Page 82 of Class Clown

“Makes sense.”

“So, like, if I’d just seen you around town, I’d have simply thought you seemed familiar, maybe figured it out and said hello, and not taken the time to learn that you’re kind of awesome now. At most I’d have had a quick daydream about you and me eating cake on a romantic picnic and that would have been the end of it.”

“But, because we’re in close proximity all summer, your brain is tricking you into thinking there’s more there.”

Happy he was getting it, I smiled. “Yes. And as soon as summer is over, and you go back to Texas and I go back to Utah, it’ll be like it never happened, and we’ll both wonder what the big deal was.” I laughed. “I mean, it’s almost funny that this is happening after all those times you gave me the cold shoulder when we were younger.”

“I was intrigued by you and too shy to talk. Guys get like that with women they find attractive. First crushes are brutal.”

I tilted my head. “Are you trying to rewrite the past by telling me you had a crush on me during those silent years?” He nodded and I held up a hand and laughed. “Well, stop. Lying isn’t a pretty attribute.”

“I’ve never lied to you about anything.”

My laugh died abruptly. “Why would you say something like that?’

“You being my first crush?”

“Well, don’t say it again. That gives it legs.”

He put his mug in the sink and folded his arms. “I thought you were the one who wanted to be clear and honest.”

“At a surface level, yes. I wasn’t looking to dig into the past here.”

“You’re the one who keeps bring up the past, telling me how I was a silent weirdo. I was simply responding with the truth.”

I pulled a face. “The point is, I’m doing us both a favor by making sure we get some space.”

“You’re doingyoua favor,” he stated before quickly rinsing out his mug and setting it on the drying rack. “For the record, you’re not doing me any favors.”

I frowned. This was zig-zagging out of control. “I don’t think you’re fully understanding me.”

He dried his hands before facing me again. “I understand you perfectly. You accidentally like me against your wishes. You know I like you. You’re afraid to take a chance and prefer to bury your head in the sand.”

I shook my head rapidly. “No. That’s not true at all.”

He stepped toward me. “You’re terrified.”

I held my ground. “That’s a lie.”

Another step closer. “Frightened.”

“Listing adjectives for the same word is not helping.”

I held my tongue as he stopped a foot in front of me. His dark eyes moved over my face and it heated. I balled my hands into fists and waited. He lifted a hand, slow enough to give me time to move, and when I didn’t shift away, he took a strand of my hair that wasn’t held back in the braid and ran it between his fingers.

“You’realarmedbecause this time is different. This time isn’t a game of cat and mouse, where you’re the cat and the guy leads you along. This time a man is serious, and you’re unprepared for the game to take a turn.” My throat felt thick and I bit my lips together as I thought about how to respond. In the end, he didn’t give me a chance. “Do you think I don’t understand the ramifications of this? You’ve accused me several times of being robotic, so why do you assume I’d jump into something without thinking first? Cole is my best friend, the closest thing I have to a brother. You’re one of the most important people in his life. Why wouldn’t I take that into consideration?” He dropped my hair and ran a fingertip along my jaw and down my neck to the front of my throat. “Yes, Texas is really far from Utah, but to be really clear here, I’m not playing around with you. I don’t see this as a summer fling, and I’m not worried about the distance.I’ve been into you for a long time, and the only thing I’m actually scared by is the idea that you’ll never give me a real chance.”

His hand moved to the back of my neck and he leaned forward to press a kiss to my forehead. Then my cheek. And finally, the lightest of pressures against my mouth. I sighed, my shoulders relaxing, and kissed him back.

It was good. So good. His mouth fit mine perfectly, and when he pulled me closer, our bodies fit too. My hands rested on his broad shoulders, and his moved to my lower back, holding me steady. It was heaven and it ended far too quickly.

When he released me, I stepped back with a swallow.

“Do you understand what I’m telling you?” he said, lightly teasing, throwing my words back at me.

“Yeah,” I managed.

“I thought you’d be happy that I took your advice and am going after what I want.”

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