go," she tried to persuade me.

If I went to the party and Sin was still trying to avoid me, it would be awkward and weird.

"I can't," I replied, keeping to my decision not to run after Sin. I was sitting on my bed with a book open trying to get some studying in. The truth was I'd been looking at the same page for thirty minutes, but I hadn't been able to concentrate on it. Jordan looked disappointed.

"Did something happen between you and Sin?" she asked. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see I'd been preoccupied for the last couple of days.

"I'm not sure," I replied honestly with a shrug.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

"Not really," I answered. I didn't know if there was something wrong. It might have been just in my head.

"How are you getting to the party?" I asked as I watched Jordan put the last touches on her makeup.

"When I texted Slater to tell him you wouldn't be coming, he insisted on coming to pick me up," she revealed.

I was relieved that I didn't have to worry about how she was going to get to the party. It wasn't safe to walk alone.

Then I thought about the underwear on my bed. I wasn't even safe in my own room. Most people would probably be too scared to be on their own in a room that had been invaded by a stranger, but I'd experienced far worse than that and it took a lot to scare me. Besides, there were other girls in the dorm so I wasn't exactly alone.

I was determined not to allow it to impede on my life. Twenty minutes later, Jordan said goodbye and hurried downstairs, leaving me on my own. I was dressed in a pair of old tracksuit pants and an oversized shirt that I'd swiped from my brother. It was old and even though it had a couple of holes in it I loved it. It was comfortable.

After another ten minutes of trying to study and getting nowhere, I closed my book. There was no point in trying to study because no matter how hard I tried I couldn't concentrate. I took out my e-reader and began to look for something to read. I loved romance books. I settled on one I'd read countless times before.

I'd just gotten a few pages in when I heard a soft knock against my door. I put my e-reader down beside my bed and went to answer the door. I hadn't been expecting anyone. A nervous feeling settled over me as I walked over to the door. If it were the same person who had broken into my room before, would they knock? I shook my head as I realized how ridiculous I was being.

I opened the door. Sin was standing there with his hands shoved into the front pockets of his jeans. He was dressed in his usual look, faded jeans and a plain shirt. I felt the flutter in my stomach at the sight of him. I hadn't expected to see him. The fact that he hadn't contacted me had spoken volumes. But him coming here put that whole theory up in the air.

"I could have been a rapist or a murderer and you just opened the door without asking who it is," he lectured me with a crease in his forehead.

"If it's my time to go it's my time to go," I replied. He studied me for a moment.

"That is a strange outlook to have," he said.

I shrugged. I wasn't going to explain why I had that outlook. We were exclusively having sex, we weren't seeing each other or dating. For a few awkward moments we stood silently.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" he asked.

"Are you going to rape or murder me?" I asked in a teasing tone.

"Not tonight," was his comeback. I stepped aside so he could enter and closed the door behind him. Suddenly I felt self-conscious in my comfy clothes. He looked around the room and turned to face me.

"Why are you here?" I asked as I tucked a stray stand of hair behind my ear. His eyes held mine for a moment as I bit down on my bottom lip.

"I was expecting you to come to the party with Jordan," he said. I wasn't going to explain to him why I hadn't gone.

"I wanted to talk to you," he said.

"So when I didn't show, you came here?" I asked.

"Yes," he said as he nodded his head. His tone was serious.

Was what I'd expected for the last few days about to happen? He was going to break our arrangement and move onto someone else.

I'd expected to feel a little hurt and for my confidence to take a slight dent, but I felt way more than that at the realization he was going to end things with me. As much as I'd tried to keep my heart out of this, I cared more than I wanted to admit even to myself and I wasn't ready to let go yet.

"So talk," I instructed him as I crossed my arms. His tongue played with the one lip ring for a few moments as he studied me.

"I wanted to apologize for the other day," he said, taking me by surprise. First off, I didn't see Sin as one to apologize and secondly, I had no idea why.