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Guess the joke’s on me, huh?
“Yeah, that’s fine. Give me a second to clean up and we can get to it.”
When she jumps off the bed, my gaze slides over her. She’s wearing leggings that hug every slender curve and an oversized pink Western dance sweatshirt that hangs off one shoulder. Her long blonde hair has been pulled up into a messy knot at the top of her head.
Her beauty is like a gut punch. It doesn’t matter if she’s dressed up or down. Or wearing nothing at all. She’s the most gorgeous girl I’ve ever laid eyes on.
Shit. I really need to get the hell out of here before I do or say something that I end up regretting.
Everything inside me feels surprisingly scraped raw.
And on the verge of exposure.
Like someone’s about to peel back my skin and take a peek inside.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt so full of emotion. Any moment, it’s going to bubble over, and I’ll embarrass the fuck out of myself. I’ll end up telling her how much I care.
How much I’ve always cared.
Even when I was poking and needling, pretending that I didn’t.
I can almost imagine her reaction to just such a disclosure. It would start with her laughing her ass off before patting my cheek and flashing a sympathetic smile.
Poor Ford.
I take a quick step in retreat as she stacks the pile of books on her vanity. The paperback I bought for her is lying dog eared next to them.
“You know what?” I jerk a thumb over my shoulder. “I’m gonna take off. You look like you’re knee deep in studying. Just text me when you want to work on this, and we’ll meet up at the library.”
She glances at me with a frown. “You’re leaving? Now?”
“Yeah. I, ah, got a thing I just remembered.” Maybe a little time alone will help me pull my shit together. It certainly can’t hurt.
Her gaze drops to the plastic bag in my hand. “What’s that? Something for the project?”
For a second, I stare in confusion, unsure what she’s talking about until I follow her line of sight.
Fuck. There’s no way I can give this to her now and make an even bigger ass out of myself.
What the hell had I been thinking?
All right, I might not know what I’d been thinking, but I can certainly tell you what I’d been thinking with.
The damn thing will get you into trouble every single time.
“Oh, this?” I give the plastic a little shake. “It’s nothing.”
She quickly swallows up the distance between us with a couple of long-legged strides. “Can I see?”
“No, I don’t—”
Before I can pull an excuse out of my ass and flee the scene of the crime, she nips the bag from my hand and takes a peek inside.
I wince as dull heat creeps up my neck and then my cheeks.
Her hand dips inside the plastic, pulling out the thick material. There’s a furrow in her brow as she holds it up and stares at it in stone cold silence. I can almost see her brain trying to play mental catchup.
Just kill me now.
