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“I’ll walk with you,” I offer, knowing full well I shouldn’t put myself anywhere near this girl with the buzz of alcohol I feel thrumming through my veins.
“You really don’t have to.” Rory shakes her head insistently.
“I’m gonna go grab our drinks,” Enzo interjects, turning to leave.
“Like your friend said, I’m heading the same way.”
When she pushes to a stand, I do the same.
“It’s really not necessary.” She continues to resist.
“Well, I’m leaving too, so we can either walk together or I’ll just walk behind you. Come to think of it, that might not be such a bad thing.” I smirk, giving her a knowing look. “Will give me the opportunity to stare at your—”
“Fine. You can walk me home,” she quickly cuts me off, giving Alina one last dirty look before moving around the table.
Without a word, she takes off through the bar, me fast on her heels.
I throw a hand up to let Higgins know I’m leaving when he spots me heading toward the door. He takes one look at the person in front of me and a wide smile breaks across his face.
I resist the urge to flip him off.
By the time I make it outside, Rory has pulled several feet ahead of me. Without giving it much thought, I break into a light jog, catching up to her in no time at all.
She keeps her head straight forward, refusing to look at me as I easily match her swift pace.
“You know, for someone who acts completely repulsed by the thought of even walking next to me, you sure didn’t seem all that resistant earlier.” I toy with her simply because I can. Because I fucking love making her squirm.
When my fingers brush the back of her hand, I get the very reaction I was hoping for. The hitch of her breath. The slight pinkening of her cheeks. The way her shoulders tense.
I can’t help but smile when she moves farther to one side, walking on the very edge of the sidewalk in an effort to put space between us.
“Please don’t touch me.” When she finally speaks, there’s a slight shake to her voice. Whether from anger or nerves, my inebriated brain can’t quite decide.
“Is that what you really want?” I move closer, careful not to make any contact with her. “For menotto touch you?”
“Yes.” She seems unsure of her answer.
“Okay.” I shove my hands into my front pockets.
“Okay?” She finally glances over at me, but it’s so brief I barely have time to register the movement before her face swings forward again.
“You don’t want me to touch you, I won’t touch you.” I shrug indifferently.
“Thank you.” She blows out a hard breath.
“But if you ever change your mind...” I grin.
“I won’t,” she’s quick to say.
“You might.” I move closer, catching the sweet smell of her shampoo as a light breeze blows through her hair. I inhale it like it’s fucking crack, feeling high off the scent.
For someone so hell-bent on keeping my distance from her, I seem to be doing a shit job as of late.
“I won’t,” she murmurs to herself.
Despite the hundred different words that form on my tongue, we take the remainder of the walk in silence.
It takes every fucking ounce of willpower I have not to take her hand. Not to pull her close and breathe her in. Not to push her up against some random tree and kiss her the way I’ve thought about kissing her a thousand times over.
