After locking the bathroom door, I turned the showerhead on and waited for the spray to warm up before stepping in. In the meantime, I studied my surroundings. I wasn't surprised to find that Zac's bathroom was as sparsely decorated as his living quarters. The way he had left everything so depersonalized was reminiscent of how a guest might treat a hotel room that he was merely passing through. Curiosity nagged at me.

Why was he living this way?

Perhaps, his family had yet to secure a suitable property, and he was slumming it until their housing matters were settled?

Once I finished washing up, I dried my hair with the towel Zac had given me then wrapped it around my body. I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror. Traces of mascara and eyeshadow were smudged around my eyes while my dark hair trailed past my shoulders in a damp, stringy mess. Definitely not an ideal look for what I had planned, but I didn't have much of a choice.

In a last ditch effort to make myself more presentable, I wet some toilet paper to scrub off the leftover makeup and then smeared a glob of toothpaste on my finger to "brush" my teeth. For the finishing touch, I readjusted my towel to reveal as much boobage as possible without inviting nipple slippage and dragged my fingers through my hair like a makeshift comb. This was probably as good as it was going to get. Oddly enough, I didn't see this as a sexual matter at all. Everything I was about to do was purely strategic. Taking a deep breath, I unlocked the door and stepped outside to restart interrogations.

Zac looked up the moment I opened the bathroom door. He was sitting on the mattress. 

I smiled at him. "Hey."

His eyes darted along my towel, lingering on my cleavage, down my legs, then back up again to my face. His cheeks pinkened ever so slightly. "Do you, uh... wanna borrow some of my clothes?"

"I'm good for now, thanks," I quipped cheerfully. I took a few steps towards him. He rose from his bed and began pacing the room. His eyes wandered in every direction except for mine.

"Are you hungry? Lemme see what I have in the kitchen. We could also head out for a bite to eat. Or should I just take you home?"

I sashayed over to his mattress and sat down, making sure to cross my legs. Beckoning to him, I patted the spot beside me. "Can we chat first? I'll make it quick."

He hesitated before joining me on the mattress. "Um... yeah, sure. What's up?"

I scooted over and pressed my arm against his bicep. I felt his body tense up.

"I was just thinking how it might be difficult for you to go after Lily all by yourself. Not to mention, kinda dangerous if she's as batshit crazy as you claim."

He stared straight ahead, seemingly unwilling to make eye contact. "Uh-huh."

"So, maybe, you know, you could use some help. Like a silent partner or something."

Zac frowned and finally looked my way. His face darkened with disapproval. "I don't like where this conversation is headed, Cate. Why don't I make us some coffee? Or juice. You want some juice? Oh, water! Lemme get you some water. You gotta stay hydrated today!"

He slapped his hands on his thighs to get up, but I tugged on his arm to pull him back. The mattress bounced under his weight. Without releasing his arm, I protested, "No, wait, listen! I don't think you realize how much I can bring to the table. I probably know everything there's to know about the ins and outs of Ashton Wellesley. You've been away for so long. Things have changed!"

"Please stop, Cate. I know what you're trying to offer, and I don't want your help."

"But I'm smart. Organized. Well-connected. I could help you research Lily's background, find her weakness—"

He clasped my wrist in his hand and set it aside. "See? This is the shit I was talking about. It's like the 'off' switch in your brain doesn't even register. You always try to barge your way in even when you're not wanted!"

I pouted and traced my fingers lightly across his bare chest. I murmured, "Are you saying you don't want me around?"

"That's not what I meant, Cate, and you know it," Zac ground out in frustration.

I trailed my hand to his shoulder, leaned over, and whispered, "Oh. So, you do want me? In that case, you might wanna know that I have a special drawer in my room. It's where I keep my favorite toy. Maybe if we became better friends, you know, friends that share secrets and have sleepovers, you could come over and... play with me?"

A guttural sound rose from his throat. He sat there, completely frozen, as though it was taking all of his concentration not to move. He couldn't even form words. I pressed a soft kiss on his cheek, a touch as faint as the brush of a butterfly's wing, and slinked away. "You think about that, Mazur. I'll be waiting whenever you're ready to talk."

As I rose from the bed, Zac's arm shot out and looped around to yank me back. Our bodies collided onto the mattress, and Zac's face was suddenly so close to mine that I could see how large his pupils had become and feel his quick, shallow breaths on my cheek. In a strained voice, he said, "I'm gonna try to get through this nightmare with Lily as quickly as I can. Until then, don't pull this shit on me again, Cate, or else I can't promise I'll be able to hold back again."

"Why won't you just tell me the truth?" I wheedled.

"If I told you everything right now, would you let me fuck you?"

I scoffed. "Hell, no!"

"See you naked?"

"Dream on!"

He grimaced. "That's what I thought. All talk and no action. I already apologized for saying shit to you that I probably should've kept to myself, but now you're the one that's fucking everything up. If we're gonna be friends, there's gotta be respect. No more games."

"Since when did we decide to become friends?"

"Ever since we both made it pretty clear that we care about each other. You almost drank yourself into a coma to get my attention, and I nearly fucked things up with Lily to save you."

Huh. The boy had a point. 

Had we somehow become friends? 

Friends that were lowkey crushing on each other? 

Possibly. 

But would I be okay with watching him run headfirst into another girl's arms, knkowing that girl might be a borderline psychopath? 

That he was only pretending to like her as a means to an end? 

My stomach grew queasy. 

Assuming everything he told me was true, just how far was Zac willing to go to earn Lily's trust?

All of a sudden, my mouth parted before my brain could catch up, and I found myself blurting out, "If sex was the only thing standing between you and whatever you're trying to accomplish, would you fuck Lily?"

He paused for a long time. A pained expression crossed his face. "I'm not gonna lie, at one point, I think I would've gone through with it, and I don't say that lightly. You know I'm a virgin, right?"

I almost fell off the bed. "What?"

He looked embarrassed. "I mean, obviously, I've done other stuff with girls, but I've never, you know, actually put it in..."

"I'm a virgin, too."

His eyes met mine. He smiled shyly. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," I answered, feeling a little embarrassed now as well. "So, just to clarify, you'd rather screw yourself over than have sex with Lily?"

"I mean, I fucking hope it doesn't come down to that, but, yeah, I'd choose to walk away."

"Really? But you've done so much to get this far..."

"I know, but I'm pretty confident that I can pull this off without selling out my body," Zac reached over to flick my forehead playfully. "I'm saving myself for someone special, you know."

Someone special?

My stupid, stupid heart did another little flip.