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“How did you know?”
He lifts one shoulder. “You’re always riding in your friends’ cars.”
Wait. Does that mean?—
“You noticed me?”
His eyebrows almost reach his hairline before his whole face crumbles into a state of surprise and incredulity. “What do you mean, Tess? Of course, I notice you. You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”
Theo realizes it at the same time as me. His pupils dilate before he snaps his eyes shut and purses his lips. He never meant to say that out loud. Not only is that the longest sentence he’s ever said to me, but he’s also not the type to voice out his confessions. He’s the kind of man who keeps his cards close to his chest. At least, that’s what I think.
Theo throws his head back and groans, scrubbing his face with his hands.
Something about watching this small crack in his normally unflappable, nonchalant demeanor does something to me.
Theo Tate sometimes frowns, sometimes scowls. He never looks like he’s off his game. Never. Even when everyone in classcollectively panics over a surprise exam, he’s always cool-headed and composed. Like if the sky is falling, he’ll scoff at most.
But this? It’s like I’m meeting him for the first time, which I technically am because he never even looks my way at school.
“Get in, Tess. I’m taking you home.”
Theo opens the door and helps me up, feeling a sweet ache between my thighs when I put my hand in his. Every contact sets my body on fire, and I don’t know how much more I can take.
I slide on the buttery leather seat and pull my dress lower. His eyes zero in on the hem, and his throat flexes as he swallows hard. Feeling awkward and unsure, I buckle my seatbelt but it won’t slide in.
Come on, please. Don’t embarrass me like this. Come on.
“Here.”
Theo reaches over my body, fingers reaching for the cool metal of the latch. He fixes the seatbelt strap across my shoulder and slides the buckle in with a soft click.
He moves to pull away, but my hands find the collar on his black shirt. Our faces are just inches apart. I have no idea what I plan to do next, but if he’s not as attracted to me as I thought, then I’ll spend the rest of the night burying my face in my pillow and crying.
“What do you want, Tess?” His voice is low and gravelly. He’s so close that I can feel his warm breath on my skin.
“I-I don’t know.”
“Don’t you?”
“Theo…”
We’re like magnets drawn to each other, and my eyes start to close on their own, my body tingling with excitement. Theo’s about to kiss me! And I will let him!
The sudden blare of a horn from the car across the street shatters whatever spell is between us. We both jolt slightly at the jarring sound and the moment just … passes.
Theo clears his throat and backs up, closes my door, runs to the other side, and gets in the driver’s seat.
He slides the key in and starts the car, the rumble of the engine blessedly louder than my pounding heartbeat. Heat sweeps across my face, but the blast of air from the air conditioner pleasantly cools my flushed skin.
God, can I get any more obvious?
Theo is clearly comfortable with silence, but I’m not. So I twist at the waist and face him, trying to ease the thickness in the air between us. “So how did you meet him?”
“Viktor?”
I nod.
He sucks the inside of his cheek and keeps his eyes on the road, hands sliding along the steering wheel. The way he does it makes my body react, and I clutch my purse. Everything he does affects me, and it’s driving me nuts.
