Page 37 of False Assumptions

He wanted to push her more about this, annoyed that she was still throwing her assumptions about him in his face. Was she ever going to let that go? But she sat up and kissed him, her hand on his cheek, her hair falling around him, and that distracted him enough that by the time she pulled back from their kiss with a sly smile on her face, he didn’t want to fight with her. Not right now.

She slid away from him, moving to the end of the bed.

“What are you doing?”

She cast a glance at him over her shoulder, and her skin glowed in the late afternoon sunlight filtering through her curtains. “Getting some clothes.” Laughing at the disapproving noise he made, she pulled a shirt over her head. “I’m hungry. It might be sunny today, but it’s not warm enough to go outside naked, to say nothing of public indecency laws.”

With a grunt of agreement, he sat up and stretched, enjoying the way her eyes roamed over his torso as he did so. When he stood she glanced lower, and he smirked at the way she ogled him, then jerked her head away as though she realized what she was doing. He suppressed the urge to laugh, not wanting to embarrass her.

He pulled his boxers and jeans back on, accepting his shirt from Layla after she retrieved it from her living room. “Thank you.” When she made to walk away, he caught her by the wrist and pulled her in for another kiss.

With her hands on his chest—which was something he’d like to feel a lot more—she pushed him back, one corner of her mouth turned up. “We’ll never get food if you keep that up.”

“Oh, really? A kiss is all it takes to distract you?”

“With you? Yeah. Sometimes not even that much.”

He grinned in response, but she just shook her head. “Put your shirt on. I really am hungry.”

Chuckling, he did as she asked, meeting her in the living room a few minutes later to decide where to get dinner.

Evan drove them to a little café not far from her apartment. It was a cute little place that served killer grilled sandwiches and wasn’t too expensive, not that Evan would let her pay. Layla felt like she should insist on paying for her own food, at least sometimes, but she knew she couldn’t afford to eat out as often as she did with him. The couple of times she’d tried to pay for her own food, he’d scowled at her. And that was before they’d kissed, much less had sex. Now? He might go full-out caveman on her if she tried to pay for dinner.

She was still reeling from their afternoon together. It had been good—no, fantastic. Not that she was surprised by that. She’d heard girls talk about him, and she’d expected him to be good in bed. Just not for him to care so much.

The level of intimacy with him, the tenderness, the way he’d looked at her. That had all been beyond her expectations of the playboy football player. Even though she’d gotten to know him and they’d become friends, she still figured he went through women like she went through books—quickly, always looking for the next good one.

Well, at least he hadn’t been ready to bail as soon as he finished. And their dinner was as comfortable as ever, so even if he decided to move on now that they’d had sex, at least they could be in the same room without being awkward.

“You’re awfully quiet over there.”

Layla looked up from her sandwich. “Am I? Sorry. Just thinking.”

“Anything important?”

She shook her head. “Not really.” Nothing she’d tell him, anyway.

Taking a bite of his sandwich, he regarded her in silence while he chewed and reached for his drink. “Any more midterms this week?”

“One test tomorrow and a set of poems due in my poetry class.”

He nodded. “Do you need to do a lot of studying tonight?”

With her head cocked to one side, she thought over what all she needed to cover tonight, then shook her head. “Not really. I need to skim over my notes, but we’ve covered the material pretty thoroughly in class. I’m not worried. What about you?”

“Nope. Today’s presentation was my biggest thing. I have a paper due in one class on Friday, but it’s not that big of a deal. Two of my classes had tests last week, and the only test this week was yesterday.”

“Nice.”

He nodded, taking another drink of his soda. “You doing anything fun next week for spring break?”

“Just staying here.” She shrugged a shoulder and bit into her sandwich, hoping he wouldn’t push why she wasn’t going anywhere. She’d planned on going home to visit her parents, but with her ankle putting her out of commission the last few weeks, she hadn’t gotten any hours in the library, so she didn’t have the money for gas that she normally would’ve.

His eyes widened. “How come? Don’t you want to get out of town?”

She glanced away, looking at the other customers standing in line and chatting quietly at their tables. “It’s not so bad staying here. Most of my neighbors are students, so it’s quieter when they’re all gone for breaks, and I get to sleep in and do whatever I want.” Letting her gaze find him again, she gave a small smile. “What about you? Going somewhere fun?”

His blue eyes pierced her, and she squirmed in her seat as he studied her, looking away, uncomfortable with his scrutiny. Finally, he shook his head. “Not really.” He paused, as though considering his next words. Then his jaw firmed, a sense of determination coming over him. “We should hang out. We’re both in town, and we don’t have class. We can spend all week together. On Friday after class, we’ll go to your place and pack you a bag. You can come stay with me.”

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