Page 44 of Without You

“I’m not lying. New girl who was so pretty and sweet and shy? No one knew how to talk to you. Locker room talk was everyone wanted to ask you out. When what’s-his-nuts decided he was going to be the first one to go for it, and you accepted, I backed off. Woulda asked you, though.”

She looks confused and amused with me at the same time when she asks, “What’s-his-nuts? Oh! You mean Tate? Cami’s cousin?”

I nod and she gasps. “I haven’t thought of that guy in years.”

“Good,” I grunt.

She giggles again. “Are you jealous of a guy I went out with in high school?”

“No. He was a tool then and probably still is.”

“You’re jealous.”

“No, I’m not.”

“You so are,” she teases.

I move to her and slide a hand around her neck, my fingers tangling in her long mess of blonde hair that I now know smells like apples. I lean my face down and nuzzle my nose into her neck, kissing her just below the ear. “Maybe I am,” I say huskily and she shivers.

“Payback, then.”

Trailing the tip of my nose along her skin, I murmur, “Why’s that?”

“’Cause I was jealous of all those girls you went out with, too.”

“All of ‘em?”

“Yeah.”

My phone pings another text and I want to throw it across the room for constantly interrupting the good parts with Katie. Even though, if I’m being real, any time spent with Katie is good.

“That’s probably the Chinese place. They send text alerts when the food is ready.”

“Oh,” she whispers.

“Yeah. Finish this discussion while we eat by the fire?”

She nods and I kiss her once on the lips, grab her hand, shut off all the lights to the shop and lock up.

I open her door and she slides into the passenger seat of my pickup.

I get behind the wheel.

And we pick up our food which I put in a cooler that I put in the back seat because I don’t want my interior smelling like takeout for a week. Something she teases me about. And that teasing is something I like quite a bit.

I may not remember welcoming her to our little high school or inviting her to a party, but I do remember wishing that she wasn’t Tate’s.

Now she isn’t and it’s my turn.

And I don’t plan on stepping aside for someone else to have their chance this time.

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