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I pushed my chair away from the table, forcing Lawson’s arm to fall away, and jumped to my feet. “Living room. Now,” I snapped before marching away.
His chair scraped the floor as he pushed away from the table. “Thanks a lot, Dad,” he grumbled as he followed me into the next room.
I whirled in his direction. “You paid for my school?”
I was in shock.
“Well?” I prompted, becoming impatient.
He still didn’t speak, just lifted a shoulder in a half shrug.
“Argh!” I let out a frustrated sigh and threw my hands in the air. “Say something! Why would you do that? It was almost six thousand dollars!” It didn’t make any sense. And honestly, nothing seemed to make sense these days when it came to Lawson.
His voice was even when he finally said, “I did it because you couldn’t miss your last semester of school. You wouldn’t have graduated on time.”
“Yeah, but that’s a lot of money to just give someone you barely even liked.” I threw my arms out to the sides and spun away from him. “I hadn’t heard from you in four years at that point! How did you even know I needed the money?”
I could hear his footsteps getting closer behind me, so I turned back to face him.
“I may not have been talking to you, but that didn’t mean I didn’t keep up with what was going on in your life.” A lopsided grin formed on his face. “Besides, if I had needed”— he paused, scanning me from head to toe—“socks, you would have given me one of your pairs.” He reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. My skin hummed where his fingers made contact.
I crossed my arms over my chest and smirked. “I may have parted with one pair of socks for you, but not five thousand!” I looked over his shoulder for a moment and then back at him. “You know, I’m not so sure I would have given up even my least favorite pair.”
He laughed, the low rumble sending a shiver down my spine. He had an amazing laugh, something I hadn’t really paid attention to before. But now that I was hearing it from him more often, I realized it was the kind of laugh you wanted to be the reason for.
I studied his face, wondering what other secrets he held behind those eyes. Clearing my throat, I tried to shake the feelings brewing inside me and teased, “So, you, like stalked me then?”
He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled. “I guess if you want to call it that.”
The embarrassment I’d been feeling only moments ago dissipated, replaced by a warmth in my chest. I would have never in a million years guess that Lawson was responsible for me graduating college, yet here we were.
“So, you’re a hacker. And a stalker. What else are you that I don’t know?”
He lifted a shoulder in a half-hearted shrug, but his eyes were blazing as they roved over my face.
When the scrutiny became awkward, I changed the subject. “What else have you done for me that I don’t know about?”
His head dropped and he pushed a hand through his messy hair. “I dunno. I’m sure there have been some other things.”
I stepped toward him and his head came up, his eyes meeting mine. “Like what?”
He gave a brisk shake of his head. “I think I’ve confessed enough for one night.”
When it became apparent that I wasn’t going to get anything else out of him, I took a step back and cleared my throat. “I’m still a little bit peeved at you.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “No, you’re not.”
My mouth fell open at his cockiness. “Uh, yes, I am.”
When his chin tipped up and he let out a ‘mmm-hmm’ I grumbled, “God, you’re impossible.” Throwing my hands in the air, I complained, “You let me think I won some stupid scholarship.” I waved a hand toward the direction of the dining room. “Apparently, everyone was in on the joke but me.”
“It wasn’t a joke, Pippie. And besides, you weren’t supposed to find out.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well, I did.”
“I’m sorry I never told you that I paid your tuition.” He pinned me with a stare and smirked. “But if I had known your pout was this damn cute, I would have told you a long time ago.” With his thumb and forefinger, he pinched my bottom lip.
I turned my head and his hand fell away from my face. “You’re an ass, Lawson,” I mumbled. I wanted to frown, but my cheeks had a mind of their own and my lips tipped up in a grin instead.
