Page 24 of Burn It Down

I scoff at that and then realize a tear has fallen down my cheek. I raise my hand to wipe it away, hopefully before he sees it, but he beats me to it. His hand rests on the side of my face as his thumb wipes away the moisture.

“I played a part,” I say softly, but he doesn’t remove his hand. His eyes are on my face, and I’m stuck in this strange trance, staring back at him. “I was the school nerd.”

“Not to me. I liked that you were smart. I liked watching you when you were lost in a book.”

My eyes widen. “You watched me?” There’s just no way. No. I’d have noticed him watching me.

He grins a little sheepishly and drops his hand to his side. And I miss his touch immediately. “All the time.”

My mouth drops as I stare at him, wondering if maybe I tripped and knocked myself out at the bar. This has to be a dream.

“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you at first when I brought Elijah in. You’ve changed a little bit.”

I blush and snort embarrassingly loud at that. “A little bit? I gained at least fifty pounds of muscle and grew into my ears, thank fuck. And my mouth.”

His eyes go immediately to my mouth when I say that, and every nerve in my body goes on high alert. Why is he staring at my mouth? Even if he’s not the asshole I thought he was—it doesn’t change the fact that he’s straight.

Straight guys don’t stare at other guys’ mouths.Do they?

He clears his throat and looks away, like he caught himself doing something wrong. Like staring at a guy’s mouth. “You’re still Spencer to me. I should have recognized you right away, especially with all the time I spent staring at you.”

I don’t think he’s lying, and if he is—he’s a damn good liar. I don’t really know what to say or how to handle it. To say my entire body is on high alert would be an understatement.

I’ve had many fantasies about Kade throughout the years, and they all involved him actually seeing me. But to know he did? That’s just really not good for my libido, which is totally out of control at the moment.

I start walking again and reach my front porch. “This is me.”

Kade looks at my house with a smile on his lips. “It’s nice.”

Am I supposed to invite him in? No.I can’t do that.Can I? No.Tonight has been a lot. “Thank you for walking me home,” I say lamely.

I watch his muscles flex as he grips the back of his neck—something I’ve noticed he does a lot.Is he nervous?

“Maybe we can hang out again next weekend? I won’t be off on Friday, but Saturday is open.”

Holy shit. He wants to see me again?

Okay.It’s not a date, dumbass.He’s straight.

“Um . . .”

“I just want to be friends with you, Spencer.”

Friends. Not at all what my body wants, but somehow the word also puts my mind at peace.

I nod. “Saturday. Same place.”

His smile is bright when he agrees and then takes off toward the bar again, letting me head inside my house.

Friends with Kade Mitchell.

Never saw that coming.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I had a really good week—and I can’t even tell you how amazing it is to feel after so many bad weeks in a row. Work has been good—not boring—but not catastrophic either.

I’ve been keeping busy and really getting to know my son again. Seems like a strange thing to say, but in Kansas City, I was often called in for extra shifts, and I took them happily—thinking I could eventually buy a house. I was going too fast.

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