Anne's POV
I opened my eyes and immediately knew I wasn't in my room.
I rubbed my eyes and squinted, adjusting to the dim light around me.
My phone on the table read five o'clock in the morning, so it was still pretty dark outside.
I sat up slowly, stretched my muscles, and realized that, surprisingly, I had slept well, which was saying something, considering it was a couch.
Then I noticed the blanket, which definitely hadn't been there when I fell asleep. My mind went straight to Vincent. He must have covered me.
How sweet.
I felt all warm and bubbly inside.
He should be upstairs sleeping, or so I thought. Imagine my shock when I turned to the side of the couch and came face to face with the most angelic, peaceful face I had ever seen in my entire twenty-one years on this earth.
My foggy mind hadn't registered who it was at first, and I had almost screamed. I caught myself just in time, pressing my hand hard against my mouth.
He was resting his head on the headrest in what looked like a deeply uncomfortable position.
I stared, endlessly, at his beautiful face, fighting the urge to pinch his smooth cheeks, or run my fingers along his brows, his eyes, his lips… everywhere.
‘It's sealed. I have a crush on Vincent.’
The jingling of what I assumed were keys snapped me out of my reverie. I shot my eyes toward the door.
Andrew?
I turned back to Vincent and found a pair of clear brown eyes staring back at me.
I jerked and nearly fell off the couch.
His eyes followed my movement, wrinkling at the corners as if they were smiling. When the jingling came again, he turned toward the door too.
I followed his gaze to the door, which opened to reveal Andrew bent over in the doorway, wrestling with his shoes.
"These shoes are done for," he declared, holding up a pair of sneakers that looked like they had been flattened by a trailer.
It was when he entered and looked up that he noticed us.
He paused, stared from me to Vincent, then back at me. For a second, I could have sworn something flickered across his face. I couldn't name it. It left as fast as it came.
He then broke into a gorgeous smile and ran toward me.
"Anny, I've missed you!"
He lifted me off the couch and gave me a bone-crushing hug that left me gasping.
"Hey you," I managed to choke out.
"Sorry I didn't get back last night, the rain was something else."
"It's fine. We don't need you drowning now, do we?" I said with a lopsided smirk, earning myself one of his award-winning smiles.
"No, but I'm sorry you had to spend the night with my boring brother," he mocked, glancing at Vincent.
Vincent, who had been quiet this entire time, stood up and smacked the back of his head.
"Shut up, freak," he said and ambled toward the stairs.
"Boring… and a bully!" Andrew retorted at Vincent's retreating back, rubbing his head.
I covered my mouth, giggling at his expression.
"And you!" he said, turning to me. He scooped me up and threw me over his shoulders.
I squeaked, "Put me down this instant!"
"Nope. Weeeeeee!" He sang, bouncing around the room.
"Andrew Benedict Sawyer, I swear the moment I get down, I will end you!" I threatened, fully winded from all the jerky movements.
"You sound like my mum," he said thoughtfully. "I'll tell yours you swore to kill me," he added mischievously.
"Only if you survive long enough. Drew, please, I'm getting dizzy."
"Only because you asked nicely," he said and gently set me down on the couch.
I shot him the middle finger. He took one look at it and slumped to the floor, laughing.
Just then, Vincent walked back down the stairs in grey track pants and a white T-shirt, with a small towel slung over his shoulders.
"Hitting the gym," he announced, tapping his arms. "These babies need maintenance."
‘Hmm. Cocky. That's new.’
"Show off," Andrew sneered from the floor.
"Hater," Vincent said, sticking his tongue out, then turned and sauntered toward the gym.
I grinned, watching them bicker like an old couple.
"Oh," Vincent stopped and turned. "Mum invited Anne to dad's award party." He said casually and continued walking.
"Really!" Andrew yawped. "Anny bear, you'll be my date!"
"Umm… Andrew, I don't know if I'm going…"
"Shush! You can't say no."
"I wasn't going to say no, I was going to…" I stopped, biting my nails.
He laughed, not at all convinced.
I didn't know how the Sawyers held their parties, but I had a strong feeling this one was going to be grand. Their mother had seemed warm enough over the phone, but meeting her face to face was a different matter.
And the most pressing issue of all: I had absolutely nothing grand-party-worthy to wear to the, well, grand party.
Yikes.
"Don't worry, you'll love my mum," Andrew said, dropping down beside me and throwing his arm over my shoulders. "She's too sweet. She'll spoil your teeth."
"Shut up," I said, knocking his arm off.
He laughed. "You'll come, right?" He pouted.
"Yeaaah," I drawled.
"That's my baby." He grinned.
A little while later, Andrew went upstairs to change, leaving me alone on the couch.
I sat there, staring at the direction of the gym.
The sensible thing was to wait for Andrew to come back down, then throw a goodbye to Vincent before leaving. That was the plan.
I was already mentally composing a polite goodbye to shout in the direction of the gym when I just stood up and started walking toward it.
I told myself it was just good manners to say goodbye in person. That was all. I didn't believe myself for a second.
The muffled low grunts reached me before I got to the door, making my mouth suddenly go dry.
He had his back to me, working through a set of dumbbell rows with ease. His shoulders moved in slow pulls, the muscles of his back and arms rippling with each rep.
I just stood in the doorway and said nothing. Nothing came to mind.
Then he stopped.
He set the weights down, reached for the towel around his neck, and turned toward the door as if he had known I was there the whole time.
"I believe that lavender is permanently stuck to my nose," he said, eyes settling on me with amusement. "Because tell me why I smelled you before I saw you."
I blinked. "What? Lavender?"
"Mm." He dabbed the towel against his face. "Hope you slept well, by the way." He paused. "I didn't."
I could already hear the mischief underneath those words.
Oh no.
What exactly had I done last night?
"These muscles need serious attention after the workout they got keeping you from toppling off that couch," he said, flexing one arm, as if conducting a damage assessment.
"Oh, Vince, I'm so sorry…"
"Anne. Anne." He shook his head, the corners of his mouth stretching into a smile. "I'm kidding."
"You're not!" I wailed in embarrassment. "Pamela has always said I have a terrible sleeping posture. She also says I sleep like a log."
That was when he lost it.
He bent forward, laughing uncontrollably, one hand braced on his knee and the other pressed to his side.
"My arms are numb, Anne," he managed between fits. "Were you in a battle?! Are you a ninja or something?!"
"I'm sorry!" I cried, succumbing to the same breathless fit of laughter.
It took a while for both of us to recover. When he finally straightened, wiping the corner of his eye, the laughter had faded into a smile. He was just looking at me, his chest still rising and falling from it all.
"It's fine, Anny," he said softly.
The smile faded gradually, replaced by an entirely different emotion I couldn't quite place. His eyes held mine, and the air between us, which had been so free a moment ago, suddenly charged up, wiping the smile from my face.
I forgot what I had come to say.
I forgot if there had been anything to say at all.
"Anny, are you ready?!"
Andrew's voice came booming down the hallway, breaking whatever had settled over us.
Vincent looked away first, reaching for his towel again.
"Take care, Anny," he said.
"Yeah," I managed. "You too."
I turned and walked back down the hallway, one hand pressed flat against my chest, willing my heart to calm down.