Page 64 of Ten Rules for Faking It
Chris shrugged. “It sucked. I tutored him, though. He was a good guy. I didn’t ask a girl out for a long time after that. I just wanted you to know that even though I don’t totally get what it’s like for you, we all have moments. Ones where we want to disappear into the ground, praying for a do-over.”
Struck with the overwhelming urge to hug him again, she pushed off the counter. “It means a lot to me that you’d share that. Thank you.”
She’d stepped away, but with a hand on her arm, he brought her back, turned her to face him again. “It means a lot tomethat I’m who you phoned tonight.”
Nodding, her throat thick, she gestured toward the table. Setting her water down, she swallowed the lump blocking her words.
“I don’t get… attacks like that often, but tonight, I gotoverwhelmed. I can’t pinpoint why.” That wasn’t exactly true, but how did she tell him that it was a dozen little things that would be normal to anyone else that had set her off? Not only was she unable to stop it, the inability to do so made her feel… less.
Chris grabbed one of the chairs while Everly slid into the bench seat. He straddled it backward, making Everly’s mind shut down for one quick second. He looked so confident and sexy; so verymale.Her breath fluttered.
Chris crossed his arms over the back of the chair. “You could have called me. Told me you were feeling overwhelmed. I would have made an excuse for you.”
“You shouldn’t have to. I should have handled things differently. I apologize.”
His jaw hardened, drawing her attention. A few days’ growth covered his skin. If she stroked her hand along his cheek, would there be a subtle, sexy rasp under her touch?
“I don’t want your apologies. You know that. Not as your boss and not as your friend.”
She smiled. Apparently, he was into labels.Panic attack. Jock. Friends.
“We are friends, aren’t we?”
The look he gave her would have made her laugh at another time. It was the absolute male equivalent ofDuh.
“We do seem to check all the boxes. We’ve hung out, we talk on the phone, text. We’ve brought each other dessert. I went to your birthday party.”
“We donotneed to talk about that,” she said, hoping her tone was a warning.
The subtle smirk made it clear, warning or not, he was going there. “You just don’t think about donkeys practicing safe sex all that often in life.”
She closed her eyes. Yup. He was talking about it.
Make me disappear. Poof. One little splash of magic. Pretty please? Universe? Let me open my eyes and have him be gone.
She opened one eye and saw his wide grin. Everly slapped a hand over her eyes.
Chris reached over to pull her hand away.
Laughter gurgled at the back of her throat. She fought it. He stood, came around the table to slide into the bench seat beside her.
She turned her head, her cheekshot.“It’s not funny.”
His lips twitched, his head tipping to the side. “I think it is. Though not entirely. It’s also a little sad.”
Her brows crashed together. “Huh?”
“Just think, no matter what a donkey does, his girl is always going to think he’s an ass.” Without warning, a laugh escaped. One short bark of it and she pressed her hand back over her mouth.
Chris chuckled. “See?”
They both tumbled into the kind of laughter she hadn’t experienced in longer than she could remember. Her sides hurt, her eyes watered, and she forgot all the things she had to worry about. When she regained enough composure to speak, she looked at him, laughter wanting to escape again.
“It’s my own fault. Why didn’t I just throw them away? My mom’s still texting apologies asking if I’m mad.” Removed from the situation—as in, not standing in the spray of cardboard and condoms—itdidseem pretty hilarious.
“You came back to the party and acted fine. You’ve moved through every level of this contest with grace and dignity. Obviously, you’re fighting down the nerves. It’s not a wonder they fought back.”
Why did he get it? More important, why didn’t hejudgeher for it? Whatever the reason, it made her want to be up-front with him. He deserved it.
