Page 139 of Keep Me Close

That’s when my eyes start to burn.

There’s still flour dusted on the sleeve of my black shirt from the bakery, and my hair has fully given up on the claw clip I shoved it into at five this morning. Both my shoulders and lower back ache. At this point, even my eyelashes are tired.

Across from me, Sawyer nudges Caleb with his elbow and Caleb shoves him right back.

“Stop it,” I say automatically, not bothering to look up from my notes.

“He started it,” Sawyer says.

“I did not!” Caleb huffs.

“Did too. You breathed on me.”

I lower the paper and glare at both of them. “I swear to God, if either of you makes me referee a breathing argument tonight, you can both wash dishes for the rest of the month.”

There’s a brief moment of silence before Faith snorts into her soup.

I point my spoon at her. “You too.”

She raises both hands. “Hey, I’m innocent in all this.”

“No one in this apartment is innocent.”

When my phone buzzes against the counter, I ignore it. A few seconds later, it vibrates again.

Sawyer glances at it. “Sounds like someone’s trying to get a hold of you, Sis.”

“It’s probably a scam call,” I mutter.

My sister lifts a brow. “Scam calls don’t text memes.”

I give her a sharp look. “Who said it was a meme?”

She smirks.

Traitor.

With the kind of resignation usually reserved for tax audits and root canals, I grab the phone from the counter. Before even glancing at the screen, I already know who it is.

Jax.

The preview is just an image and one line of text:

Annoying Puck Boy:

This cat has your energy

Against my better judgment, I open the convo and find a picture of a tortoiseshell cat in a sweater glaring at the camera.

It takes effort to stop my lips from twitching.

There’s a message beneath the photo.

Annoying Puck Boy:

This is proof that somewhere out there is your spirit animal

I stare at the screen. This is exactly the kind of thing I don’t have time for tonight. Or any night, for that matter. I don’t have time for memes and hockey players with dimples that are used like tactical weapons. I don’t have time for men who flirt like it’s second nature and grin like no one’s ever told them no before.