Chapter 2
My hand jerked so hard I nearly launched the bear across the room.
It was real.
It was actually real!
I just pulled the bear's ear, and Lucas really felt it on his end!
The realization left me stupid. I sat on the bed clutching the bear and couldn't come back to myself for ages.
What did anybody even call this?
Quantum entanglement? Shared senses?
My ice-cold, unreachable roommate and I were linked through a stuffed bear in the weirdest, most intimate way possible?
It was more absurd than anything I'd ever read in a novel.
Once I calmed down, a thrill I had never felt before, with something guilty in it, started rising in my chest.
Lucas.
This was Lucas.
Six months of living here, and he was the untouchable crush I'd only ever admired from across a room.
Great face, great body, a PhD from a top school, and the youngest associate professor on his campus.
At home, he was either shut in his study with a book or in headphones listening to classical music, radiating a clear signal that nobody should come near him.
And now every mood he had was in my hands by way of a stuffed bear?
I looked down at the round, harmless thing in my arms.
All at once, its stitched-on smile looked like the smile of an accomplice.
No. I needed to test it again.
What if I'd imagined that too?
I cleared my throat, set the bear on the bed, reached out a finger, and lightly tickled it under the arm.
The voice in my head came right back.
"Stop. Don't touch me there. That tickles."
The words came in broken pieces, shaking with something he couldn't hold down.
I could picture Lucas in his own bed at that exact moment, curled in on himself because of one flick of my finger, gritting his teeth with nowhere to go.
My face went bright red.
Oh my god.
This was way too exciting.
I had unlocked a whole new world.
For the definitive test, I gritted my teeth and did something much bolder.
I dug through my drawers until I found a nearly dried-out liquid eyeliner.
Then I lifted the bear's little T-shirt and drew a small, crooked heart on its flat belly, very carefully.
*****
The next day was the weekend.
I got up early with mischief on my mind and puttered around the living room.
It was almost noon before Lucas' door opened.
He came out in loose gray sweats with his hair a little messy and no glasses, and all of his usual sharpness and distance had softened into something lazy and domestic.
He was handsome enough that I had trouble looking away.
My heart skipped, and I dropped my head and pretended to scroll my phone.
He went straight to the kitchen and opened the fridge for water.
As he reached for the bottle on the top shelf, the hem of his loose T-shirt rode up a couple of inches.
I held my breath and locked onto his stomach.
His skin was flawless and firm, the faint outline of his abs visible beneath the surface.
Right there on the lower right side of his stomach was a small black crooked heart, identical to the one I had drawn on the bear last night.
That settled it!
I was so wound up I nearly crushed my phone.
Lucas finished his water, seemed to feel my stare, and turned around.
I snapped my eyes down and clutched my phone like I was watching something hilarious.
"What are you watching?" he asked, walking over and sitting down on the couch across from me.
"Nothing. Some stupid videos. They're funny," I laughed weakly and didn't dare look up.
"Really?" Lucas replied, his voice flat and unreadable.
The living room fell into an awkward silence.
I could feel his eyes on me, making my skin crawl.
Did he figure something out?
Just when I was about to crack, he suddenly spoke up.
"That thing of yours." He paused as if choosing his words. "That bear. Have you had it long?"
My heart skipped a beat.
Why was he suddenly asking about my bear?
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I got it in college. It's been years." I kept it vague.
"It looks worn out."
"It is. I've washed it so many times it's going bald."
"Mm." He made a sound of agreement, and then he said something I never expected.
"You should get a new one."
With that, he stood up and went back to his room.
I sat there frozen and couldn't process it for a solid minute.
What was that supposed to mean?
My bear was too old, so when I manhandled it, the experience on his end was subpar?
The thought made me blush and want to laugh at the same time.
Lucas Grant, the untouchable professor nobody could get within ten feet of, had started worrying about the user experience of my stuffed animal.
This was getting more interesting.
*****
From that day on, I started teasing Lucas every single day.
By way of my bear, of course.
I gave it a pet name. Luke.
Every night before bed, Luke and I had some quality time together.
I knew the walls were thin, so I made a point of being loud about it.
"Luke, I had such a long day. Come here and give me a hug.
"Luke, your ears are so soft. I could squeeze them all night.
"Luke, time for bed. Goodnight."
Every single time, I heard it clearly from somewhere deep in my head, Lucas' voice, mortified and furious, filing his protest.
"Do not call me Luke.
"I told you not to pinch my ears.
"I am not sleeping with you!"
He could protest all he wanted. There was nothing he could do about it.
I could picture him grinding his teeth and taking it in silence.
The feeling was incredible.
So I escalated.
One time, I spilled a full glass of Coke on Luke on purpose.
Then, right in front of Lucas, I carried it into the bathroom.
"Oh no, Luke, you're all sticky. Time for your bath."
I left the bathroom door cracked so I could see Lucas on the couch. His whole body locked up, and he was gripping his book hard enough to warp the cover.
I turned on the shower and rinsed the bear down with warm water, slowly and thoroughly.
And I narrated the whole thing while I did it.
"We need to get this spot really clean.
"Oh no, your legs got dirty too. Those need a good scrub."
In my mind, Lucas' breathing grew heavier and more frantic.
"Summer, you're doing this on purpose.
"Stop. Stop right now."
There was a tremor in his voice that was almost too small to catch, and something underneath it that sounded like begging.
My grin kept spreading.
So the lofty Lucas would beg after all, if a person pushed him far enough.
That set me off completely. Instead of stopping, I ran my fingers slowly up the inside of the bear's thigh.