Free Drawn To You by Lily Summers Page B

their hands of me after that. I would have washed my hands of the whole affair after that.
    And here I am on my day off, bundled up in bed and continuing to punish myself. I’m a mess and he’s amazing. What the hell does he see in me?
    The smell of cinnamon and sugar wafts beneath my door and my mouth waters instantly. Despite how close I hold my cards close to my chest, Audrey’s still managed to learn that I love cinnamon toast. She’s drawing me out of my cave. Clever girl.
    Part of me wants to resist, but the other part of me is demanding simple sugar right this second. After a brief internal battle, I decide eating my feelings isn’t such a bad idea after all.
    “Good morning, sunshine,” Audrey singsongs to me as I shuffle into the kitchen in a tank top and pajama bottoms. She sets a plate down in front of me and grins like the Cheshire Cat. “You got in late last night.”
    She steeples her fingers in front of her mouth, watching me expectantly and failing to hide her smile.
    I pick up a piece of toast, take a bite, and intentionally chew very slowly so I can watch her squirm.
    When I finally swallow, I say, “It’s not what you think. Nothing happened.”
    “My ass nothing happened.” She hops up to sit on the counter by the breakfast bar and steals a piece from my plate. “If you don’t give me details, I’ll belt that song from Wicked that you hate until you relent.”
    “Ugh, fine,” I groan. “Ezra and I went out last night. But like I said, nothing happened.”
    She raises an eyebrow at me and starts humming the first few bars of the song.
    I groan and cover my ears. “We kissed, okay? We kissed. Stop, for the love of all that is good in the world.”
    Her humming ratchets into a high-pitched eeeeee sound and she says, “Was it a kiss…” She makes a so-so gesture with her hand. “… or was it a kiss? ” She waggles her eyebrows.
    I take another bite of my toast before responding. “The second one.”
    She makes that eeeeee sound again.
    I clamp my hand over my ears, almost wishing she’d go back to the show tunes. “Not that it matters,” I say. “It’s not going to happen again.”
    I finish the toast and pick up my plate to take it to the sink.
    “Oh no.” Audrey stops me with both hands on my shoulders. “What did you do?” she says with a glower.
    I’m kind of offended she assumes it’s my fault, even though it’s true. “I didn’t do anything. We’re not right for each other, romantically speaking.” I sidestep around her. “I’m not on the market for a boyfriend, anyway.”
    “God, Mia, I’m not encouraging you to go off and elope, but being around that guy is good for you.”
    “How do you figure?” I mumble as I dump my plate in the sink.
    “Honestly, I haven’t seen you out of your room this much in months. You smile to yourself when you think I’m not looking. You’re wearing actual colors instead of your usual gray-on-gray. You’re going outside for something other than work, for shit’s sake. He’s making you come alive, and I don’t think you should shut that out.”
    I force a laugh and try to joke, “Should you really be giving me advice about my love life?”
    She waves her hand in the air like she’s batting my words away. “Do as I say, not as I do. You don’t have to fall in love, that’s not what I mean. But I do think you should give this a real shot. He’s fun, he’s gorgeous, and he makes you smile. Plus, he has hot friends who you could introduce to your fantastically supportive roommate, just saying.”
    Audrey’s words are getting to me, so I pick up the sponge and start washing things. She doesn’t leave, though, so after a while I sigh and say, “I’m too broken and boring for him.”
    “Not a chance,” Audrey says. “You’re book-smart, funny, just the right amount of weird… and don’t think I haven’t noticed you dragging around those sketchbooks, even if you’ll never let me see them. You’ve got intrigue