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“It just seems like, I don’t know, maybe you were looking for an excuse not to be alone with me.”
I flitted a hand in the air. “We were together all day.”
“But being back here, during summer, and the things we’ve been talking about. Has it been too much?”
His question hung in the air. “No. Yes. Maybe.” I fought back a yawn and lost. “Okay, yeah. I might have needed a distraction. A little brain break. The nostalgia here is strong.”
I wasn’t sure this was simply nostalgia. And I didn’t know what to do with that if it wasn’t.
“And this distraction had to involve a party yacht full of highly charismatic guys?”
Charismatic sure, but they aren’t you. His tone came off as teasing, except it also wasn’t. “No worries. None of those guys are even close to my type.”
“Caitlin is just an acquaintance,” he said.
“I knew that.” Except I didn’t. I looked at him, expecting a smirk, but found worse. Compassion. Pity? Maybe a little compashy-pity. If that was a thing.
Okay, so we’d both acted jealous for ridiculous reasons.
We remained quiet the rest of the ride back. The silence probably should have felt awkward, but oddly, didn’t. With the windows rolled down, sounds of laughing kids and the distant live music caught me in waves. Nostalgia or not, I loved this moment.
Adam parked ahead of my car. I had half a thought to see if the thing would start by some miracle, but my limbs were twice their weight now. I only had the strength to make it to the house.
He held the front door open for me. “If you want a shower, you can go first.”
His concern for me felt as familiar as a hug, but more intimate somehow. I stopped in the threshold. If I looked at him, I’d be toast. I really shouldn’t look at him.
I looked at Adam. My skin surely began to crisp at the edges from the heat building between us. “Thanks for a great day.” My words came out more breathy than I’d intended. If we were back in high school, he would have made fun of me for it. Or our brothers would have for sure if they’d overheard.
But Adam didn’t tease me. He looked right back at me. Without speaking, he moved a strand of hair from my face. I felt the ghost of his fingers’ return before they made gentle impact along my cheek. A slow, deliberate caress. A touch with a decade worth of emotion behind it, so delicate but intentional it stole my breath.
I never wanted to leave and I wanted to run at the same time. I loved this familiar sensation and it scared the stuffing out of me.
“Jillian.” He said my name so tenderly. So reverently. Like my very name held deep meaning for him.
“Yes?”
“You’re letting the mosquitos in.”
10
Adam
Yeah, I knew how to kill a moment. But if we’d stayed looking at each other like love-crazed idiots much longer, we’d end up doing things. Things I knew I wanted but wasn’t sure Jillian did.
The last thing I wanted was to make a move when she wasn’t interested. I needed to play this right. As in, not play at all. I needed to cool it and let her take the lead.
Though noticing a jealous spike when Caitlin talked to me gave me a clue maybe I wasn’t alone in my feelings.
“Shower,” she said finally as I closed the door behind her. She headed toward the stairs.
“I’ve got decaf coffee. Interested?”
She turned, halfway up the creaky steps. “I’ll see how I feel after I’m clean again.”
Things seemed to be better between us. She’d been fondly remembering old times, including memories with me. She’d looked at me as if I were a mouthwatering taco. She loved tacos.
All of which was good. Very good.
