Page 63 of Keep On Loving You

There was a trace of humor in his voice that shifted her mood in a flash from one of feeling sorry for herself to full-on rage. She spun and flung the door open.

“You think it’s funny? You bring your date into my house after…well…when we are…gah!” Frustrated, she moved to slam the door in his face, but Andy caught it and stepped forward, making it impossible for her to close the door.

“When we’re what?” He looked straight into her eyes.

She narrowed them, letting him feel the full force of her glare. “Go back to your date.”

“She left,” he said simply. “And she wasn’t my date.”

“Yeah, right.” Kat tried to turn away but a hand on her arm stopped her. “What else would you call it then? Oh God.” She slapped a hand to her forehead as it all became clear. “She’s just a friend with benefits, too, isn’t she? And you brought her?—”

“Enough.”

Andy stepped forward and grabbed her other hand in his as he pushed her up against the wall, her hands over her head, so she couldn’t get away. Anger, mixed with hurt and passion and too many things for Kat to sort through, pulsed through her veins. She struggled to wrench free from his grasp, but he held her tight.

Andy dodged her knee smoothly, before pressing his hips to hers, holding her in place and rendering her unable to kick out. “Kat. Stop.” He stared directly into her eyes. “Will you give me a minute to explain what?—”

“There’s nothing you can say.”

“That’s not true.” His lips twitched up into a little smile that he was only barely containing. “I can say that Jess and I are only friends. I can say that she’s not my type at all.”

She stopped fighting against him, but she couldn’t look at him. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned to the side while Andy kept talking.

“I can tell you that I’m not into tall, willowy brunettes.”There was the slightest trace of laughter in his voice again, but it was gone a moment later when he said, “Fiery redheads with a completely unreasonable temper are more my type.”

Andy watched her suck in a breath.

She still wouldn’t look at him, but he knew she was listening to him now.

“I can say that there’s no one else, Kat. Not even close. There hasn’t been for a long time, because as much as I know it’s a bad idea…” He inhaled deeply. “No,” he said on an exhale. “It’s a terrible fucking idea. But it doesn’t matter, Kat. I can’t stop thinking about you. You are in every one of my thoughts. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is. Or what I’m doing. It’s you. It’s always you.”

She opened her eyes and turned slowly to face him.

There were tears in her eyes, but Andy couldn’t stop. “I know this is supposed to be temporary or some situationship or whatever else it is that you keep saying, but I don’t want that and I can’t pretend anymore that I do.”

“Andy, I?—”

“Kat.” He stopped her. He wasn’t ready to hear her tell him all the reasons they couldn’t be together. Why they didn’t make sense and how her family would never be okay with it. He knew it was coming. But he needed just a few more minutes of pretending.

Without releasing his grip on her, Andy shifted both herarms into one hand, being careful of her still-healing injured wrist. Andy used his newly free hand to cup her cheek and keep her face turned up to him. “Kat, I’m done with all this bullshit of happy for right now. I want to be happy. Withyou.” He shook his head and tried again. “No. Iamhappy with you. And I think you are too, Kat. Tell me I’m wrong.”

She didn’t answer right away. As the moments passed, Andy started to question whether he’d read everything wrong. Every kiss, every hug, every single fucking moment that they’d had together. Had she really bought into her own bullshit?

“Andy, you don’t even live here.” When she finally spoke, her voice shook. “You live eight hours away. Even if I wanted this for real, how could it even?—”

“Ifyou did? Does that mean?—”

“Andy, I can’t let myself get hurt. Not right now, not with everything going on. This isn’t real, Andy.”

“Fuck that.” He dropped her arms and used both his hands to hold her face. “This isveryreal, and you know it, too.” He kissed her to prove just how real it was between them. The moment their lips met and she melted into his kiss, he knew he hadn’t read anything wrong. Kat felt exactly the same way he did.

He pulled away from her enough to say, “And, I do live here, Kat. I didn’t want to tell you right away, but I took the job working for the ski team. That’s why Jess was here. She’s helping me find a?—”

She shoved him back so sharply and suddenly, Andyalmost tripped over his feet, but he caught himself before he fell on his ass. “What the fuck, Andy?”

Kat had her hands on her hips, the tears on her cheeks now dry. She stared at him, open-mouthed. “You mean, all this time you’ve been lying to me?”

He put his hands out and stepped cautiously toward her. “Not lying so much as not wanting to add to your stress. And selfishly, I didn’t want you to put an end to things if you thought I was staying. Don’t be mad.”

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