Page 67 of Wrench
self-preservation mode, and I placed my hand to his chest to push away, though I used no
force. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m ready.¡±
As it would for any man, disappointment weighed down his shoulders, but there
wasn¡¯t any visible irritation. ¡°R-really?¡±
¡°Yeah.¡± I winced and squeezed my eyes with my thumb and pointer finger. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.
I¡¯m just¡ I don¡¯t know. I thought I could do this, this¡ one-night-stand thing. But I don¡¯t
think I can.¡±
¡°B-but, we¡ª¡±
¡°I want to. Trust me.¡± My eyes lowered to the biceps that were holding me before. ¡°So
bad. But¡ I¡¯m, I¡¯m not a hook-up person. I¡¯ve never been. If even the harmless guys can
hurt me, this¡ I can¡¯t.¡±
As I spoke, my face had flushed crimson, but I hoped the darkness hid it. Not that it
would change much. I had humiliated myself all on my own! And after my behavior
earlier in the day, too! His eyes were unreadable, and his mouth was gaping open and
shut. He was probably finding the right way to tell me to leave without making it any
more uncomfortable, so I decided to keep the embarrassment coming.
¡°Listen, I¡¯m sorry for all the mixed signals I¡¯ve given. God, especially today.¡± I hid my
face in my hands. ¡°Something came over me and I tried to just roll with it because it felt
good. But doing this, now, no. I can¡¯t. I¡¯m not this girl.¡± I uncovered my eyes and held my
palms in front, as if in surrender. ¡°I¡¯m just going to go. I¡¯m sorry I¡¯ve wasted your time.¡±
Unfortunately, he was between the exit and myself so there was no way I could get by
without going past him. His blocking me wasn¡¯t aggressive, though. Instead, there was a
confusion and plea in his eyes as he said, ¡°Samantha. Hold on.¡±
¡°No, seriously. It¡¯s fine.¡±
¡°No, it isn¡¯t.¡±
¡°Yes, it is,¡± I argued back, more defensively, as if ready to make a run if I had to. That
was when I noticed his confusion turned to what appeared to be hurt. My guard lowered
and I paused and let him speak without interruption.
¡°It isn¡¯t fine because I know I did something wrong. What¡ what did I do?¡±
¡°Nothing, I just¡ you¡¡± I sighed and lowered my head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I saw that look
