“So, you should come. Angie is awesome.”
“Really? You don’t care?”
“Um, no. I want you to.”
She smiles. “I want to, too.”
“Good. Now get off me before I tear your pants off and have my way with you,” I demand, pushing her off me. Her laughter fills the room as I sit up to jump off the bed, but she stops me before I can go too far.
“I suck. I know.”
I grin as I nod. “Yeah, really good too, and I want it, but—”
“Jace!” she shrieks, smacking me, and I shake with laughter. “I mean, about communication. I know this.”
My laughter dies off as I shrug. “You’re getting better…”
“No, I’m not,” she says dryly. “Don’t sugarcoat my faults.” I shrug and she looks down. “It’s just…I never had to communicate before because no one ever listened.”
She doesn’t give me much info about her family. I know they are douches who didn’t see the star I see but nothing else. She keeps that locked up tight. So when she lets little things like that out, I not only file away the information, but I do everything I can to make her see that I’m not like them. That I want to know and I want to listen.
That I couldn’t ignore her if I tried.
“I understand that, but something has got to give, Avery,” I say honestly. I look at her, waiting for her to freak a bit. She always gets this look in her eyes, and it alarms me a little. But instead, she nods as I say, “I feel kinda one-sided here.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t. Please don’t.”
“Trying.” With a small laugh, I climb off the bed, my feet hitting the ground.
“And I know that you’re different, but still, it’s hard.”
I reach into my drawer, getting a pair of wind pants and a tee. “I get it, I do. But you gotta remember, I’m not that douche canoe, and I’m not your family. I’m amazing, remember?”
She grins as she nods. “Yeah, you don’t let me forget that.”
“Good, just making sure.” I grin before throwing my shirt on. “But all this can wait. I have to go get the girl who holds my heart.”
Grinning, she climbs down. But before she can reach the ground, I smack her butt, making her squeal. Whipping around, she goes to smack me, but I catch her in my arms, squeezing her to my chest. Looking up at me with those eyes that could seriously carve my heart out of my chest, she says, “I shouldn’t be jealous of a kid, right?”
I grin. “You shouldn’t be jealous of anyone, but… And I’m just throwing this out there…”
“Lord help me.”
I laugh as I squeeze her hard, making her laugh. “But you’re really jealous for someone who doesn’t want anything more than Javery.”
That has her grinning as she scrunches up her nose. Leaning down, she presses her forehead to mine, her eyes searching mine. “Maybe I do want more?”
My brow rises as my heart starts to pick up in speed. Moving my nose along hers, something I tend to do a lot, I don’t miss the uncertainty in her voice. “You sound a little unsure there.”
She holds my gaze, her eyes full of worry, and that bothers me. Why is she still like that around me? Shouldn’t she be completely comfortable with me by now?
“Because I am.”
“Way to kill the moment,” I say, letting her go despite her protest.
“Don’t be like that,” she says to my back as I slide my shoes on.
Turning, I reach for her because I have to. I have to touch her, feel her. Am I pathetic? Maybe, but I can’t help it. “I just… I just want…”