Ah, shit. My frown returns.
“Well, you shouldn’t,” I insist, and it’s true—Dean did nothing wrong, other than believe me. “I’mthe one who sent mixed signals by being flirty, taking you to the Kappa house Boom Boom Room?—”
“Thewhat?”
“—andagreeingwhen you askedme if we could keep going. Again, I’m really sorry. I wanted to try hooking up again, and Iused youto see if I’m still messed up.”
I can’t bring myself to look him in the eyes, not when I’m admitting all of this, so feeling his hand on my arm is a surprise.
“You aren’t messed up for not being into me,” he says. “I get it. If I’m not your type or whatever, it’s?—”
Jesus Christ, now he thinks it’shim?
I throw my head back and groan. “It’s not…you.” I blow out a breath, frustrated at myself. “I can’t explain it in a way you’ll understand.”
Shaking my head, I migrate to the curb and sit myself down, the cold concrete seeping through my jeans. Dean settling next to me is yet another surprise.
Somehow, he’s still putting up with me, so I purse my lips and think of how to explain myself to him. He deserves that, at least.
“Look, man. Iknowyou’re hot,” I start. “I can see it. I just can’t feel it immediately, and my stupid fucking brain won’t let mebeginfeeling it for who knows how long and—” I cut myself off with a grunt.
And then he wraps an arm around my shoulder.
After all this, he’s still being friendly. He’s…giving me a side hug, and the comfort I’m getting from it is out of this world.
“It’s okay,” he says, and I blink to stop myself from crying like a fool. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me. These things can be complicated.”
I relax into him, still not quite believing how he’s being so…chill about this. “I’ll say. Thanks for not being a dick about this.”
“Of course,” he says. “Thank you for telling me.”
I turn to face him in the silence, and he returns a soft, sympathetic gaze. The lusty heat in his eyes from last night and before is absent, and that makes the lead in my stomach lighten immeasurably.
“Should we…pretend the last twenty-four hours didn’t happen?” he suggests. “Why don’t we go back to being friends and nothing more?”
My jaw drops. This guy’s a fucking saint for forgiving me this quickly. “Yeah. I’d really like that.” I pause. Logic tells me weshould call it a night and cut our losses after the bar raid, but Ijustgot Dean back as a friend. I check my watch. It’s barely past nine, and I find myself saying, “The night is young, man. Wanna keep it going?”
He stands up, and I join him. “I’m so down. You wanna hit another bar or something?”
The only place within walking distance is Fusion, and I’d rather swim in the lake than go there?—
Wait.
The lake.
We can’t swim at this time of year, but it’s close by, it’ll be quiet, and that’s all we need to shoot the shit. After the deep talk we had, I think some bro bonding is in order.
I shoot Dean a friendly grin, clapping his strong shoulder. “Let’s go to the lake.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
DEAN
Is Nick out of his mind? It’s barely above freezing, and we’re being sheltered by trees. There’s only one lake in town, it’s on the other side of the woods, and I know for a fact it’s windy as hell there.
I gesture at his scant clothes while shivering. “You’re gonna freeze to death.”
MaybeI’llfreeze to death. Maybe we’ll have to go skin to skin and?—
