Page 33 of Flare Up
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Saturday afternoon dragged on like no other Grant could remember in a long time. He’d cleaned his apartment, which hadn’t taken as long as he’d hoped it would. And he’d put clean sheets on his bed, but it was his usual day to do that. It had nothing to do with the fact Wren was going to be in his apartment for the first time in months.
He was trying very hard not to think of Wren and his bed in the same thought, but it wasn’t easy. And taking a cold shower before she arrived probably wouldn’t help any more than taking a cold shower when he got home last night had.
Sending her home with Gavin had been the right thing to do, but he’d spent half the night tossing and turning and yearning for her.
It was a dilemma, because he’d told her he wanted to get to know her again. To get to know the Wren who wasn’t holding anything back from him. But his body already knew her and it ached for her.
The pizza was delivered at ten minutes of five, as he’d planned. It would stay warm enough and he didn’t want the interruption after she arrived.
When she finally knocked on his door, he took a deep breath and opened it. She was blowing on her hands to keep warm, so he pulled her inside and closed the door against the cold.
“Why aren’t you wearing gloves?”
“I left them at work yesterday because I was in a hurry and I didn’t notice because it wasn’t that cold when I left.”
“You only have one pair?” When she gave him a look, he could have kicked himself. “Yeah, sorry.”
It was a stupid thing to say to a woman who’d lost everything in a fire two weeks ago, so he was off to a great start.
When she shrugged out of her coat, he took it to hang it up, but froze when he saw the shirt under it. “What the hell is that?”
She frowned and looked down at herself. “What?”
“Why are you wearing a Giants sweatshirt? With rhinestones on it, for chrissake. Footballs don’t have bling. Even in New York.” The Giants logo and the football on her shirt were both covered in red and blue rhinestones.
“One of the women Patty works with passed on a bunch of clothes to me and it looks like she’s either from New York or has no loyalty. I’m not sure which. And after going through the clothes, she likes bling, regardless of the theme.”
“And you chose to wear that to my house?”
She grinned. “You like football.”
“I like Patriots football.” The sound of disgust he made had her laughing at him again. “At least it’s not a Jets sweatshirt.”
“Are you still going to share your pizza with me?”
He pretended to think about it for a long moment before shrugging. “I kind of have to, since you shared your cupcake with me last night.”
“I have very vague memories of a cupcake.”
“I’m surprised you remember it at all.” He nodded at the table, where the pizza sat. He’d already put out napkins and paper plates, too. And silverware, since he knew she preferred to eat pizza with a knife and fork.
“I should apologize for throwing myself at you the way I did.” She frowned as she sat down. “In a hallway. Outside of a bathroom.”
“Wanting me isn’t something you should apologize to me for, honestly. I want you to want me.” He loved that shade of pink on her cheeks. “I didn’t send you home with Gavin because I didn’t want you. Trust me.”
“I’m glad you had Gavin bring me home. Thank you for that.”
He opened the box and put a slice on her plate. “It seemed like the right thing to do.”
“Just to be clear, though, I’m not thanking you because I would have regretted sleeping with you. I just would have regretted that it happened because I was drunk and not because the time was right.”
“That’s why I thought we should talk,” he said, sitting down. He didn’t pick up his slice yet, though. “I...don’t know what we’re doing, exactly.”
“Me, either.”
“I know I said I couldn’t walk away from you and that I want to get to know you again now that you’re not holding anything back from me.” He struggled for the words to explain himself. “But now I don’t really know what that means. I feel like we’re falling into being a couple again, without actually being a couple.”
