Chapter 2: The Sleepover Pact
The fairy lights cast a web of soft gold across the ceiling. Cassie’s breath had evened out into the deep, steady rhythm of sleep, one arm flung over her head. The mountain of new clothes, a chaos of silk and lace, lay heaped on the floor where they’d discarded them after trying everything on twice.
Maya lay perfectly still.
The door’s creak was so faint it could have been the house settling. But she knew it wasn’t. She felt the shift in the air, a slight draft, the subtle change in the light pattern on the ceiling as the door opened.
Her heart thudded against her ribs, a frantic drum in the quiet room.
His silhouette filled the doorway, broad and tall, blocking the faint hall light. He stepped inside and closed the door with a quiet, definitive click. The sound was soft, final. He didn’t move further, just stood there, letting his eyes adjust, letting her see him.
Maya held her breath. The vanilla scent of Cassie’s candle warred with something else, something clean and male—soap, faint sawdust, him.
“Cassie’s asleep,” Maya whispered. It wasn’t a question.
“I know,” Derek’s voice was low, a rumble that seemed to vibrate in the space between them. He took a slow step forward, then another, until he stood at the foot of the bed. He wore gray sweatpants and a worn navy t-shirt. His feet were bare. He looked like he belonged in the middle of the night. “You’re not.”
She couldn’t deny it. She pushed herself up on her elbows, the sheets pooling at her waist. She wore one of Cassie’s spare tank tops, thin and soft. She felt terribly exposed. “Couldn’t sleep.”
He nodded, as if this was expected. His gray eyes weren’t piercing now in the dim light; they were dark, absorbing. They traveled over her, slower and more thorough than they had through the glass. There was no patio door between them now. No rules either, not the old ones.
“Thinking about your pact?” he asked.
The breath left her lungs. How could he know? The window was closed. They’d been whispering.
A small, knowing smile touched his lips. “Your voices carry down the hall when you’re excited. Old house. Thin walls.” He let that hang, a reminder that their secrets here were never fully their own. “Ambitious goal.”
“It was Cassie’s idea,” Maya said, her voice barely audible.
“But you agreed.” He stated it plainly. He rested his hands on the footboard, his fingers tapping once, softly. “Who’s the lucky guy?”
She had no answer. Her mind was static.
Derek didn’t press. He just watched her struggle, the faint smile not leaving his face. “It’s a big decision. Your first. Should be with someone who knows what they’re doing. Someone who’ll make sure it’s good for you.” He paused. “Not some fumbling kid.”
The implication was a physical heat in the room. Maya’s skin prickled. She clutched the sheet tighter.
“You were watching me tonight,” she said, the words leaving her before she could stop them.
“Yes.”
“You’ve been watching me.”
“For a long time, Maya.” There was no apology in it. It was a fact, offered plainly. A truth finally aired.
She should have been scared. She should have woken Cassie. But the curiosity she’d buried for two years unfurled, dense and potent, smothering the fear. This was the taboo, right here in the soft light. Not a theoretical pact, but him. His presence in the dark felt inevitable, like something she’d been waiting for without knowing it.
“Why now?” Her voice was a thread.
“You know why.” He pushed off the footboard and took the two steps to the side of the bed. He loomed over her, and she could smell the clean cotton of his shirt, feel the warmth radiating from him. He didn’t touch her. “You’re legal. You’re not a child anymore. And I’m done pretending I don’t want you.”
The words landed, heavy and direct. Maya’s mouth went dry.
Cassie stirred, mumbling something in her sleep, and turned over, facing the wall.
They both froze, watching her. The sound of Cassie’s deep breathing filled the pause. A reminder of the line that was shimmering, about to be crossed.
When Derek looked back at Maya, his eyes were completely focused. The calm command he exuded on job sites, with his crew, was here in this bedroom, directed entirely at her. “This stays between us. It has to. For everyone.”
Maya nodded, a small, jerky movement. Of course. The secret would be part of it. The illicit thrill was already coiling tight in her stomach.
Slowly, giving her every chance to pull away, he reached out. His hand, calloused and warm, cupped the side of her face. His thumb stroked her cheekbone once, a touch so gentle it made her shiver. It was a fatherly gesture turned completely, utterly other.
“You think about it,” he murmured, his thumb brushing the corner of her mouth. “When you’re thinking about your pact. You think about this. About me being your first.”
He held her gaze, letting the offer sink in. Letting her picture it.
Then he withdrew his hand. The loss of contact was a shock in the cool air.
“Sleep well, Maya,” he said, his voice back to its normal, steady pitch. He turned and walked to the door, as silent as he’d entered.
He opened it, slipped through, and was gone.
Maya stared at the empty doorway, her cheek burning where he’d touched her. The room felt different. The fairy lights looked like stars in a new, charged universe. The pact with Cassie suddenly seemed like child’s play, a game of pretend next to the real, dark, delicious proposition now laid before her.
She looked at Cassie’s sleeping back. A knot of guilt twisted, tight and sharp, but it was quickly smothered by a surge of something hotter, more compelling.
She lay back down, touching her own cheek. Her heart hammered against her ribs, not with panic now, but with a frantic, eager rhythm.
She had her candidate.