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She tuts, shaking her head and shoving past me.
I snatch her arm before she can bail. “Wait. What’d I say?”
“Nothing. It’s fine. I’m going.” She tries to shake me off, but I won’t let go.
“No.” I pull her back, her socks sliding across the kitchen floor. As soon as her shoulder hits my chest, I lean down so I can catch her eye, but she won’t fucking let me. Every time I get within range, she looks the other way.
“Caroline, you’re not leaving all pissed like this. I know you’re embarrassed, but nothing we do or say will change the fact that they walked in on us. I’ve obviously said something wrong trying to make this better, and I don’t want you huffing out of the house, so talk to me.”
“It’s…” She squeezes her eyes shut. “Just never call me a puck bunny again, okay?” Her fiery glare hits me with a force I didn’t count on.
“I wasn’t trying to insult you.” I frown, not loving the way her eyes are narrowing right now. I scramble to make this better. “I followed it up by saying you’re not a puck bunny.”
“Oh, because fuck buddy’s so much better,” she scoffs.
Now it’s my turn to narrow my gaze at her. “I’m just trying to figure out what to call you,” I grit out.
Her expression folds like my answer has hurt her somehow. And then her head droops forward and she whispers, “I don’t have to be your girlfriend. Just… whatever. I don’t know what the hell we are.” She shakes out of my hold, flicking her hair over her shoulder and crossing her arms. Looking out the window, she continues to dodge my gaze.
Her sad voice and expression are killing me, so I respond without thinking. “Well, what do you want to be? You want me for a boyfriend?”
It’s kind of hard to believe that anyone would, but the way her head whips around and her eyes seem to light up like a Christmas tree, I’m thinking I finally said the right thing.
I gape at her, my heart rate spiking.
She can obviously sense my fear, because her eyes dim and she shrugs. “I mean… maybe. Only if you want…” Her voice trails off, and I’m left stammering after her.
“I-I thought I was just helping you out.”
“You are, but I mean… I wouldn’t have asked you to do that if I didn’t like you. Which I do. Like a lot, actually.” She’s mumbling to the floor, her cheeks turning pink. It’s a different blush to the one she was wearing before. It’s pretty… and vulnerable… and beautiful.
Something swirls in my chest, maybe a warm affection, I don’t know, but it makes my lips twitch with a grin. I nudge her chin up with my finger, forcing her to look at me. Her wide eyes finally stare into mine, but it’s like she’s afraid to hear what I have to say.
But the words slip out like the most natural thing in the world. “That kind of works out well, I guess.”
Her eyebrows bunch in the middle. “What do you mean?”
“I like you too.”
She wasn’t expecting me to say that, but holy shit… the look on her face right now. My smile grows wide as I lean in, capturing her mouth with my own. It’s not a deep kiss. Just a connecting of the lips, like a firm sealing of this agreement… or whatever the hell it is.
When I pull back, she grins at me as if I just handed her a million bucks rather than a label I swore I’d never use. I should be trying to get out of this shit as quickly as possible, but I’m standing here feeling like a fucking champion.
Her smile is stunning. Her eyes are telling me shit that gives me wings. It’s a heady rush, and one I’ll no doubt freak out about later, but for now… for this moment right here… Caroline Mason is my girlfriend.
I’ve never had one of those before.
I pull her into a hug, wrapping my arms all the way around her, needing to soak this in. I didn’t expect to feel this way. It’s weird and?—
“You guys decent yet?” Ethan calls from the entryway.
“Yes!” I holler. “Come in.”
Caroline pulls away from me, her smile disappearing. “I’m gonna go.”
“Wait, I?—”
Before I can say anything, she’s ducked out of the kitchen and would have gotten to the front door if she wasn’t blocked by the group coming back into the living area.
