He placed his hand on top of mine and squeezed. “It’s not a problem, Nat. Besides, I’ve been saving you since the summer I met you.” He winked.
“Don’t remind me.” I cringed. “I still can’t believe that little shit put gum in my hair.”
He chuckled. “I can still picture you and my sister trying to figure out how to get that wad of pink Hubba Bubba out of your hair without leaving a bald patch.”
I winced. “Your sister was planning on shaving it off. You saved me from a life of preteen embarrassment.” I’d fallen a little in love with him that day. Not only had he been the cutest boy I’d ever seen, but he’d painstakingly removed the gum from my hair with no visible damage. “Who knew a teenage boy, ice cubes, and peanut butter would save my life.”
He snorted. “Pretty sure no one has died from gum in their hair.”
I raised my eyebrows at him. “Clearly you have never been a girl. A huge bald spot on my head would have been mortifying. If I hadn’t died of that, I’m pretty sure my grandpa would have killed me because I wouldn’t have left the cabin all summer.”
“I’ll give you that. Can’t picture your Pops tolerating that.”
“Oh, I had such a crush on you after that.” I sighed.
“Yep, I remember.”
My eyes widened. “You knew?”
He cringed. “Kind of hard not to.”
“Oh, that’s embarrassing. I thought I was so cool when you were around. Especially after Beth threatened me with death if I tried to date you.”
“Sorry to burst the bubble. You were definitely not chill. You turned beet red every time I came in the room.”
“Oh my God, please tell me that’s not true.” I covered my mouth with my hands in embarrassment.
“Afraid so.” He nodded. “Besides, you were twelve. A worldly fourteen-year-old like me was interested in a more mature woman. I was all about the boobs that summer, and you hadn’t hit that spurt yet.”
My head bobbed slowly in agreement. “Unfortunately, that growth spurt never really happened, so I’m still out of the running.”
His gaze dropped to my chest, then back to my face. “You keep talking about your boobs, but…not to be a total guy about it.” He shrugged his hand. “From where I’m standing, they look pretty spectacular.”
I could feel the heat rush across my face. “Thanks.”
“And there it is.” He chuckled. “Nice to see some things never change.” He tapped my nose and walked toward the front door.
I closed my eyes. Mortified. What was it about this guy that I reverted to my teenage self? I couldn’t remember the last time I blushed about anything, and here I was blushing like a schoolgirl.
Chapter Four
Asher
Ipulled my car into the garage and waited for Natalie to park. “You can just follow me through this way,” I called and gestured inside the garage.
She walked into the garage and paused to look around. “Wow, you really thought of everything when you built this place, didn’t you?”
I glanced around the organized space. My family bugged me mercilessly about how anal I was about everything being in its place, but I don’t know, it just seems stupid not to put things where they belong. “If you asked Beth, I’m sure she’d say it’s a bit overboard.”
“No, not at all. I love it. No rummaging around looking for things. I hate that when you want to borrow something and it takes longer for them to find it than it does for you to actually use whatever it is.”
“Yes, thank you,” I said, feeling vindicated finally. “And if you borrow something, put it back where it belongs.”
“Exactly.” She glanced at the wall with all my sporting equipment. “The labels are because of Beth?”
“Yeah. I swear she puts stuff in the wrong spot just to mess with me.”
Nat laughed. “I imagine she does.”
