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“This is your place, Jace. You owe me nothing. You can bring whomever you want here. You can bring the whole cheerleading squad here, if you like. It’s none of my business. You’re already sacrificing enough by letting me stay here, by giving up your bed,” I say, ignoring the parts where he kissed me.
“You’re wrong. Bringing her here, I knew it would make you uncomfortable. Hell, part of me thinks that’s why I did it.”
I file this piece of information away before I can analyze it because I have no idea what it means except that it doesn’t matter, and making more of it than it is won’t help my cause.
“Bottom line, I shouldn’t have done it, and I want you to know it won’t happen again.”
“Okay, then,” I say, with a curt nod, my tone tight.
“And about the other stuff—”
“Forget it.” I shake my head, not wanting to hear it, mostly because I’ve been doing a pretty damn good job of ignoring it all together. “No explanation needed. I know you regret it. Consider it off the record. Never happened.”
He stares at me for a moment as if trying to read my thoughts.
Good luck, buddy. Even I don’t know what the hell I’m thinking.
“Right.” Grabbing his mug, he pushes off the counter, closing the distance between us, and just when I think he’s going to let it be, he pauses beside me, hovering so close I can feel the heat of his skin, hear the gravel in his voice as he says, “But for the record, I don’t regret it.”
I suck in a breath as my gaze slowly lifts to his.
“At least not for the reasons you think,” he adds.
CHAPTER 18
BRYNN
Ajet of freezingcold water blasts me in the boob, then changes trajectory and shoots Charlotte square in the face. Maniacal laughter follows, then fades into the distance as our assailant heads to the water pump for a refill.
I rub the wet spot on my chest and turn to a dripping wet Charlotte. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” she says as she shakes her body out like a Labrador, sending a spray of water droplets into the air.
“Come on. Look at how much fun they’re having.” I motion to the hoard of kids, ducking behind makeshift forts in the park and blasting each other with water guns.
“Hurry, let’s cut off their water supply.”
I snort. “I don’t think that’s possible.”
“Always the cynic,” she mutters. “But at least now I understand the desire for pediatric nursing.” When I look at her in question, she adds, “You get to stab these little heathens with needles.”
I laugh. “That issowrong.”
After I visited Helping Hands and filled out my application earlier in the week, I’d found out they were short volunteers for today, so I told Charlotte about it, and she’d agreed to help, saying it would be great for her resume as well since she’s an education major. Now we’re embroiled in an intense water war at the local park, which has helped her discover an inconvenient truth. She’s not a fan of kids.
“Well, actually, there’s one positive outcome to you roping me into volunteering today.”
“What’s that?” I ask, as I duck below a flying water balloon.
It hits Charlotte right between the eyes, and I gasp. Covering my mouth with my hands, I fight the laughter bubbling in the back of my throat.
“I now know I want to teach high school,” she grinds out.
I bite my lip and pick a piece of red latex out of her hair as she wipes her eyes. “Come on, we’re sitting ducks here. Let’s go,” I say as she turns to glare at me.
I nod in the direction of the bathrooms where we can find cover while scouting out a target. We run toward the small building with me in front, covering Charlotte and shooting a little red head in the back. A spray of water nails him right between the shoulder blades and he drops his gun.
Once we reach the building, I press my back against the wood and motion for her to do the same. If we’re lucky, we can hold out here until the timer goes off and it’s time to head back to the community center.
Charlotte takes the opportunity to catch her breath and check the time.
