Page 80 of Class Clown

“Not with me. My super sleuth abilities tell me those two things are tied together somehow.”

“Your sleuthing abilities have failed you. If you’re so lonely for me, I’ll hold your hand on the walk to greet parents.” I tied off the end of my braid and tossed it back over my shoulder. “You could have just said so rather than throwing wild accusations around. What could Nico and I possibly have fought about?”

He shrugged. “The fact that he’s fascinated by you and that you don’t want to be fascinated back because you’re scared.”

I pointed at him with a frown, even as something in my stomach liked what he’d said. “You’re so far off track it’s laughable. You should really keep thoughts like that to yourself.”

“Is that what you said to Nico out there in the forest? That he should keep his thoughts to himself?”

“Cole.” My tone was the strident one reserved for truly serious matters.

He came to his feet with his palms out. “Sorry. I’m simply trying to understand.”

“There is nothing to understand.”

He came toward me and tried to look me in the eye but I busied myself applying some mascara and lip gloss. “Is something else bothering you?”

I shook my head. “I’m really fine. I didn’t even realize I’d been gone so much.”

He glanced around. “You have clothes stacked on that shelf and you’re putting on your make up here. Are you telling me that happened by accident and you didn’t realize you’d relocated?”

I nodded. “Time was tight so I saved some by changing here. It’s called streamlining.”

“Okay. I’ll play along.” He strode to the doorway and paused. “Just for the record, though, I’m not bothered by the thought of you and Nico together.”

I was too flustered to say anything intelligent, and ended up with a simple, “Good to know.”

He smirked and left, and I turned to look in the mirror again. My cheeks were rosy, my eyes bright, and my heart had forgotten its normal pattern. Nico found me fascinating? A woman wants to be fascinating as much as she wants delicious cheesecake. He’d be cool with me and Nico? My ridiculously squishy heart smiled.

The real pierce had come when he told me Nico wasn’t talking. Had I hurt him with my distance? I thought I’d been treading lightly to keepeither of us from doing something we’d regret, to give us time to decide how and if we wanted to move forward. But he’d admitted he didn’t have a lot of practice. He was a wallflower, after all.

A quick look at the clock told me I had about thirty minutes until pick up time, so I grabbed my things and hustled toward the Funky Bunks cabin. It was time to woman up and talk to the man who made my stomach flip.

My arms were full as I entered the back door. Sounds of life in the bathroom caught my attention and I was glad Nico was there. I wasn’t sure what to say or how to proceed, and I briefly considered the drop and dash method of hurling my things onto my bed and busting right back out of here, but I forced myself to methodically put my things away.

I could take it no matter where this conversation led.

The shower stopped as I was finishing setting things in place, and a flicker of relief settled my heartrate. I could do this. I’d lead with an apology, and go from there.

With the tiniest of plans in mind, I leaned a hip against the kitchen counter and waited. It didn’t take long for him to come out of the steamy bathroom carrying a stack of the clothes he’d changed out of. He was fully dressed in the camp uniform, his hair combed, his feet still bare, and while I’d still seen him every day, I drank in the sight of him as though I hadn’t.

I was sort of ga-ga over this one.

I don’t know if he sensed me, or heard my puff of breath, but he paused in walking to his dresser and looked over at me. I offered a small smile and watched as he took in a deep breath. He sat his clothing on the top of the dresser and turned, raking his eyes over me from head to toe.

“Cole hunt you down?” he asked. I nodded. “Yeah. I got an earful this morning myself. Figured you’d be next.”

“He accused me of moving out. Not sure where he got that idea.” My smile grew.

“He’s always had a hard time grasping reality. You were obviously simply on vacation.” He replied with a hesitant smile of his own. “So, are you back?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Cool.”

“And, uh, I think I should tell you that while I’m going to apologize to you, it probably won’t be the one you really deserve.”

He moved to the kitchen and sat down on one of the small chairs. “Why?”

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