Everything I'm Not (GirlxGirl)

40. Seventeenth

She gently caresses my thighs, the roughness of her palms familiar and welcome. "We have an exam?"

"Al, our teacher reminded us yesterday. How can you forget?"

Alex shrugs. "Dunno. I don't like reviewing," she pauses as if thinking about something. "I end up getting a lower score when I review. It's weird. And I hate science."

Alex is smart but extremely lazy. She's one of those people who manages to pass her classes with minimum effort. It's maddening for the people who work their ass off and still get behind her.

I rest my head on her shoulder and close my eyes, content to just lie here and put whatever I'm working on at the back of my head. "I could use a power nap. Wish you could stay."

"I can."

"And leave Kristina alone to finish your project? No, thanks."

She chuckles. "Even if it's perfectly okay for me to leave that to Kris, no, I'm not. I went home before going here and bribed Soph to finish it."

My eyes shoot open and I crane my head to look her in the eyes. "Are you serious?"

"A week's worth of doing the dishes for her labor, another week for the late notice, and anime merch for not letting mom know I made her do my school works again. I feel like I got ripped off. I swear she's—"

My lips effectively shut her up. After a second, she returns it and I feel her smile. "You're the best," I tell her.

"Tell me something I don't know."

Feeling a little daring tonight, I press my chest against her side and let my voice drop as I whisper close to her ear, "I'm not wearing a bra." The sharp intake of breath that follows is the only thing I allow her to do as I jump up and head back to my desk. When I look back at her, her mouth is hanging open, with the expression of utmost betrayal on her face. It makes me laugh out loud. "You're not the only one who knows how to tease. And I'll leave it to your imagination to guess whether I'm wearing any underwear."

Alex narrows her eyes at me. She curls her index finger in a come here motion. "Get your sexy ass back here."

"I have a paper to finish, remember?" I bat my eyelashes at her innocently.

Alex stands up and tucks her hands under her arms. She's pouting. She was so cute I wanted to just throw my damn laptop away and kiss her senseless. "Fine," she says. Then she proceeds to take off her hoodie, revealing that she's not wearing a top and only a sports bra. The sight of her toned muscles makes me swallow. I've always admired Alex's physique—not too muscly, yet toned enough to know she regularly works out.

"What are you doing?" I croak.

Instead of answering, her hands fly down to the hem of her shorts where she tugs it down and lets her shorts fall to her ankles, leaving her in boxer shorts and a black Nike sports bra. She picks up her shorts from the floor and folds them nicely. "No outside clothes on your bed, right?" She smirks before falling down on my bed with a thump. "Go do your thing. I already made you cut class once. I don't wanna be the reason your grades decline." She scoots backward until her back hits my headboard.

I raise an eyebrow at her. "Okay, then." I glance at the clock on my laptop, noting the time and smiling to myself. Let's wait.

It took Alex exactly nine minutes before climbing out of the bed, a blanket covering her like a burrito, and enveloping me with a back hug with it. "You're too far," she grumbles under her breath when I beam at her. "Aren't you done yet?"

One thing I learned about Alex: you can't put her in the same room as me and not be close enough to touch. She always wants to be close to me—close enough to touch, at least. When we're in the office, or in the classroom, or anywhere, really, she almost absentmindedly just reaches out to touch me. Whether it's my hand, or my back, or my hair—whatever part of my body.