Wow. Okay, had things really changed? Anderson Thompson hands down was the most confusing boy I knew. Nothing he did made sense. Of course, not much I did made much sense either, so who was I to judge?
Mr. Baxter droned on and on and my eyes were glued to the minute hand on the clock above the door. Anderson sat still as a statue the entire class. Hands clenched on the table. He didn’t seem angry. Stressed? Tense? Maybe he just felt bad about what happened? I couldn’t deny part of me worried he wanted out of this relationship before it started. And if he left…
Stop.
Stop.
Stop.
Oliver and the others made it clear they weren’t leaving me. I was ruminating all of this when the bell rang. When I stood, I swayed, feeling lightheaded.
“Hey,” he said, easing me back in my seat. “You okay?”
“Just dizzy.”
“Heaven, concussions are no joke. Hayden had one last year. Took him weeks to get cleared to play again.”
I placed my hands on the table and stood. “No, I’m fine. Just a headrush.”
In the hall he said, “Do you want to go to the nurse?”
“Nope.”
A line of worry creased his forehead. “Can we at least go get some fresh air? I’m not comfortable leaving you.”
His tone. His body language. His everything told me he was serious about that and I didn’t want to leave him either. “Yeah, okay.” I agreed, following him down the hall.
Anderson led the way, and the cold, fresh air slapped my cheeks. When he turned I knew he didn’t get me out here because I felt sick. That was an excuse. One I could admit too, that I just wanted to be around him longer. That same look of worry he’d carried all morning still marred his pretty face and when he opened his mouth to speak, before he could say anything I blurted, “Look, I know this is weird…just if you’re going to get out of this just tell me straight up. I can handle it.”
I totally could not handle it.
Anderson stared at me for a moment, finally he said, “I shouldn’t have kissed you in the library like that.”
“What?” The memory of him kissing me was intense. Burned into my brain forever. His soft lips. His demanding tongue. The way his hand felt on my hip.
“You deserve better than that, Heaven. Not some clumsy grope between the stacks.”
Damn he was adorable.
“Anderson, don’t apologize for that. I wanted you to do it.”
“You did?”
“Anderson, I’d been throwing myself at you all week. Like, literally throwing myself at you. Did you see what I was wearing?”
He nodded slowly at the memory. It was a memorable outfit.
“I wore that for you. To get your attention.”
He swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing and he licked the split in this lip. “You definitely had my attention. Long before that.”
I stepped closer, partially because of the cold but mostly because I wanted to be near him. He watched me carefully.
“We went over all of this at the library. You like me. I like you and yeah, I also like your friends. We fit. We can do this, but only if you want to.”
His voice is husky. “I want to.”
“Then take it from someone who excels in overthinking: stop overthinking.”