“I—I don’t know.” Man, I felt so lame admitting that. But honestly, the only other response I could think of was ‘being a good son’ or ‘playing football.’ The first was pathetic and the second didn’t ring true. I liked football. I was good at it. But it wasn’t mything.
She sighed and I had this feeling that I’d disappointed her with that answer.
“You don’tknow?” She sighed. “Are youalwaysthis obtuse or is that just a jock thing?”
“I don’t know,” I said, torn between irritation and amusement. “Do youalwaysfeel the need to reference Harry Potter or is that just a geek thing?”
Her lips hitched to the side and her eyes lit with amusement. “You caught that, huh?”
I moved forward a bit until I was so close I could reach out and touch her. This time she didn’t backpedal away from me, which I took to be a win. “Cloak of invisibility? Which house are you in? Yeah, I caught that.”
Her lips did that twitching thing again. “You’ve read Harry Potter?”
“Please,” I scoffed. “I’m an athlete, not a heathen.”
Her eyes widened and then she let out a laugh. An honest-to-goodness laugh.
That laugh waseverything. My heart freakin’ swelled in my chest and I had to fight the urge to pull her intomy arms. Instead, I shoved my hands into my pockets again.
“To answer your question,” I said when her laughter faded. “I honestly don’t know mything.I guess that’s why I want some space to call my own.” I looked around the studio pointedly. “Some place where I can maybe…start to figure it out.”
She was quiet for a long moment. “To answeryourquestion, no.”
I arched my brows, trying not to feel too disappointed. “No?”
She shook her head slowly. “No, I don’t always reference Harry Potter.” A mischievous little smile tugged at her lips. “Sometimes I reference cheesy eighties movies, too.”
My laugh was filled with relief. She wasn’t saying no to me sharing her studio space. That was something.
She still wore that small smile, and for a second our eyes met and held. She was so pretty, especially when she smiled. And right now, it felt like there was something here between us. Some sort of connection that I couldn’t name.
I didn’t want this to end…I didn’t want to stop talking to her, and I just knew that any second now she’d walk away. “What’s your thing?” I asked.
She blinked like I’d startled her. “What?”
I gave her a teasing grin. “Your thing,” I said. “What is it? Imean, if it isn’t dance?—”
Her smile faded fast and while I had the distinct feeling I was putting my foot in my mouth, I was also curious as to what was going on with this girl. “You’re so talented,” I said, glancing toward the dance floor again. “And you clearly love to dance, so…”
I trailed off, waiting for her to explain.
Her stare slowly turned into a glare as the silence between us grew tense. “You’re really going to make me spell it out for you,” she said.
I blinked in surprise at the sudden bitterness in her voice. “I guess I am.”
She sighed loudly as she looked down at herself. Looking back up at me, she gave me a humorless smirk. “I’m not built for the part.”
She was basically inviting me to look at her body, and my mouth went dry as I took her in. So beautiful, so curvy, so…sexy. I tore my eyes away and saw her scowling at me, waiting for some sort of response.
“I, uh…I don’t get it.”
She huffed but the pink in her cheeks made it clear her annoyance was more out of embarrassment than anything and that made me feel like a jerk. I wasn’t trying to humiliate the girl, I just wanted to understand.
“Can you imagineme, flitting around like some delicate butterfly?” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “I’d look ridiculous.”
“You looked perfect.” I cleared my throat. I just didn’t know what to say when girls talked about themselves andtheir bodies. Was I supposed to compliment her or agree? Why did women have to be so complicated?
If I was going off of instinct, then my inner guy wanted to tell her she was crazy. I’d watched her earlier. She was mesmerizing. Way more interesting to watch than a butterfly. And in the sex appeal department, she won the pot. But I knew for certain, a girl I’d just met wouldn’t be too happy if I said that.
