Page 23 of Quarantine Crush
“Social distancing,” I say, stepping closer to her. I’m fully prepared to protect her physically if it comes to that. “He needs to stand six feet away.”
“You’re not standing six feet away,” the dude has the balls to say.
I tighten my grip on the cart handle and remind myself prison isn’t where I want to spend my quarantine. Instead, I take the high road by draping an arm around Emy’s shoulders and smirking at the prick with all the self-satisfaction of someone who knows he’s going home with her.
“That’s because I’m her quarantine buddy.”
The dude’s brows shoot upward like he can’t quite believe it. I brace myself for an argument, angling so I can easily push Emy behind me and out of harm’s way if it comes to it.
“Wait. You’re Knox?” the stranger says, which isn’t what I expected at all. He turns to Emy. “Whoa. He finally made it here for his visit. That’s awesome.”
My eyes narrow. “You two know each other?”
Emy shoves my arm off her shoulder and turns to me, her face flushed. “Yes, we know each other. Knox, this is Reed, my neighbor. Reed, this is Knox, my best friend.”
“Neighbor, huh?”
Reed lifts his hand in a lame sort of wave. I don’t judge too much. It’s not like I would have shaken his hand.
The silence stretches until it’s way too awkward for me to do anything about it. In the back of my mind, I know I’ve overreacted, but I refuse to admit that aloud. Besides, Emy can’t blame me for having her best interests at heart.
“Well, I better get going. With the way these shelves look, we made it just in time. Too much longer, and they’ll have sold out of everything I need,” Reed says.
“Thanks for checking on me,” Emy says to Reed.
“Sure, see you around.” His gaze flicks to me, and I lift my chin in a tough-guy nod. Neighbor or not, I get the feeling he’s interested in more than borrowing a cup of sugar from Emy if you know what I mean.
When he’s gone, Emy rounds on me, her temper on full display. “What the hell was that?” she hisses.
“What do you mean?”
“You. Acting like a lunatic,” she says as if it’s obvious. “I have to see him nearly every day. I don’t need it to be awkward because you decided to act like a crazy caveman.”
“I didn’t know you knew each other,” I say. “All I saw was some weirdo standing too close. I was trying to protect you.”
She glares, looking angrier than I’ve ever seen her, including the time she found out I melted her Justin Bieber doll for my science project. “Protect me from what? Human interaction? Or getting a date?”
“The virus is easily spread,” I say, ignoring her last dig. “And yes, fine, I was also protecting you from being hit on by weirdos.”
“First of all, Reed is a friend, not some rando sleazebag trying to get my number. Hell, he already has my number!”
I clench my jaw to avoid asking why she’d give her number to him and do my damndest to defend myself. “The guy looked like he was trying to back you up against the brown sugar.”
She crosses her arms. “Even if he was, so what?”
“So, I told your dad that I’d watch out for you. It’s my job to step up and protect you. To make sure he didn’t do anything pervy.”
“First of all, I can take care of myself. Secondly, there’s nothing pervy about kissing a hot guy who actually wants to kiss me back.”
I blink, a little taken aback at her clipped tone and casual reference to my rejection of her kiss.
“I thought we were moving on from that,” I say uncertainly.
Her nose scrunches in confusion. Then, understanding dawns, and her eyes widen. “We are,” she sputters and adds through clenched teeth, “I wasn’t talking about you. I was talking about Reed.”
“Wait. You kissed Reed?”
“No. Not yet. Ugh. Do you think you’re the only guy I’ve ever kissed?”
