AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s sweet.” Smiling broadly, I wrapped my hands around his bicep and snuggled closer before lifting my nose to the biting breeze that felt good against my cheeks.
The moment seemed perfect. Ezra was here, talking to me, walking with me to my apartment. Life just didn’t get much
better than—
He glanced down at me sharply, or rather at my arms wrapped so intimately around his bicep, making me realize I’d just cuddled right up to him as if we were some kind of couple. As if it had felt like the most natural thing in the world to do.
Because it had.
Oh, crap.
With a gasp, I let go and stepped away, instantly apologizing. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” I hurried down the sidewalk ahead of him, but ugh, he kept pace, so I added, “That was… That was way too forward of me.”
I almost told him I owed him two drinks now, but no. No, we shouldn’t share inside jokes like that anymore. We weren’t—we weren’t a couple.
Shaking his head, he glanced away and smiled.
I frowned, confused by the grin. “What?”
He chuckled then and shook his head again. Then he met my stare, highly amused before saying, “Too forward?” as he sniffed out another laugh. “You do remember that time I had my tongue in your mouth and my hands on your ass, right?”
I blushed and cleared my throat. “Yeah, but that was… That was before we became enemies.”
His smile died and his gaze burrowed into me with question.
Highly uncomfortable, I turned away and kept walking. “I’m just at the end of this block. Here.” I pointed, trying to hurry our progress, but he took my free hand that had been hanging at my side and slowed me enough to turn me toward him.
My lips parted in surprise as I gaped up into fathomless blue eyes.
He shook his head. “We’re not enemies, Kaitlynn.”
Oh my God. Those words. They were like everything I didn’t even realize I’d needed to hear. Except…
“Then what are we?”
Ezra looked as miserable as I felt before he shook his head slowly. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, in order to figure out.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I nodded. “Okay.”
Talking sounded good.
Figuring out the status of our relationship sounded even better.
Squeezing Ezra’s hand, I looked up into his eyes. He nodded his approval, so I turned us down the sidewalk. Half a block later, I stopped and faced my building before drawing in a deep breath. “This is it.”
He paused beside me, looking up at the crumbling brick walls and ancient cracked windows. Wincing at the big box window in the middle of the top floor that signaled my place, his expression morphed from dazed shock into horror. “You live here? This place looks like it should be condemned.”
I rolled my eyes and hooked my arm through his. “Come on, it’s not that bad.” I encouraged him through the front door and grinned up at him, wiggling my eyebrows. “The elevator actually works now. Some mysterious, rich benefactor paid to get it fixed a couple months back. So, yay, we don’t have to walk four flights of stairs today.”
He swallowed as he followed me down the dim, narrow hall toward the darkened recess where outdated elevator doors loomed. Above us, ancient fluorescent lights flickered ominously.
“Swell,” he said in a dry voice as if he’d rather walk the stairs than ride in the death trap of my building’s elevator.
“Trust me,” I assured him as I pushed the button. “It’s like good as new. We won’t die.”
“A ringing endorsement.”
