Page 48 of Class Clown

“Yes. But not kiss attacks. In what world do you have to guard yourself against unexpected kissing?”

His face was so serious, so confused, so irritated, that a flow of relief hit me all at once. He’d hated it. Suddenly, I found the entire thing hysterical rather than annoying. I snorted, and then I couldn’t help it, I stopped drying off and laughed as I hugged the towel to my chest.

“This is entirely your fault, you know.” I chuckled.

He shook his head. “How? I’ve been nothing but professional.”

“When you piggyback an injured girl out of the forest, it’s a given that she’s going to develop a raging crush. It’s romance 101.”

“I was supposed to leave her there?” He scoffed.

“No, you did the right thing.”

He gestured wildly with one hand toward the sky. “And now I have to deal with kiss attacks and you being angry with me for no reason?”

“How I’m feeling isn’t the issue,” I retorted.

“To me, it matters.”

I went back to drying off, ignoring the way that pleased me as I focused on my back, avoiding his eyes. “I’m not mad.”

It was a lie and he called me on it. “Yes, you are. Or were. I’m not really sure where you stand right now.”

“I’m middle-ish on the anger.”

“What does that mean?”

I glanced up. “It means that it could tip either way based on what happens moving forward.”

He firmed up his stance, going back to that military look with his hands behind his back and his feet shoulder-width apart. “What do you suggest I do?”

I draped my towel back over the chair and began finger combing my hair. “I don’t think there’s much you can do about Gina, unless you’re willing to mar your face somehow, or take muscle softeners, or simply be plain rude.”

His mouth tightened and he pulled off his sunglasses to look squarely at me. “I’m looking for real answers.”

My shoulders raised and I grinned. “And I’m giving them to you. You’re going to have to find a way to stop being so attractive to her. If you want my opinion, it’ll be easiest to be a jerk. You know, be the guy I knew ten years ago.”

He was quick to rearrange his expression after I saw a flicker of surprise, but it had happened and it intrigued me. I couldn’t wait to hear how he’d respond to that. He took his time and I waited patiently, a rarity for sure, but he seemed to not know what to say.

“What do you mean?”

I patted a hand against my heart. “Treat her like you treated me. It was obvious you didn’t like me.”

His stance faltered, his hands dropping to his sides. “What are you talking about?”

I tugged my hair over my shoulder and got to work braiding it down my torso. “Please. You used to be at my parents’ house and never say a word to me, always quietly watching me walk around like I was something that should have been in theGuiness Book of World Records.”

“I’m an observant person.”

“Right.”

“I was too shy to talk to you, and you didn’t try to talk to me.”

“Uh-huh. Too shy to talk is different than staring at me with your lip curved in revulsion.” I made a face to show what I meant and he shook his head.

“I wasn’t repulsed by you.”

I hummed. “That’s good to know. Still, because of it I was forced to form opinions about you and I’m still working on the hypothesis that you’re an alien creature in a human guy’s body.”

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