Page 36 of Wanna Bet?

“It’s dumb,” she added, already retreating. “Forget it.”

His head lifted fully now, expression sharpening. “It’s not dumb.”

The steadiness in his voice made her more aware of how quickly she’d tried to take it back. How reflexively she offered exits before anyone asked for one.

“I just didn’t know you were a mall person,” he said, rubbing his thumb over the steering wheel. “That’s all.”

It wasn’t a no. It wasn’t even close to a no. But her body had already reacted like it was.

“You don’t have to,” she said quickly. “I was just throwing it out there.” She hated how defensive that sounded.

How small.

He studied her for a long moment, really looked at her, and his expression shifted from amusement to something softer.

“Hey,” he said gently. “I didn’t say no.”

Her throat tightened. The car suddenly felt smaller. Warmer. Stupid weed. She was totally blaming the weed.

“You hesitated,” she said, trying to make it teasing, but it landed quieter than she meant.

“I blinked,” he replied, the corner of his mouth lifting.

“You blinked like you were calculating escape routes.”

He huffed a quiet laugh and leaned a little closer across the center console, not touching her but close enough that she could feel the heat of him.

“I was surprised,” he said. “That’s different than not wanting to go.”

She searched his face for signs of obligation and found none. Aaahh! She was too high for this.

“I’d like to,” he added. The words settled heavily in her chest. “I’d like to go. With you.”

The simplicity of it disarmed her more than a grand gesture would have. He wasn’t performing. Wasn’t appeasing. He sounded like he genuinely wanted another hour with her.

“You’re sure?” she asked, and she hated how vulnerable it came out.

He nodded once, steady. “Yeah. I’m sure.” There was a small pause, and then, softer, “Are you okay?”

That question always got under her skin. Rejection she knew how to armor against. Indifference she could fight. But gentleness made her feel seen in ways she wasn’t sure she deserved.

“I’m fine,” she said automatically, though her voice had lost its earlier edge.

He didn’t call her out on it. Didn’t interrogate her spiral. He just reached over and tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear, his fingers brushing along her jaw in a slow, deliberate line that made her breath catch.

“Let’s go judge strangers,” he murmured.

The relief that flooded her was almost embarrassing. It hit so hard she had to look out the window, blinking against it like the smoke had suddenly gotten stronger.

He wasn’t pulling back.

He wasn’t bored.

He’d just blinked.

Jace started the engine, one hand resting casually at the bottom of the steering wheel. As he shifted into drive, his other hand found her thigh automatically, warm and steady, thumb tracing an absentminded line just above her knee.

The touch wasn’t overtly sexual, but it wasn’t neutral either. Her pulse jumped.