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I sat in the room at Center Inspire that I’d tutored Connor in last week, listening to the faint classical music pumping through the speakers, gaze constantly drawn back to the closet we’d crammed in. The way his body felt against mine still lingered in my memory, and I shivered, practically able to still feel his breath on my skin.
Get a grip, Maisie.
Now that I’d broken things off with Alex, these thoughts—the intrusive, unavoidable thoughts—were overwhelming.
“How’s your first big exhibit, May-May?” Dad found me sitting in the room at Center Inspire that I’d tutored Connor in last week, sauntering up to my table. He wore his nicest pair of blue jeans and a black button-down, because even though this was an art exhibit—one of the biggest it has had since opening—Dad wasn’t a suitcoat kind of guy. “Think you might want to be a curator like your mother one day?”
I didn’t think it was a joke, but the question made me laugh anyway. “If anything, I know what Idon’twant to do.”
“Too bad Jozie couldn’t be here for this. This is totally in her wheelhouse, huh?”
He probably hadn’t meant it as a backhanded comment, but it stung like one.
His hand came down gently on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “We appreciate your help, May-May.”
“The front desk girl better not be sick tomorrow, that’s all I’m saying,” I tried to tease, attempting to portray a humor I didn’t feel. “It’s not like I had anything else to do, anyway.”
Except possibly attend a party.
“You about ready to go home?”
“There’s…” I checked the time on my phone. “Fifteen minutes until closing.”
“Your mother and I drove separate.” He took a set of car keys from his pocket, letting them dangle between us. The fob looked futuristic compared to my rusty coupe’s key set, but it was the same opportunity: freedom. “You can head out if you want. I’ll ride home with her.”
I wasted no time in curling my hand around the fob, snatching them before he tried to jokingly take them back. “And this is why you’re the best dad in the world.” I pushed to my feet and squeezed him around his middle. “Should I say goodbye to Mom?”
“She’s been talking with Mrs. Oliphant for the past twenty minutes, so I’d say you can head out.”
“Mrs. Oliphant is here?” Now I was glad I’d tucked myself away in the back room. No doubt she’d grill me on how Connor would do on his test tomorrow.
“Madison isn’t with her,” Dad said quickly, assuming that’s why I’d reacted. “Talia stopped by to see the exhibit. ‘Bout time, if you ask me, since we’ve been showcasing the students’ artwork all week.”
I smirked at his annoyance, happy I had one person on my side in the Oliphant/Matthews civil war.
I stepped around a hip-looking couple on my way to the front door, twirling the fob around my finger. As soon as I got home, I was kicking off these stiff flats Mom made me wear and changing into sweatpants. The flats were hers, which meant I had to cram my toes into a shoe one size too small, and don’t even get me started on the skirt she’d gotten me to put on.
In my purse, my phone vibrated with a text notification, and I scrounged for it. My fingers curled around the plastic phone case when I slammed into something hard—someone—and before I could ricochet off them and onto the floor, their hands came up and gripped my forearms, steadying me.
“Whoa, easy there,” a smooth voice said, tone a teasing lilt and one immediately identifiable. My heart began slamming in my ribs even before I looked up, and when I did, it was mid-gallop as Connor grinned down at me. His hands were cool on my arms, touch grounding and gentle. The music played over the speakers of the gallery, but faintly, as if someone cupped their hands over my ears. “Where’s the fire?”
“W-What are you doing here?” My words came out in a pathetic whisper, but then again, I was impressed I’d spoken at all. After spending the last hour refreshing Babble, waiting for an article about him asking Jade to homecoming or something, Connor showing up here was the last thing I expected. “Why aren’t you at the party?”
Really, the first thing I almost said wasthere are people from school here. Earlier today, I’d resigned myself to the closing of our chapter, and honestly, he’d been lucky no one had found out about our tutoring. No one except Madison. His desire for discretion had been fulfilled, and he was going to risk it all now?
“Connor mentioned the art showing,” a new voice joined in, startling me enough that I jumped back out of habit. Joy stood behind him in the doorway, partially blocked by his frame. She had another bandana wrapped around her hair, though this one looked silkier, matching perfectly with her pearl-colored blouse. “It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything this fun.”
“I wasn’t sure what you wear to art exhibits,” Connor said a little awkwardly, looking down at his clothes with a boyish grin. “Are jeans, okay?”
Connor had changed since I’d seen him earlier. Like my dad, Connor wore a nice pair of dark jeans, no tears or frays in sight. Mom would’ve called them Church Jeans. He had on a thin gray sweater, sleeves pushed up to his elbows in an effort to fight the lingering summer heat. With his hair sloped over his forehead, he looked ready for a magazine shoot.
“Jeans are perfectly okay,” I returned, tugging on the hem of my blue skirt. “I’d be wearing jeans if I could.”
His eyes swept over me, warming the blood in my veins. “You still look pretty.”
Do not smile like an idiot, my brain ordered my lips, a drill sergeant yelling at a recruit.Do not, do not, do not.
Except all it took was one soft whisper from my heart to have the corners of my mouth tugging up.He thinks you look pretty.
