Page 78 of Class Clown

I smiled. “Stop. You’re making me swoon.”

“Then there’s the sprain . . .”

I pushed against his shoulder with mine. “Now you’ve gone too far. I’m sure you’re in great shape. Don’t patronize me.”

“I’m not.”

“Then don’t use my love of wounds to soothe me.”

He reached for my hand under the blanket and threaded his strong fingers through mine. My pulse kicked up and the heat under the blanket increased ten-fold.

“Do you need soothing?”

“Sometimes I have an attitude problem. Tonight isn’t one of those times. I am very mature today.”

His thumb brushed along my inner wrist and I wanted to squirm, it felt so good. Lizzie would be jumping for joy, and I wanted to do that too. Huddled together under a blanket in a dark forest, safe and protected, intimate. This stuff was gold and my heart went pitter-patter. For a moment I considered allowing myself to fall into it like I always had. Heart over mind as I rode it out to the end.

I sighed. What was the point, though? This was temporary. Our lives weren’t even in the same state. I wanted a real romance. I wanted what all of my friends had found. I wanted forever.

I took my hand from his and crawled out from under the tree to stand in the clear, star-filled darkness, sad even as the warmth he’d created still clung to me. My body fought me, wanting to sink back into him, but I held firm.

“I think I’m ready to forfeit,” I choked out.

We both knew I wasn’t only talking about the game, and he was on his feet instantly. In the dark I could barely see him, but his eyes reflected what little light there was as he came to stand facing me.

“Don’t,” he said quietly. “Please.”

I put a hand on his chest and took a deep breath. It was in my nature to crack a joke and make light of everything, but not this time. “I’m about to be more honest than I usually am. You deserve that. There’s something here, between us. I admit that I feel it. If we stay here, I’ll probably want to kiss you, but I have to stop whatever this is before someone gets hurt. Could be you or Cole, but it will most likely be me. You live in Texas, Nico, and I can’t keep chasing things that never . . .” Choked up, I had to stop before tears came.

I moved away quickly, and I could hear Nico behind me, gathering his things in a rush. I knew he’d come after me, so I hustled in the direction of camp.

I stumbled a few times in the darkness. I rubbed my cold hands over my arms and kept plugging away, but the campfire area seemed to have disappeared. After a few minutes of walking, I wondered if I’d gottenturned around. I stopped and listened. I couldn’t hear shouts, or see flashlights shooting around in the tree line. I’d made a rookie mistake.

“And the heroine was so stupid, she died,” I said aloud.

“That’s not going to happen.” Nico’s voice came from the side of me.

I jumped and barely muffled a shriek. “Are you following me?” I asked shakily.

He emerged. “You seemed to be heading the wrong way.”

“How did I not hear you?”

“That was my job for a long time.”

He came to stand near me, and that blanket came out of his man bag once more. He wrapped it around my shoulders, and while his arms were still open, I walked into them and pressed right up against his hard chest. He tucked the blanket around me and then closed his arms over the top, holding me close.

“This goes directly against the stirring speech I just gave,” I said with a humorless laugh.

“What if I want to be chased?”

I pushed at his stomach with my fisted hands. “That’s because you’ve been victimized by living with me and sleeping in my pheromone soup. It’ll go away. Until then, I’m being a grown up.”

His head tilted, his cheek laying on the top of my head, as his arms tightened around me. “I’ve lived in tight quarters with a lot of people and never heard of pheromone soup.”

I scoffed. “Your first experience is memorable.”

I could hear his heart rate increase with my ear pressed against him. His hold on me shifted and firmed, as though he was expecting me to tear away.

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