Page 68 of Broken Boundaries

He’s standing across the room from me, but I still feel his pull. My stupid heart is fluttering. It takes everything in me not to walk over to him.

“Do you wanna see the upstairs?” he asks.

“Yes,” I croak out. Anything to get me out of this trance he puts me in every time we’re together.

I turn and force myself up the stairs. I figure it will give me a moment to get myself together, but then I hear footsteps and realize that Brooks is following me. Of course he is.

The upstairs is a loft area with a large bed and a small couch. Both are way nicer quality than what was in here before.

With this being one of the smaller units, Brooks has to slide behind me to get onto the landing. He puts his hand on my lower back to keep me steady, but once we’re both up there, he doesn’t remove it.

“What do you think?”

I swallow and pretend like I’m not extremely aware of his hand on me. “It’s so nice, Brooks. Really. You guys did an awesome job.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

I look over at him and smile. “You trying to impress me or something?”

“Your opinion matters to me, yes.”

My mouth suddenly goes dry. “Why’s that?”

His gaze drops from my eyes to my lips. Oh my god, is he going to kiss me?

“Because you’re important to me.” His voice is low and gravely, and it makes my breath hitch.

I’m important to Brooks Calloway? Until he said it, I never realized how much it would mean for someone to say that to me.

He leans in ever so slightly as his eyes dip to my lips and then… the door of the cabin bursts open.

We jump apart, and I inhale deeply to calm my nerves before peering over the railing to see Jazz coming in.

“Hey!” I shout down at her.

She jumps and looks up. “Jesus Christ! You scared the shit out of me. I didn’t think anyone was here.”

I laugh and make my way downstairs with Brooks following an appropriate distance behind me.

“Sorry. Brooks was showing me the renovations.”

“Ah, right.” Jazz looks from me to Brooks and narrows her eyes. I haven’t told her about anything that has happened with Brooks. She stopped asking after I started hanging out with Dawson more. But she looks suspicious today, and I can only imagine what her interrogation will be like later.

“It looks really good,” I say, trying to ease some of the awkwardness.

“It sure does,” Jazz agrees with a smirk on her face.

Brooks gently touches my shoulder. “I’m gonna head back to the lodge. I’ll see you later.”

I nod, a little disappointed I won’t be walking back with him, but it’ll be good for us to have some space after that moment we just shared. “Alright. See you in a bit.”

He turns to Jazz. “Have a good afternoon, Jasmine.”

“You too, bossman.”

Once Brooks is a safe distance from the cabin, Jazz blurts out, “What the fuck did I walk in on?”

“Uh, a cabin tour?”