Chapter 3The First Day Home: My Mom Handed Me a Gorgeous Younger Guy, and I Took the Hint.

My mom is a woman of her word. The second I finished lunch the next day, she shoved my old GRE prep books into my arms and pushed me out the door.

Forget about tutoring, I didn't even have the face to look Liam in the eye.

I made up my mind to find a warm coffee shop, play on my phone all afternoon, and then sneak back home.

Who knew I wouldn't even make it two blocks before running into Liam's mom, Mrs. Miller?

The Millers made a fortune in construction and moved to the city years ago, only returning for the holidays. The wealthy city life clearly suited her; she looked even younger than she did years ago.

Spotting me across the street, Mrs. Miller shouted, "Chloe! Your mom told me you were coming to tutor Liam! Hurry up, it's freezing out here. Come warm up at our house!"

She crossed the street, took the heavy books right out of my hands, and dragged me toward her massive house. "That boy of mine is ridiculous. He's struggling with his studying, but he won't even walk over to ask for your help. I'm going to scold him when we get inside! He needs to respect his teachers!"

I wanted to die on the spot.

What kind of terrible luck was this?

Mrs. Miller pulled me through the front door and yelled up the stairs, "Liam! Chloe is here!"

Liam was standing at the top of the staircase, one hand casually tucked into his sweatpants pocket, looking down at me from his elevated vantage point.

His lips were pressed into a flat line, radiating a hint of a temper tantrum. "Come on up, Chloe."

The moment he spoke, we both froze.

The memories of yesterday afternoon hit us like a tidal wave, and our eyes instantly darted away from each other.

Oblivious to the tension, Mrs. Miller complained when we didn't move. "You brat, why are you just standing there? Come down and bring Chloe up so she can sit by the heater."

Snapping out of it and terrified of looking arrogant, I forced myself to start climbing the stairs. Liam took two steps down, grabbed the books from his mother's hands, and followed closely behind me as we went up.

He led me into his home office and pulled out a chair, signaling for me to sit. Then he grabbed another chair and sat down right next to me.

An English test prep workbook lay open on the desk, right next to a piece of scratch paper covered in messy, chaotic scribbles. Faint handwriting peeked out from beneath the scribbles.

I leaned in closer to look. I barely made out the letter "C" before Liam snatched the paper away.

Fine, don't show me. I didn't care anyway.

"Did you come here specifically to tutor me?" Liam asked.

Specifically? I was practically kidnapped off the street by his mother.

Not wanting to give him the wrong idea, I shook my head honestly.

When he didn't say anything for a long time, I looked up. Liam's face and ears were completely flushed. He was looking down shyly, twisting his fingers together.

He peeked up at me through his eyelashes, then quickly averted his eyes again.

My heart dropped. I think he misunderstood.

His focus was on the fact that I didn't come to tutor him. My focus was on the fact that I didn't specifically come to see him.

There was literally no safe way to answer that question.

I stayed silent...

A bizarre, suffocating awkwardness filled the room.

"Hot cocoa!"

Mrs. Miller suddenly pushed the door open, cheerfully setting down two mugs. After telling us to study hard, she thoughtfully closed the door behind her.

The room plunged into silence once again.

"Chloe..."

His soft, kitten-like voice startled me. I quickly suppressed the butterflies in my stomach, violently flipped open the test prep book, and took a deep breath. "Alright, let's start with the first reading comprehension passage."

Seeing the atmosphere turn strictly academic, I let out a secret sigh of relief. But as my eyes flicked over, they landed squarely on a red mark on Liam's collarbone.

The heater in the office was cranked up high. Feeling hot, he had unbuttoned the top two buttons of his dress shirt, exposing it perfectly to my line of sight.

The mark was dark in the center and faded at the edges. I instantly recognized it as a hickey—one I had definitely left there.

Liam silently sat up straight, his long fingers swiftly re-buttoning his collar.

I died of embarrassment on the spot. I wanted to dig a hole and bury myself in it.

From that exact moment, the standard alphabet letters on the page started twisting and dancing in front of my eyes. My senses went into overdrive. The faint, crisp scent of his fruity cologne drifted into my nose, seeping straight into my chest and making my heart itch.

He silently picked up his mug and took a sip. Feeling suddenly parched, I mirrored him and took a sip of mine.

Maybe the heater really was too high. We chugged all three cups of water/cocoa in rapid succession.

After finishing his third cup, Liam shook his empty mug and murmured, "Chloe, why am I getting thirstier the more I drink?"

Pfft!

I almost spit my drink everywhere. I barely held it in, but a couple of drops escaped the corner of my mouth. Liam’s hand shot out with a tissue. Before I could take it, he bypassed my hand, leaned in, and gently wiped my lip himself.

His eyes grew darker, a heavy heat rolling behind them.

His long fingers suddenly gripped my shoulder.

By the time I processed what was happening, the owner of those hands had his eyes half-closed and was leaning in closer and closer.

Liam's eyelashes fluttered, his red lips parting slightly. I didn't even notice when the buttons on his shirt had come undone again, revealing a generous expanse of his chest.

The situation was rapidly spiraling out of control. Right as we were about to cross the point of no return, the door swung open.

"I sliced some fresh fruit for a break—"

"BANG!"

Terrified, I jerked backward and tumbled right over the back of my chair, crashing onto the floor.

Liam pulled me up, hastily buttoning his collar with one hand while snapping at his mom in frustration. "Mom! Why didn't you knock?!

"We were focusing so hard on the material, you scared us half to death!"

I had no idea if Mrs. Miller saw anything, but my face felt like it was on fire. I pulled out my phone, shoved it back in my pocket, rubbed my butt, rubbed my head, picked up the workbook, and put it back down. I was flailing like an idiot trying to find an excuse. Finally, my brain supplied one:

"My dog needs to be fed! I have to go feed the dog!"

Without waiting for a response, I sprinted out of there like I was running for my life.

The entire walk home, I was paranoid that Mrs. Miller had seen everything.

I mentally noted that parents shouldn't be so trusting. You can't just invite any "tutor" into your house.

It was below freezing outside, but I was sweating buckets by the time I got home.

Who knew Mrs. Miller was cut from the exact same cloth as my mom? A woman of action. The very next day, Liam arrived right on schedule at my front door.