Page 9 of Sweet Girl
I roll my eyes and groan. At this rate, no one will ever touch me, for fear of suffering the wrath of the entire ASU men’s basketball team.
I stand up and grab my purse so I can hurry Van out the door, just as Carver bolts up and leans down to speak in a low voice at my ear.
His breath tickles my cheek and my face turns hot when I hear what he says.
“Remember to swallow.”
I gasp loudly, slapping at his back as he quickly retreats down the hallway chuckling, leaving me and Van alone in the kitchen.
Van slowly ventures forward into the room, a look of uneasiness washing over his features, as his gaze flits between me and the spot Carver just departed.
“What was all that about?”
Shrugging my shoulders, I bend my head back to look him in the eyes.
“You know Carver. Crude, rude and disgusting at every turn.”
He grunts loudly, seeming to accept my answer as I scoop up my Gap denim jacket off the back of the couch.
“You know it’s like ninety-five degrees out, right?” His voice holds a hint of amusement in it.
“Thanks, Mr. Weatherman,” I retort, bumping his hip with mine. Technically, my hip hits his mid-thigh because of his height. “Movie theaters are always so dang cold, so I need to bring something to keep me warm.”
There’s no response, so I chance a peak up to his face. His gray eyes are now filtered with a dark shadow, eyes narrowed into slits. They blaze with intensity and for a second I feel trapped in his gaze. A spark ignites low in my belly and it ribbons its way up my spine.
Immediately the spell is broken when the door swings open and in steps Cade and Ainsley. Instinctively, we shift apart, as if somehow our bodies had been magnetized together in the moment before, closer than we realized, and now we are forced to recreate a suitable amount of personal space.
Maybe that’s just me romanticizing the moment. I’m hopeless.
It’s then that I notice Cade staring between us – first at me, then Van, then back to me. He wears a deep frown, squinting at us both.
“What’s going on? Where are you two going?” He looks at his watch, his grimace growing wider. His tone is accusatory.
Van breaks the tension by greeting Cade with a strange handshake slash bro-hug, leaning down and giving a quick hug to Ainsley. Her usual bright smile is greeting us without a hint of any suspicion – either she’s oblivious to the unusually high level of weirdness or finds it all rather amusing.
Whatever it is that she sees, she wraps her hands around Cade’s bicep, which seems to be a natural elixir to his obvious stress. I have to admit, since they started dating, she has changed him in such positive ways. He’s not as angry, or high-strung, as he once was. Ever since mom and dad divorced, Cade’s found ways to avoid family obligations and has become self-absorbed. Ainsley has been a positive influence on him, and for that, I adore her.
We haven’t had much of an opportunity to hang out much, but when we have had conversations, I find that she’s just super chill and easy to talk to.
“Hi Cade. Hi Ainsley,” I say, giving them both a small wave. “I invited Van to go to a movie with me tonight. None of my friends in town are available and he’d mentioned wanting to see it.” It pains me to have to say what I say next, because I really don’t want to make the offer. But if I don’t, it will look weird.
“Do you two want to come with us?”
Cade immediately asks, “What movie?”
Ainsley says, “No, thank you.”
And then they look at each other and burst out laughing. Cade concedes without argument.
“Nah, guess not. Me and Ainsley haven’t seen each other in a while, so we have some catching up to do.”
There’s a naughty twinkle in Cade’s eye and I blush at his inference. They’d recently gotten back together after a short break-up, and their alone time is few and far between these days with everything they have going on. I can’t say as I blame them. If I were them, and that much in love, I wouldn’t ever want to be apart for too long from my lover, either. Although, what would I know about lovers anyway?
Ainsley gives me a shy, apologetic smile. “Thanks for offering, though. Under normal circumstances, I’d say yes. But Cade and I aren’t going to see each other much in the next few weeks.”
Thank God for alone time.
All I want is to spend my own alone time with Van, without everyone else getting in the way and reminding me that he has a girlfriend. It’s not like I can forget. Is it so bad to want to hang out with him because I like him as a friend? Friends go to movies together. Big deal. Plus, he doesn’t like me that way, anyway. He’s probably just being nice because he didn’t want to turn me down.
