Page 10 of Rejected Heart

He took it from me, his eyes shining and his lips twitching. Then he slid the paper into his pocket and spent the rest of our study hall period reminiscing about our time together at the amusement park.

I didn’t get any work done on my research paper, but I didn’t care.

Barring the time we’d spent together a week ago, it was the best forty minutes of my life.

3

LAYLA

“I’m awful at this.”

I stared at the disaster in front of me and felt nothing but frustration, especially when my eyes slid to the side and took in Liam’s work of art.

He placed his hand on my back, gently rubbing, before he replied, “What? Are you kidding? I think it’s a masterpiece.”

Shooting him a look of disbelief, I said, “Then either you have very poor taste in what’s appealing, or you’re just trying to be nice.”

“I do not have poor taste. The fact I think you’re very appealing proves that.” He wagged his eyebrows at me.

I rolled my eyes. “You don’t have to say nice things so I don’t feel bad about myself. Trust me, I get that my pumpkin carving skills are lacking. I never said I was good with my hands.”

The corners of his mouth tipped up in a smile. “Lucky for you, I am.”

A flush crept over my skin, and I looked down as I fought against a smile.

This was such a new experience for me, and Liam seemed to excel at what he was doing. Granted, even if I’d never really spoken to him until recently, it wasn’t like I didn’t know he was an extroverted guy. Liam was friendly with everyone, and I hadn’t ever heard anyone speak badly about him.

Despite not knowing how to handle how flirty he was with me, I still enjoyed that he was doing it. It made me feel good. And considering I was already on cloud nine when it came to him, that was saying something.

Just as he’d promised to do when we were at school, Liam had called me. I hadn’t ever agreed to anything as fast as I had when he asked me if I wanted to go pumpkin picking with him. I didn’t know what I expected, but I liked that he hadn’t decided on something like the movies. I enjoyed being able to talk to him, and I thought a trip to the pumpkin patch would not only give us the opportunity to get to know one another, but also have some fun in the process.

We’d met each other here—Liam was already waiting for me when my mom dropped me off. I hadn’t given her much information about what I was doing, merely mentioning that I was meeting a friend from school for a few hours.

She trusted me not to do anything foolish, so she didn’t ask too many questions or think twice when agreeing to drop me off. More than anything, I think she was thrilled that I had made a friend and was doingsomething fun instead of sitting at home studying or helping her at work.

My mom had even handed me some money, which I knew she didn’t have to spare, to make sure I had a good time.

But the money she’d given me was unnecessary. Because despite my initial protest, Liam had been a true gentleman and purchased both his pumpkin and mine.

“Maybe, if you decide you want to hang out with me again, we can do something that might show off my talents.”

Liam sent a surprised expression my way. “And what would those talents be?”

“I’m really good at staying organized,” I told him. “I like to make lists and cross things off as I accomplish them. Typically, anything that requires planning, organization, and focus.”

He let out a little laugh and continued carving the face into his pumpkin. “I think I might need your help to figure out something that would fit that bill.”

“You can admit it. You’re realizing just how much of a nerd I am, and the chances of you wanting to hang out with me ever again are slim to none.”

Liam stopped carving as his eyes shot to mine. “I don’t understand why you think I wouldn’t want to hang out with you. You being smart and organized is not something that’ll make me decide you’re not fun to be around. I like you, Layla. Stop questioning that.”

I held his stare for several beats as my heart pounded. He hadn’t done anything to prove otherwise, but if thiswas some big joke, I was going to be devastated. Because I was really beginning to like the way he made me feel when he said things like that.

Dipping my chin slightly with understanding, I whispered, “Okay.”

He smiled at me, shifted his attention to my pumpkin, and asked, “What’s it going to take to get you to like your pumpkin as much as I do?”

I looked back at it again. It really was awful.

---