Page 20 of The Truth About Love

“I might not know what it feels like, Summer-Raine, but I know what it looks like.” My gaze falls upon Cap again. “And I know that I want it.”

With you,I want to say.

But I don’t.

I’ll keep that to myself for now.

Chapter Six

Summer-Raine

“So how come you know about the Captain?” I ask, carrying my boots in hand as we walk barefoot along the beach.

Auden insisted on buying dinner. I tried to argue, offering up the credit card in my wallet that’s charged to my parents’ bank account, but he told me I’d only be insulting him. Still, I feel guilty for giving in. I get the distinct impression that he doesn’t have a lot of money and I don’t want him spending what little he does have on me.

But the boy is a gentleman through and through. Not that I’ve ever actually met one in the flesh before, but I’ve seen enough costume dramas and chick flicks to know what one is supposed to look like.

“I worked there over summer.” He kicks the sand at his feet as he stares down at the ground, one hand carrying his dress shoes, the other shoved into the front pocket of his chinos.

He looks edible.

“You don’t anymore?” I ask.

“Nah, couldn’t keep it going once school started. Between classes and football practice, it’d be impossible to pick up the shifts.” He shrugs a shoulder and honours me with a heart-stopping smile that has dimples appearing on his cheeks. “But I saved up enough during summer break to keep my truck running and take pretty girls out for dinner.”

“Pretty girls, huh?” I ask playfully, but my stomach churns with the idea that I’m just one of many.

I know Marlowe told me that he doesn’t date anyone, but what if she was wrong? It’d be easy enough to have missed the gossip when her only source of information is what she overhears in the girl’s bathroom at school.

“Just the one.”

A sigh of relief escapes me and Auden, ever the perceptive man that he is, shoots me a knowing smirk. He saw my jealousy and it pleased him.

“You don’t date a lot?”

“Or at all.”

I don’t know what possesses me to say it, but I find myself asking, “But you sleep with girls?”

His eyes widen in surprise at my question and he cocks his head to one side while he thinks his answer over.

“I’m not a stereotypical football player, Summer-Raine,” he says finally. "But I’m not a virgin either.”

My heart dips. It shouldn’t upset me that a boy I barely know has had sex before.

Itshouldn’tupset me, but it does.

Auden stops in place and turns to me, reaching his hand out to run a long finger down the side of my face. “Does that bother you?”

“No,” I lie. “Why would it?”

I should have known better than to think he wouldn’t see right through me.

“It’s okay that it does,” he says, fingers running over the pulse at the side of my neck. My breath hitches, my heart thunders like a storm between us. “The thought of anyone touching you makes me blind with jealousy.”

“No one has touched me,” I whisper.

His nostrils flare at my words, his pupils black and blown. I can see it, that blaze of possession in his gaze is the same as the one he had when he told me earlier that he hopes it’s with him that I realise the existence of love.

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