Page 42 of Heart Check
“Do you have Venmo?”
Dawson opens and closes his mouth a few times before pulling out his phone wordlessly. I fumble with my QR code, my face surely turning an even deeper beet red as I try to human my way through this simple interaction. I wrap his purchase up as slowly as possible, getting the ribbon curled perfectly to buy myself a few more minutes with him in my booth.
Finally, I hand over the gift, feeling more like an NPC than I ever have in my life. Our fingers brush and my breath catches. My head snaps up and our eyes lock, and dear God, for a minute all I want is to reach for him and pull him closer.
He takes a deep breath. “I’d like to leave a good review,” he says. His voice sounds almost a little… shaky?
“What?” I blink a few times to clear my head.
“On your site?”
Oh. “I took it down.” I wince. “So… you can’t. Sorry.”
When did I become such an awkward idiot around this guy?
“Because of the bad reviews?” I nod, and he frowns. “Yeah. About those. I’m going to talk to the team about it.”
My eyes widen. A muscle in his jaw flexes, like he’s suppressing frustration. He seems serious. But still, I have to ask. “Really?”
“Yeah. Especially one member of the team. I have a feeling I know who did it.”
The corner of my mouth quirks up in a half smile. “Does his name start with anNand rhyme withoah?”
Dawson’s lips curl in an answering smile, but his eyes still promise murder. It’s kind of hot. “He may be my captain, but I don’t have to have his back oneverything. Especially not if he insists on having his head up his ass. Trust me. Put your site back up, and I’ll take care of it.”
The ember of anger smoldering behind his gaze isdefinitelyhot.
Okay, I get the hockey player hype now.
“Thanks,” I manage. “That means a lot.”
He takes a step forward, and I hold my breath, tilting my head up even more to hold his gaze.
“You don’t need to thank me for doing the right thing. I couldn’t ignore it after our conversation Friday.”
And there it is. The elephant in the room, standing in the tiny booth with us, sucking up all the air.
“Yeah,” I breathe. “Our conversation… Friday.”
A furrow appears between his dark eyebrows. “You took off pretty early yesterday. I tried to call.”
“I was kind of overwhelmed.” I bite my lip.
His smile widens, though he’s clearly trying to suppress it. A dimple winks in his cheek. Adimple. This boy has adimple? Whoever hands out attributes at birth is not fairat all. “Overwhelmed? By me?”
Dear Lord, I’m short-circuiting. “Maybe,” I breathe.
“Good,” he says. His voice is husky and low, and all the sounds of the fair around us fade so I can tune into the specific frequency of his vocal cords. “Because it’s mutual.”
My heart thuds hard in my chest, skipping a beat, tripping over itself. I’m short of breath, staring at the wide ring of brown in Dawson’s eyes, unable to think a single thought, to speak a single word over the echo ofmutual.
Then he says, “Would you want to go to Skate Night together?”
I blink. “What?”
“Friday night. The rink is open to everyone. It’s fun. As long as you don’t run off again?”
My cheeks flood with warmth. Dawson wants to go to Skate Night withme. He’s looking at me like he means it. Like he’s been thinking about this. Like he came here on purpose. Part of me can’t quite believe it. I want to say yes, but I’m terrified, too.
