Page 56 of The Persistence of Thornes
“Halle. Shut up, please.”
She presses her lips together at my command, her cheeks turning the brightest shade of red.
I straighten in my seat and angle forward. “You could never let me down. We’ve recognized that there’s mutual attraction here. Now let’s get on the same page. What do you want from me? Do you want to give this a serious try? Actually date? Or do you just want sex?”
Halle covers her face with her hands again, shaking her head.
I bite back a laugh as I watch her. I shouldn’t find her turmoil so amusing, but damn if her transparency isn’t refreshing.
“I could bend you over this table,” I grit out. “Skim my hands up your thighs and slide your pants down. If I did, would I find you wet and waiting for me?”
Her hands drop with a thud to the table. We’ve both entirely forgotten to eat.
“Caleb,” she breathes, her eyes wide. She looks toward the stairs. “My brothers?—”
“I was kidding.” I pick up my water glass and take a slow sip. “Not that I wouldn’t love to bend you over and fuck you from behind, but now’s not the time.”
She ducks her head so her hair hides her face and shakesit. “I… I thought I was confused before, but now you’ve really got me tangled up.”
“Good.” I choke back a laugh. “I like that I can take you by surprise.”
In a town this small, we all know one another. Sometimes too well. Halle’s status as a new resident isn’t what intrigues me, but I can’t deny that her lack of preconceived notions about me is refreshing. I’ve never been interested in the friends with benefits thing, so I’m hoping she’ll shoot that proposal down, but if that’s all she’ll give me for now, then I’ll take it.
“I’ve never dated anyone.” Though she lets out a shaky breath once the words are out, she follows it by lifting her chin and pulling her shoulders back. “That’s not to say I’m inexperienced in other ways. But relationships? It’s all foreign to me, and I’m scared.” She swallows thickly.
I keep my mouth shut, hands fisted in my lap to keep from reaching out for her. It took a great deal of guts for her to admit to her fear, and I want to show her that I’m listening, that I respect her feelings completely.
“But I’d like to go on a date with you. See where this thing goes. But”—she holds up a finger—“if this doesn’t work out, you have to promise that we’ll remain cordial. We’re neighbors, after all.”
I lean across the table and hold out my pinky.
“Promise.”
She loops her finger through mine. “Promise.”
CHAPTER 14
HALLE
“What do you mean?” There’s no way I heard the school secretary correctly. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
She’s not joking. No school secretary would waste their time making a call like this for no reason.
“They’ll be here in the office when you arrive. They’re suspended for three days.”
My heart sinks. “I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”
When I end the call, I’m not at all surprised to find Caleb watching me, brow arched, from the chair in the corner where he’s reading…is thatPercy Jackson?I swear he had a lawtext open on his lap earlier.
“What was that about?” he asks when all I do is blink back at him.
It takes several seconds to process the call and find the words to answer. “I have to get my brothers.” I push back from the desk. “I’ll be back soon. Shouldn’t take more than thirty minutes. I hope.”
Ten minutes there. Ten minutes back. That leaves ten minutes to get the rundown from the principal and potentially lay into the boys for their idiocy.
“I gathered that much. What happened, though?” He slides a bookmark between pages and shuts the book.
I take a deep breath, willing my nerves to remain settled, and blow it out. “They caught a snake and let it loose in the school.”
