Some Kind of Normal

“Huh. You’re two for two.”

“So are you taking me to Link’s cottage for the long weekend or what?” Holy cow. What was wrong with my mouth? Run on much?

A pause. A long, painful pause as my cheeks flooded with heat. I sank down to my knees and pulled a pillow off the sofa to cushion the fall. Oh God. What had I just done?

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to stop my heart from beating, because it was making me dizzy. Or maybe it was just the stupid that was making me dizzy. The stupid that ran through my veins. I wasn’t good at this whole seduction thing. If that was even a thing.

“Are you offering to be my roomie?”

“Maybe.” I barely got that out. “I mean, I suppose I could be persuaded.” That was an epic line. Epic. Gonna have to remember it for future use. Not.

“Are you flirting with me, Everly Jenkins?” he asked so softly I had to strain to hear him.

“The fact that you have to ask reiterates my lame attempt, but yes.”

“Good to know.”

Another pause.

“Everly?”

“Yes?”

“It’s working.”

“The flirting?”

“The flirting,” he replied.

I exhaled. “So that means…”

“It means that we blow off study session. It means that Link will scoop up his girl, and he and I will be there to pick you up at noon. Are you sure about this?”

I was off the floor and already heading up to my room, so yeah, I was pretty sure.

“There are only two bedrooms up there, and Brent has already claimed the sofa.”

This was obviously his way of warning me that we’d be sharing a room, which was sweet. But I was kind of done being sweet. I wanted something more.

I thought of my father. Of how he was living a lie. Pretending to be happy when all he was doing was destroying what little bit of happiness his family had. What was the point in living like that? What was wrong with being true to yourself and being honest?

I wanted Trevor. That was my truth. That was my honesty. I wasn’t exactly sure how far I was willing to go, but I trusted him enough to know I’d be safe. He was the one who’d pulled back at the old mill, not me.

“That’s okay,” I said when I reached the top of the stairs. “You can sleep on the floor.”

He laughed, and I felt a bit of the heaviness in me lift. “Now you’re being cruel.”

“See? I suck at flirting.”

“Actually you don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Suck.”

“At flirting?” God, Everly. Just. Stop. Talking.

“Yeah.” I could picture the grin on his face. “At flirting.”