Page 22 of Crazy Pucking Love
“No, I could totally believe that. I’d probably think the same thing.”
Dozens of butterflies swarmed my stomach, some floating on wings of desire, and several coasting on hope.
“But now I’m questioning my taste, because I’d hate to have anything in common with Harry Styles,” Dane said, spitting out the name as if it tasted disgusting on the way out.
“I love that you pretend not to like him, but clearly know a lot about him.”
“I have sisters, remember?”
“Ah yes. They couldn’t pull you over to the One Direction side while they were making you aGilmore Girlsfan?”
He ran a hand over his face and gave an exaggerated groan. “I should’ve known that would come back to haunt me.”
Teasing him was too much fun, and I couldn’t stop there. “You and Harry kind of share a hairstyle, too.”
He whipped his head toward me. “I can’t believe you said that.”
“Believe it.”
Dane dove across the car and I squealed—I couldn’t help it. He found the ticklish spot on my side and took advantage. I tried to block, but it was no use. Finally I clamped both wrists in my hands.
“Okay, I take it back,” I said, my breaths sawing in and out of my mouth.
“You better.”
Somewhere in the scuffle his hat had fallen off and the ends of his hair brushed my cheek. His eyes locked onto mine, he swallowed, hard. The air changed, crackling with energy.
Slowly he sat back, his muscles tight with tension, and I wondered if we were destined to straddle this torturous line forever, only to have him hold back. But I was afraid I was already in too deep to simply walk away, even if we could only be friends.
I straightened and reached for the gear shifter. “Guess we should get going, or the crowd will catch up to us. Is your car near the diner?”
He nodded. “Yeah, you can just drop me off on the corner.” As I shifted the car into reverse, he reached over, put his hand on my knee, and gave it a quick squeeze. “Thanks for tonight. I never would’ve thought dancing would be any kind of solution I could get behind, but I needed that.”
“Of course. It’s a cool spot. I’m glad I put it on the list.”
“Me, too.” The drag of his fingers across my thigh as he took his hand away gave me that fresh-from-the-rollercoaster feel. “I think maybe we should skip the study-buddy thing and become Boston-buddy friends. I far prefer the bar to calculus.”
“How about a mix of both?” I asked.
“I could get behind that.” He leaned back farther in his seat, his long legs barely fitting in the space between the seat and the dash. “So, when are we going to hit your number one spot?”
For a second, all I could think about was the aching spot between my thighs, and the need still pulsing under my skin from his touch.
I was way more than just in deep. I was totally in over my head.
Chapter Twelve
Dane
Unfortunately, when I tried to talk to Lissa, all she said was that I didn’t understand, with a side of “You can’t tell me what to do.”
Which meant it was time for the phone call I didn’t want to have to make—the one I’d been putting off for three days. In my defense, with away games on Friday and Saturday, that meant I traveled all weekend and hadn’t had a lot of extra time, even though I’d had to sit out Friday’s game thanks to the stupid fight. Coach almost made me stay home to miss both of the Colorado College games, but I promised it’d never happen again, and he’d given in.
So on Friday I’d been sitting helpless in the stands, exhausted from only sleeping a couple of hours the night before, but focusing every ounce of attention I had on the game. Between that and suiting up on Saturday, there hadn’t been enough solo time required to make complicated phone calls.
I scooped my phone off my nightstand, the slim rectangle suddenly heavy in my palm, the past I was about to face off with weighing down on me.
I’d planned on calling Thursday night after I left the diner, since finally talking to Lissa only proved she was too far gone to see reason, but Megan had dragged me to that piano bar. Which ended up being one of my most fun nights in Boston, hands down. Since dancing was involved, I could hardly believe it, but ithadgiven me the perfect excuse to touch her.
