Page 10 of Half-Hearted
Her grin was so triumphant you’d think she’d already won the whole thing. Won me. Which she technically had, but there was no way she knew, since I’d been incredibly careful and subtle about my crush.
“Are you gonna stare at my mouth the whole time?”
“No.” I ripped my eyes away and cleared my throat. “Sorry.”
“S’okay. I really like it when you look at me like that.”
“I wasn’t looking at you like anything. I’m just… tired. My eyes are droopy.”
The curve of her smile implied she didn’t believe me. “Okay.”
“They are.”
“I said okay.”
She was still smiling. Which made my eyes flicker down momentarily. Which made her smile wider. Which mademesmile.
I was in so much goddamn trouble.
“You ready?” she asked.
“Lay it on me… Figuratively,” I added, just in case. You never knew with her.
“Number one,” Alexis started, holding a single finger up in front of her nose. “We get along splendidedly. So much chemistry.”
I nodded because it was true; we did get along “splendidedly.”
“We’re great friends,” I said, which made her roll her eyes in a not-so-subtle manner.
“Numbertwo: we talk every day.”
“I don’t know if—”
“Joel. We talkevery day.”
Alright. So maybe that was true, too. Maybe I’d started texting her more frequently since the barbecue. And maybe “more frequently” had accidentally turned into “every day.” And maybe it had all gotten a little out of hand because maybe my day didn’t feel complete anymore unless I’d heard from her.
Maybe. Accidentally.
“We’re friends,” I tried again.
“D’you text Ethan every day?”
“Irrelevant.”
“When was the last time you fell asleep talking on the phone with him?”
“It’s different.”
Her colored lips pressed into a thin, unhappy line, and she inched closer. “Why?”
“Because your brother’s batshit and works a hundred hours a week, Lex. I’m lucky if I know he’saliveany given day.”
She couldn’t really argue with that. Her brothers were two of the most intensely competitive people on the planet, currently tied up in a heated race against each other over who would take over the family empire when their grandmother retired. Combine that with how much Ethan had been traveling for work recently and… well, I hadn’t seen much of the guy for the better part of this year. And it only seemed to be getting worse.
“So… if he didn’t work so much, you’d talk to him on the phone until one of you fell asleep?”
My mouth twitched. “Yes. Every night, probably. Love that dude.”
