Page 16 of Austin
The words rang true, although the cynical part of him wondered if it was because she really needed the ride. “Then what the hell, Kristen? Why do you do that…cold thing?”
“I’m nervous.”
His jaw dropped a little. “What?”
She scowled at him as she met his gaze dead on. “Nervous, Austin. Scared. Not everyone feels comfortable in social situations.”
“Get out.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “I’m not kidding.”
No. She wasn’t. “This isn’t a social situation. This is you and me.”
She gave him a fierce frown. “I get self-conscious in certain situations, okay? And when I do, I clam up and go all cold and then people think I’m stuck up.”
“Wait,” he said as the pieces fell into place. “You’re saying you’re shy?”
“Overachievers can be shy, too. And it’s really more a case of social anxiety.”
Austin narrowed his eyes as he studied her. Shy? She’d always looked like she had everything figured out.
“This is why you spent most of your time in freeze mode?” The question slipped out without a lot of forethought, but he stood behind it. He honestly wanted to know.
She gave him a sarcastic look. “Kind of fitting for an ice princess, don’t you think?”
Nailed. Shit.
“Heard about that, huh?”
She gave a small sniff. “Marietta High School was not a place to keep secrets. Of course, I knew about it. And the bets.”
He’d had nothing to do with the bets, but he could see how that would be disturbing. “Before or after you took me down?”
“Before.”
“You never said anything…you know…when you yelled at me.”
She let out a huff of breath. “You mean like ‘How dare you?’ That would only have made things worse. It would have appeared that I cared.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
He didn’t believe her. It had been a small incident, years ago. One that he would have filed under “Failed Missions/Lost Bets” if it hadn’t been for his shock at being pegged as a loser by a woman who’d not only meant it, but was able to outline the reasoning behind her conclusion as well. In front of his friends, who never forgot anything. It had kind of changed his life…and maybe it had changed hers, too.
“It didn’t bother you at all?”
She moistened her lips. “It bothered me.”
“I apologize. That was a swaggering teenage boy speaking.”
She gave a short nod, not quite looking at him. “Accepted. And I apologize for…” Her voice trailed as she searched for words, so he helped her out.
“Ripping me a new one?”
“Yes.”
He pressed his shoulder against the cool glass of the window as he studied her. “Are you going to freeze me out on the drive?”
