Dalton reached out toward me. I should’ve flinched away,but just as traitorous as my body had been in the hallway at Lydia’s party, it was traitorous now, holding still. Just once. Just one more time, and then I’d?—
Long fingers wrapped around Dalton’s wrist, jerking his arm to a halt mid-reach. I traced the arm up to find none other than Jamie standing there, wearing a loose gray hoodie despite the heat, and a pair of worn jeans.
Jamie’s eyes narrowed behind his glasses. “I’d appreciate it,” he began in a level voice, pushing Dalton’s hand down before letting go entirely, “if you kept your hands off my girlfriend.”
I swallowed my gasp at the words and how firmly Jamie spoke them. His fingers caught the lock of hair that’d fallen into my face, coasting it over my ear. The tips traced across the skin behind my ear, along the back of my neck, before drawing away.
A shiver worked its way down my spine at the whisper-like touch, tummy fluttering like the butterflies hadn’tallshriveled up. I caught Jamie’s hand in mine, wrapping my fingers around his as I lifted my chin. “Hi.”
Jamie’s expression was perfectly neutral, and his gaze roamed my face for a beat before he replied, “Hi.”
Under his breath beside me, Dalton murmured, “That’s the look.”
Thatwas the look? The casual expression on Jamie’s face? That was thehe looks like he wants to write about youexpression? Dalton needed his eyes checked. If anything, Jamie almost looked ticked off.
Dalton got to his feet then, dusting his palms along his knees. “It was nice talking,” he told me, slipping his handsinto the pockets of his joggers. “Did Lydia tell you about next week?”
Jamie wrapped his hand around mine, pressing our palms together in the way I’d told him was comfortable, and remained silent. “What’s next week?” I asked.
“We were all thinking of going to Downtown.” Dalton’s eyes cut to Jamie. They were doing that boy thing again—fighting each other with their eyes. “Now that Jamie and Nellie are old enough to get in.”
Downtown was an eighteen-plus nightclub in Bayview, a place that we hadn’t been yet since the twins only just turned eighteen last week. “What day?”
“We haven’t really decided yet.” Once more, Dalton glanced at Jamie, who stared him down.“But I’ll let you know when we do.”
Dalton walked off to find his little brother, leaving Jamie and me alone. Jamie watched him for a moment before turning back to me. “What look?”
I sucked in a breath to saynothing, but hesitated. “Crouch down,” I ordered.
Jamie obeyed without hesitation, lowering himself in front of my bench. Even squatting, he wasn’t much shorter than me where I sat. The sun sat behind my shoulder, and he squinted against it, resting his forearm on one of his thighs, his knee pressing into the dirt. “Why?”
It was so like Jamie to do first and thenask questions later. “Look at me.”
“Iamlooking at you.”
He was. Openly. Steadily. Normally.
He looks like he wants to write about you.
There were a few times it felt like he’d been looking at me strangely, but even when I’d asked, he’d saidI’m looking at you the way I’ve always looked at you. Frowning, I leaned forward and placed my palms on either side of Jamie’s head, holding him there like I could force the answer out of him if I looked long enough. His wavy hair was warm beneath my fingers.
Jamie didn’t look away, but he didn’t lookdifferent, either.
What were people seeing? Because this was the same Jamie who always looked at me like this. Like?—
Jamie laid both of his palms down on my bare knees, fingers glancing high enough to brush the hem of my shorts. The touch was light, but it lit through me like an electrical spark. I jolted, fingers tightening reflexively in his hair.
“Are you worried he’s looking?” he asked me in a low voice.
“W-Who?”
“Dalton.” Jamie leaned into my right palm, and the edge of his lips grazed against the heel of my hand. I stared at the connection, feeling oddly short of breath. His eyes never left mine. “Is it working?”
“Iswhat… working?”Get it together, Daisy.
“This.” His grip steadied, grounding. Intentional. “Us.”
Then Jamie turned his head, almost in slow motion, and pressed his lips to the inside of my right palm.
