“No, really, it’s fine.” I waved him quiet. “But thank you for letting me know. That was...really considerate.”
He opened his mouth to respond but must’ve changed his mind because he just as quickly clamped his lips back together. With his hands still in his pockets, he cleared his throat. “Well...I wanted you to know.”
“Well...” I mumbled right back. “Thank you.”
Oh my God, what was going on? We were more nervous and unsure around each other now than the first day he’d run into me. What had happened to us being able to talk about anything?
When I realized it was Bentley’s fault, I gulped.
She’d been the perfect little chaperone. With her always between us, acting as a sort of shield, she’d been a physical buffer that had helped us open up more emotionally.
But with her gone, leaving us alone, there was nothing between us at all.
Knox took a step backward. “So, yeah. I guess I’d better get out of your hair.”
I couldn’t hide my disappointment, even though I really, honestly tried. “Okay.”
He stopped in his tracks, and hope lit his gaze. “Unless...”
Perking to attention, I repeated, “Unless?”
“You want to hang out?” He shrugged and glanced away, as if it made no difference to him one way or another. Then he went and said, “I don’t have anything else to do until I have to leave for work at five, but if you’re busy, it’s cool. I can—”
“I’m not busy,” I rushed to say.
His gaze slashed to mine, hope once again sparkling in his brown eyes. “You’re not?”
I shook my head. “No. I could hang out.”
“Okay, then.” But he seemed to realize he’d been too eager, so he immediately backed off and shrugged again. “I mean, whatever.”
I bit my lip to hide a grin. But then neither of us spoke and neither of us moved; we just stood there, hanging out in complete silence.
“Do you, uh, do you want to walk?” I shrugged self-consciously. “I haven’t ventured out here much. We could explore.”
After a slow nod, he said, “I could walk.” His palm came out, extending my way.
Realizing he wanted to hold hands while we walked, I blew out a trembling breath as I silently commanded myself not to pass out from an overdose of excitement. After a mental fangirl scream, I took his fingers.
They were warm, and large, and oh-so boy.
He grinned. “Let’s go this way.”
I nodded, not even paying attention to which way he pointed, because I knew I’d never been that way before. This was as far into the woods as I’d ever gone. Anywhere we went from here would be new to me.
So, we walked. The tension eased, and I could finally breathe easier.
He asked me about a show we both liked that had aired a new episode the night before. As we chatted and argued about what we had and hadn’t liked, the sky went darker as the trees started growing closer together, and the ground became mushier without as much sunshine to dry the earth.
But I really didn’t pay too much attention to what was underfoot while my hand was so perfectly clasped in Knox’s...not until I took a step and lifted my foot, only to realize my ballet flat hadn’t come with me.
Suddenly finding myself half barefoot, I gasped to a halt, jerking Knox out of step as well.
“What’s wrong?” he asked immediately, turning back with concern flooding his face.
I clenched my hand around his so I could keep my balance on one foot. “I just lost my shoe.”
“You...?” He frowned before his gaze tracked down to my foot. And then his eyes widened. “Oh shit.” Clasping my elbow with his free hand to keep me from falling, he scanned the ground around us before saying, “There it is.”