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Okay, then. “You have a girlfriend, remember?”
He stilled, then plunked down on the couch. “Yeah, I remember.”
“What do you think she’d think of all this?”
“I wasn’t actually thinking about her at the moment.”
“That’s pretty clear.”
“I wanted to kiss you. I like your mouth. It’s so pretty. Your lips are pretty, and you have a nice smile. I…I just wanted to feel them against mine, that’s all. And when you hugged me—”
“I hugged you because you found the answer to our question. I was impressed, Brett. You’re very smart. I never knew that.”
“I’m not smart, Kath.”
“Yeah. You are. Mr. Phillips told me and I didn’t believe him. But now I do. You have a natural curiosity that shows how intelligent you are. I mean, I’ve been curious about the whole negatives multiplying into positive thing forever, but I never took the time to sit down and figure it out. To really make a connection between the properties.”
“That’s what I did?”
She let out a shaky laugh. “Yeah, that’s what you did. I’m impressed. But I already told you that.”
“You did?”
“Weren’t you listening?”
“I actually impressed you?”
“Yeah, you did.”
“Wow.” His dark eyes softened. “Wow. Here I thought I was the only one who was impressed.”
“Impressed by what?”
“By you, Kath. Always you. I’ve been watching you forever, it seems.”
She jolted. Had he just said he’d been watching her? Yes, that’s what he’d said. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve watched you grow into one of the most beautiful girls in school.”
Her skin tingled and her tummy tightened. “Excuse me?”
“You think I don’t regret the things I said to you in middle school? I do. I’ve regretted them ever since. I told you I had no idea how much it hurt you. I knew it was wrong. I let peer pressure control my life. I stopped doing that so much in high school and I’ve been a happier person. A better person, I think. Anyway, it’s over now. I wish I could take it back but I can’t undo it.”
“No, you can’t.”
“You’ve always fascinated me. You’re incredible. So smart. I always wanted to be smart, to make my parents proud. To be able to do something more with my life than what my parents could. Not that they aren’t good parents. But I want more, Kath.”
“You can have more.”
“Yeah, I think I can. That’s why I wanted you for my tutor.”
“I thought you wanted me because I was ‘a fox.’”
He laughed. “Well, that, too. Looking at you is no hardship. But you truly are the smartest person I know.” He cleared his throat, and his handsome face reddened. “I’ve always wanted to know you better. I just didn’t know how to approach you, given our past. I didn’t know how to apologize to you, to make you understand I never meant any of that. But that’s so superficial. I did it, I can’t take it back. So I couldn’t approach you. Then when this whole baseball scholarship came up and I needed a tutor, I figured this was my chance to spend time with you. Get to know you. Find out if what I was feeling was real.”
“What you were feeling? What are you talking about, Brett?”
“I’ve got a—”
