AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“A while.”
I drop my phone in my purse and start walking. He can trot along behind me if he wants.
“Tessie.”
I don’t slow down and he sighs loudly before jogging to fall into step beside me.
“Tessie, let’s talk.”
“Thought you were in fight mode and had no time for talking. Anyway, I’mwaytoo busy.” My heels click on the mustard-colored pavers.
He snorts. “You’re not running the country yet. You can spare a minute.”
“Actually, I can’t.”
“I texted you last night.”
I stop in my tracks. “Right. I forget what you said. Let me take another look. Yes, there it is. You texted at eight thirty-seven p.m. and your message consisted of one word. The word was ‘Hey’. That’s all. Just ‘Hey’. Very poignant.”
“You never answered me.”
“Such a mystery why.”
And he rolls his eyes.Rolls his eyes.The fucking nerve.
“Jerk!” I stamp my foot like a child.
I’ve stomped too hard and I lose my balance, rolling my right ankle, one wobble away from face planting.
Goddamn yellow bricks.
Micah catches me. One strong, inked arm snakes around my waist and won’t let go. His rock hard chest is pressed to my back. He smells freshly showered and vaguely minty. I might melt if I wasn’t so pissed at him.
“Let me go, I got it.” Wiggling away from his grip, I let him follow as I limp to the corner and out of pedestrian traffic.
“You hurt your ankle.” He reaches out as if to steady me again.
“No, I didn’t.” Not much, anyway. It just feels a little bruised. Like my pride.
He looks at the ground, stuffs his hands in his pockets, then lifts his head to torment me with his blue-eyed gaze. There’s something different there today. Something uncertain.
“Will you please let me apologize now?”
I cross my arms. “Go ahead.”
He doesn’t look away. “I’m really sorry, Tess. What I said came out all wrong. It shook me up when I saw you toe to toe with Halligan. He looked like he was about to snap and hurt you. My instinct was just to get you out of there.”
“You could have done that without insulting me.”
“You’re right.” He blows out a short laugh. “I’m an angry shithead with no clue how to behave. You know that.”
“I used to know that. Now you’re the guy I can’t stop thinking about even though I’m a joke to you.”
His brow furrows. “You’re a lot of things, Tess, but you’re definitely no joke. At the risk of sounding fucking pathetic, you mean a lot to me. I’m deeply sorry that I made you feel otherwise.”
There’s that unwelcome thickness in my throat again. I shut my eyes and wish it away. “What the hell are wedoingwith each other, Micah?”
“I don’t know.” His rough knuckle skims my cheek. His thumb slides along my lower lip, hard enough to smear my lipstick, which seems to be his intention. His tone grows more urgent. “But I don’t want to stop.”
