Page 45 of Body Check

seventeen

. . .

Jason

She doesn’t know what to make of me. I bet she never thought I’d actually offer. Fuck, I certainly never thought I’d say the words.

But Amelia Owen makes me do all sorts of things I never imagined doing.

From across the bar, I watch while she chats with Robby, Patrice, and Patrice’s sister, and as the night draws to an end, I notice when she hefts her purse over her shoulder, like she’s about to flee.

Striding through the dwindling crowd, I reach the exit right when she does.

“Heading home?” I ask, my phone in my hand to call a car.

“Yes.” She glares at me. “Got something to say about it?”

“Wanna share a car? Mine is three minutes out.”

Amelia rolls her eyes. “How convenient.”

“It is, actually.” As if it wasn’t my plan all along. “We’re going to the same place. I’m hardly forcing you to ride with me.”

It’s bitterly cold out, and as a burst of wind sweeps through the street, Amelia shivers in her coat.

“Fine,” she bites out.

“You know, we never talked about it,” I say casually.

“About being neighbors?”

“No. That day in the⁠—”

“Shut up,” she hisses, looking behind her, like one of our coworkers will magically appear there. “We aren’t talking about that.”

Stepping closer, I set my finger beneath her chin, tilting her head until she meets my gaze.

“Are we okay?”

She hesitates.

“Everything we did… We’re okay? You don’t regret it?”

“Not exactly.” Her face flushes. “I just… we can’t.”

“Hey, I hear you, loud and clear. No more fooling around at work.”

“Fuck,” she whispers, her face flaming. “You can’t just⁠—”

“What about fooling around outside of work?”

She opens her mouth, and then closes it again. “It’s a bad idea.”

“Because we work together? Or because you don’t want me?”

Amelia swallows. “The first one.”

“Then, why do you show off for me?”