Page 28 of Half-Hearted
“There is something I need to tell you, actually,” I said, my voice wiggling in my throat. My gaze dipped down to my lap. “You were right about… me owing you an apology. If a guy I wasn’t interested in showed up at my place plastered in the middle of the night and stuck his tongue down my throat… I wouldn’t like it, either.” I shoved back my pride and forced myself to meet his eyes again. “So, I’m very sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Another long pause. “That’s it?” he eventually asked, voice a little gruff. I couldn’t read his expression, but I was assuming based on the words and his tone that I wasn’t exactly forgiven. He spoke again before I had a chance to respond. “Alright, then, let me ask you one thing. Is there any chance in hell that this hour ends with you and I… with things going back to the way they were?”
I shook my head.
He looked away from me then, staring at the wall in front of him, jaw working. His hands were clasped together much tighter now, knuckles white and restless.
“Fuck it, then,” he muttered, standing up. And for a second, I thought he was going to leave, but instead of walking to the door, he stalked over to me. My jaw went slack as he sat on the white marble coffee table, of all places, right in front of me, and whipped out his phone.
“What are you doing?” I asked. He was sitting way too close, his knees brushing the armchair on either side of my legs.
He tapped at the screen a few times, then flung the device onto the couch. “Timer’s set. One hour.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“Oh, like you’ve answered all of mine?”
Wait, Ihad, though. Most of them, at least. But before I could make the argument, his hands went to my knees, and he pulled me forward, all the way to the edge of the armchair. I gasped, my palms inadvertently landing against his wide shoulders to keep me from falling off. “What the hell are—”
I cut off with a broken breath. He wasright there, leaning in so that we were practically nose to nose.
My heart leapt with surprised delight, and my head threw up shocked warning flags.
My heart shouted,Yes!My head warned,It’s a trap!
Lean in!
Pull back!
My limbs were frozen, not knowing which of the two they were supposed to be listening to.
Joel’s intense gaze slid down to my mouth and lingered, sending my chest into an even wilder frenzy.
“How can you stand it?” he murmured.
I shook my head, unable to form a verbal answer. I didn’t really know what he was talking about.
“How can you stand this?” he asked again, ignoring my extremely urgent need for additional details. “I’ve been losing my fucking mind over here, Lex, and you…” His eyes resurfaced, studying me carefully. “Are you really dating him?”
I said nothing, my heart booming in my head as the two continued their heated battle.
He gave me a full minute, and then his gaze dipped down to my lap, where my fingers were anxiously digging into my palms. He reached for one, unfurled it gently, and…
We were holding hands.
Joel and I were holding hands.
“Alexis, I really need to know now if you’re in a relationship.”
Say no!
Say yes!
“Why?” I managed. It felt like I’d swallowed a bunch of sand. “What difference would it make?”
His thumb started to move, smooth strokes across the back of my hand. “Well, for one, I don’t want to be pouring my heart out to you if you’re with someone else. It wouldn’t be very fair to him.”
Pour his heart out? What did that mean?
