Page 81 of No Interest in Love

“It’s 2:01,” Shay says. I look at the alarm clock behind me.

“2:02.”

She lets out a half laugh. “Always an argument.”

I point at the clock, because it clearly says 2:02. She shakes her head. I can’t tell if she’s smiling or if she’s holding one back. Her hand sort of twitches in mine like she’s unsure if she wants it there, and then it hits.

“You don’t believe me.”

“It’s…it’s after two.”

I let go of her hand and ease off the bed. “Okay. I’ll come back in the morning and say it all again, then.”

A tiny laugh shakes through her as she brings her knees up to her chest. “I won’t hold my breath.”

I know it’s my own damn fault that she’s skeptical, but I can feel the frustration burning up the back of my neck. My knuckles sink into the comforter by her hips as I lean in.

“Why is it so hard for you to believe that I’ve fallen for you?”

She’s a breath away, but neither of us are breathing. Someone’s lit a fire between us, sucking out all the oxygen. A piece of jet black hair falls in front of Shay’s eyes as she holds my gaze.

“You’re…you’re not supposed to fall for me,” she whispers, snuffing out the flames between us. “I’m not the love interest.”

“Really?” I tuck the strand behind her ear. “Because I’m sure interested in you.”

“What changed, then?” she asks. “You didn’t want any of these feelings. Ever. You’ve been salivating over another woman all week.”

I break away, knowing her stubbornness (totally justified stubbornness) will not let me get past this argument tonight.

“Not all week,” I mutter. Where did I put my shoes? I bend down and search under the bed, finding only one.

“Come on…” She snorts. “A good portion of it.”

“You know what happened?” I say, swinging my shoe around like a lunatic. “You got soaked by a giant mud puddle. You turned around, and I…I lost it.”

“I know. I heard the laughter.”

“No. I lost mymind.” I shake my head, realizing that mud puddle was the moment I tripped over the love hill. My ass has been tumbling ever since. “Everything I thought I wanted didn’t make sense anymore, not even when I tried to explain it. All I could think was how damn cute you looked and how I wanted to see more of that. More of…ofthis…” I wave my shoe between our bodies. “I like fighting with you. I like how tough you are. I like being the person who makes you laugh. Maybe I found you so painfully annoying when we first met because you are theonefor me. And I didn’t want that…but now, damn it, you areall I want.”

There’s the embarrassing speech. I’m only met with silence, and I don’t really feel like sitting here in the horrifying quiet, so I stuff my foot into my shoe and locate the other one by the room service cart. I make sure to step over the pieces of my squished-up heart, which had finally found a reason to beat for someone else again.

“I know you don’t believe me,” I ramble, looking around the room for lost items, patting my pockets to make sure I’ve got everything I came in with. “But I’ll be back tomorrow morning to tell you the same thing if I have to.”

I wait for her to say something, but she doesn’t, so I head to the closet to grab my hoodie. The creak of the bed tells me she’s at least going to walk me out. Maybe it wasn’t all for nothing.

“Um, Jace…?” she says, coming up beside me. I meet her eyes, watch as her mind fights for words to say. When I can tell she can’t figure it out, I run a hand over my head.

“It’s okay. We can talk tomorrow.”

I turn to leave, but her fingers lock around the sleeve of my shirt. Her hand lightly tugs on my arm, pulling my face down to her level. Her lips press softly against my mouth, picking up pieces of my squashed heart. They zip back into place in my chest, awakening me from the initial shock of her kiss and letting me respond in the appropriate way. My hands find her warm cheeks.

“Stay right here,” I say in a husky voice between our lips. “I want you to stay right here.”

Her lips turn into a small smile before they move faster and harder against mine. Her hands grip my shirt, and I can feel her body bumping up against me in sudden aggressive attempts to get closer.

She jumps on my hips, knocking me back into the door with abang!And what started as a gradual build of passion leaps forward. I grapple for her knees, trying to hold both of us up, but her lips are making it hard. Making a lot of things hard. I adjust her on my waist, smirking against her mouth, loving the aggressive side of her. A smack against the wall above my head tells me she’s locked the latch on the door.

I pull on her shirt, uncovering her shoulder, and I playfully bite down. Her whole body trembles.

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