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Her brows went even higher, and Tully could make out thin lines on her forehead. “Tutor? Well, isn’t that a surprise? When on earth did this happen?”
Nathan ate up his mother’s pleasant reaction and raised his chin. “Last week. She’s going to help me get my grades to the best you’ve ever seen.”
She chuckled, and Tully could see that Nathan wasn’t just skilled at charming classmates. Sandy’s eyes twinkled with pride at her son and his initiative. “Well, your father will be very happy to hear that.” Sandy turned back to Tully. “I better let you kids get on with it. It’s great to meet you, hun. Holler if you need anything.”
“Nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Rondeau.”
The woman gestured them off and disappeared down the hallway that led toward the kitchen.
Nathan led her up the stairway that she’d been up before.
“You sure slathered that on real thick,” she said, following Nathan into his room with her books and bag in tow.
“I have to or my dad won’t take me seriously.”
While the rest of the house felt different despite being here before, his bedroom was the exact same. Tidy. Light green checkered wallpaper. Window. A few stray posters from movies. This time the books on his desk were open, and the lamp was on.
She froze in the doorway.
Oh God. Maybe this wasn’t a great idea.
At least, not here. Not when she still hadn’t come to terms with the embarrassment of last Friday night. Technically, Nathan was the only person who knew the full extent of that humiliation, and being here alone with him wasn’t making her feel much better about it.
“Why don’t we do this downstairs? The kitchen or something.”
He turned and noticed that she hadn’t come into the room yet. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she shrugged and tried to play it cool. “Just thought we could use more space.”
Her eyes flicked to the dresser, trying to distract herself. But there was something there that caught her attention—a small pile of folded clothes that shouldn’t have been significant to her. But they were.
Stephanie’s small skirt and off-the-shoulder shirt that she had been wearing that night were stacked neatly on top of each other.
She pursed her lips.
Nathan turned to look at it.
It all snapped into place for him too, and he must have realizedwhyshe was acting so nervous. Tully bit her lip, waiting for him to say something.
“Ohh,” he dragged the word out and walked over to the clothes. “I almost forgot about that.”
What? He almostforgotabout it?
And here she was,tryingto forget about it.
“Since I’m here I might as well address the elephant in the room.” She was speaking before she had a chance to filter the words. “I only kissed you to make Joliet mad. I knew she liked you and I knew it would piss her off if I kissed you so I did it just so I could rub it into her face. Not because I actually wanted to kiss you. Just thought I should let you know so you don’t get any weird ideas.”
Silence.
thirteen
nathan
Neither of them moved or said anything. Nathan’s hand hesitated over Tully’s clothes, unsure of how the hell he was supposed to proceed.
Nathan wasn’t book smart, but he’d already figured out that Tully kissing him at the party had an ulterior motive. He’d connected the dots the moment she pulled him into the empty classroom and begged him to make her sister mad by saying they slept together.
He thought it would be better if he played it cool and pretended that he wasn’t thinking about the last time she was in his room, and hopefully, it would be forgotten about.
