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“No, I changed my number.”
“Cute.” He sounded even more pissed.
“I don’t think there’s anything cute about this.”
He ran his hands through his hair. “You told me you were twenty-five.”
“I was. I’m twenty-six now.”
There was a flash of relief in his eyes. He ran his finger over his rough jaw. She tried not to remember how his beard felt against her thighs.
“Who knows about this?” he asked.
“My friend. Ella.”
He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Is she imaginary, too?”
She’d forgotten she’d used Ella’s name instead of her own. “Look. I’m sorry. I was just protecting myself. You were a stranger. I didn’t want to tell you my name.”
“So you were okay with me fucking you until you saw goddamned stars, but not with me knowing your name?”
Her face flushed. “It was stupid. But it’s not like I knew your name either.” It all was stupid. That was the truth of it. She’d thought she’d been so empowered, pushing memories of France away.
But she’d brought a whole heap of pain down around them all.
“Your parents? Do they know?”
“No. Nobody here does.”
There was that relief again. Softening his features.
“Okay,” he muttered, more to himself than to her. “We can work with this.”
“We can?” She frowned.
“You don’t want anybody knowing, and nor do I. We keep it that way.”
She nodded again. His eyes were soft when they met hers. Neither of them spoke, but her head was so noisy she couldn’t think straight. Could only think of the way he’d kissed her a year earlier.
Soft and hard. Needy and teasing.
She exhaled raggedly.
He glanced at her lips. “I should go,” he told her. “My mom thinks I’m at the drug store.”
“You should probably go to the drug store then,” she said.
“I don’t need anything.”
“But your mom will expect you to carry something in,” she pointed out. “Wait a minute, I have a bag somewhere.” She opened the hall closet and dropped to her knees, her t-shirt riding up her back. She grabbed an empty bag and stood.
“Here we go. Just put something in there and she’ll be none the wiser.”
“Sneaky.” Yep. He was still annoyed with her.
“Just thinking things through,” she said softly.
He folded the bag in his hands. “Thanks. I’ll go now.” He glanced at the door. “Are you coming to the cookout at my parents’ place tomorrow?”
