Page 53 of Crazy for You
Georgia hugged me briefly. “Let’s not go swimming for a while. Now that you’re good, I have to run. Mom is taking me to dinner for our monthly mom-and-daughter time.”
Normally, depression set in any time Georgia and her mom did the whole bonding thing. I often thought of my mom. If she’d been alive, we would have many similar nights. But with Colton near me, I couldn’t think straight, let alone drop into a deep depression.
“What?” Mia squealed. “I thought we would grab a bite. You know, all five of us.”
I couldn’t eat. My stomach was in a knot the size of Earth, a love knot or a lust knot or both. But if going out to eat meant sitting next to Colton, I was all for it. I wasn’t sure about hanging with Grady. He brought out the feisty side of me, and I didn’t want to ruin the high I was on.
Grady cocooned Mia in his arms from behind, nuzzling her neck. “You’re my dinner, baby.”
I refrained from rolling my eyes as Mia giggled.
“We have the house all to ourselves. My dad is gone until tomorrow,” Grady said, looking at Colton as though he dared him to agree to dinner.
Colton waved him off. “It’s time I head home and face the music.”
I let out a quiet sigh. I didn’t want to watch Grady and Mia suck face all night. On the other hand, anxiety settled in my bones, hoping Colton didn’t take another beating from his dad. Maybe he didn’t have to go home just yet.
“Want to have dinner at my house?” I asked Colton. “Afterwards, you can change the oil in my car like you promised.”
He gave me the sweetest look. “Sounds like a plan.”
A swarm of butterflies went wild in my stomach. I wanted to say really or seriously or something shockingly idiotic, but I kept my lips glued together, feeling like I’d just won the boyfriend lottery.
Georgia’s eyes got bigger the longer she stood there. “Well, my work is done. Now I can enjoy my night with my mom.”
Colton actually laughed, a sound that sent yummy shivers tiptoeing down my spine.
Mia, Georgia, and I collected our things while Colton and Grady chatted about something I couldn’t hear. Grady was probably thanking him for getting the quiet message about not agreeing to dinner.
I slipped on my shorts, checked to make sure I had my phone, and swung my bag onto my shoulder.
I was ready to slip my sandals on when Colton grabbed my hand. “Wait for a minute.”
Georgia and Mia waggled their brows as they said their goodbyes.
Grady said to Colton, “Good luck, man. If you need anything, call.”
Colton nodded at his friend. “I’ll be in to get my stuff in a few.” Then he flicked his thumb toward the ocean. “Want to take a walk?”
I stuffed my sandals in my bag. “Sure.”I will go anywhere with you.
We headed down the beach, silence following us except for the sound of the waves crashing along the shore and the seagulls cawing above. Yet the farther we walked, the more the silence ate at me. I stole a look at him, and he was chewing on the inside of his cheek as if trying to find something to say.
Maybe he wanted to take back what he’d said about me being beautiful. Maybe he wanted to let me down easy.
Shut up, Skyler. Stop psychoanalyzing everything.
A giggle escaped my lips.
Colton whipped his dreamy gaze at me. “What’s so funny?”
To tell the truth or not?I went with the truth. “Did you mean what you said about me being beautiful?”
His lips curved upward slightly on the edges. “You are the prettiest girl I’ve ever met.”
I reared back. “Not Amanda Gelling?” For real, she was beautiful.
“Not Amanda Gelling,” he parroted. “Skyler, beauty is the whole package, not just looks. Besides, I find short hair sexy as hell. My friends at the academy always ribbed me when I dated a girl with hair shorter than mine.”
