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“Uh…” I worried the inside of my cheek with my tongue. I couldn’t tell whether she meant the offer as a come-on or was only being friendly. Her lack of immediate clarification as my pause dragged out only worsened my confusion.
“Wait.” She flicked a slim wrist. “You’re probably hungry. I forget the rest of the world eats real meals.”
“Yeah. You should try it,” I joked. But also, seriously, after all the fun of eating out with Malik, I had limited patience for people who couldn’t enjoy their food.
“And not fit into my costume?” She rolled her eyes before smiling again. “But we could grab you some food from the diner.”
“I…” I drew in a long breath. Was I really going to turn this beautiful actress down? I could almost hear my brother laughing. But yes, I was, because my mouth opened and out came, “I might have plans.”
“Oh! With Malik?”
I nodded because I wasn’t sure I trusted my voice to not sputter.
“That makes sense. Can’t let your coworker and roomie down. Some other time?”
“Yeah.” But I was pretty sure the offer wouldn’t come again. And if it did, apparently, my body had other ideas, other plans. Tiffany was sweet and nice and everything I should want, but instead, I raced to get back to Malik.
In fact, I had to stop myself from sprinting as I headed to craft services in the diner to grab two sandwiches. Malik said he wasn’t hungry, but I wasn’t buying that.
“This one’s just turkey?” I asked a bored server in her late teens with dyed black hair and moonlight-pale eyebrows. “I need one without ham or bacon added.”
Malik had implied he and his mom occasionally did eat pork, but I’d rather play it safe than wind up with something he didn’t want. I also grabbed him a particularly tasty-looking brownie before heading to our room.
When I unlocked the door, Malik was lounging on his made bed, still fully dressed, as he watched some TV news channel. He looked up at me, not smiling but not frowning either, expression hard to read. “You’re back faster than I thought.”
“Me too, honestly. Tiffany asked me to stay and watch TV.” I wasn’t sure why I shared that other than not revealing it felt like lying somehow.
“She’s probably got more fun taste than the news.” Malik gestured at the TV.
“Yeah, but you’re more likely to break out a documentary later.” I kept my tone light, as close as I could allow myself to say that I’d rather hang out with him than Tiffany.
“Or let you choose.” He raised an eyebrow, a hint of a smile around his mouth. “You still haven’t shown me that squirrel thing.”
“Prairie dogs. I could be down with watching that. And I brought you a sandwich.” I offered up the food, setting it next to him on the bed. “I checked to make sure it was only turkey, no pork. And there’s a brownie.”
“Thanks.” Face a lot more welcoming and open, he patted the bed next to him. “What did you tell Tiffany?”
“That I had plans.” I flopped down next to him.
“And do you? Have plans?” He regarded me through dark, serious eyes. His intense expression made my stomach flutter, made my answer seem that much more important.
“Yeah.” Taking a risk. I touched his thigh. “I’m thinking I do. I probably have plans for the rest of this trip.”
“Oh?” He stopped unwrapping the brownie to scoot closer “Is that so?”
“Yeah. I know I’ve been acting…uptight.”
“It’s okay.” He put his hand over mine on his leg. “We’re both figuring stuff out. Like how not to act like a jealous dick. I’m sorry too.”
“You were seriously jealous?”
“A little. More than I had a right to be, at least.” Glancing away, he traced one of the flowers on the spread.
“I know it’s messed up, but I kind of like that you were jealous.”
“And I kind of like that you have plans.” His voice stayed solemn, both of us saying more with our eyes than our words. We cared. We didn’t want to, but we cared.
“I do. If I’m going to figure this stuff out, I want it to be with you.”
“Me too.” He offered me a bite of brownie, popping the piece into my mouth. I licked at his finger, and he hissed, a low rumble that went right to my dick.
“Tell me how to make things up to you?” I made my voice lighter, a little of the teasing, flirty Avery from last night coming back. And at least a small part of me was hoping he might propose taking it out on my ass.
But sadly, he didn’t take the hint, instead frowning. “Actually, I probably owe you because I was more the jerk today.”
“I’ve put you through a couple of weeks of running hot and cold,” I pointed out.
