My stomach clenched.
Hell, no.
What was I thinking?
I needed to go slower.
I shrugged and whispered back, “Well, the other tasks are a lot harder. It may take a while.”
“Fine by me.” She reached for my hand and didn’t let go.
I looked up.
Gabe was watching us intently, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her hand then back at my face. I felt stuck. I wanted to date her. In a normal situation I would have flipped him off and thrown her into my bedroom without a second thought.
But now?
I wanted to treasure the feeling of her fingertips against mine, because I was pretty sure in a few months… I wouldn’t have that luxury.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I hate how much I like him. Almost as much as I hate it when I’m not able to be with him all the time. I am falling way too hard and fast. Someone catch me, stop me, call me crazy, slap me — geez, just don’t let me get my hopes up.
Kiersten
It was officially two months since I met Wes. Ever since our first date, I’d seen him almost every day for lunch and at least twice a week for movie nights at our place.
Basically, he was everywhere. A permanent fixture in my life. So regular in fact, that people no longer stared, they just seemed to expect it.
The only thing I couldn’t put my finger on was the fact that he was losing weight. I mean, he still looked hot, but his muscles seemed more defined, his jaw even sharper than before. When I mentioned it, he just laughed off my concern and said practices were hell.
“So what chapter we on?” Wes dropped his lunch onto our regular table and took a swig of water.
I grinned. “Last one.”
“No way!” He pulled me in for a hug. “Killer job, it only took us over fifty days to finish one book.”
“You know what that means?” I bit down on my lip and moved closer to him, scraping my chair against the floor.
“What?” He leaned in and flicked part of my hair. Good Lord, the boy was obsessed with hair, or maybe it was just with red. I didn’t know which, but he was always touching it as if somehow my hair was going to fall out or disappear.
I swatted his hand away. “Just means we need another book when we finish. I’m thinking Mansfield Park or…” My voice trailed off. His face turned pale as he broke eye contact and fidgeted with his food.
“What?” He licked his lips and spread his salad around his plate like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to eat it or just torture it.
“We don’t have to read anymore. I mean, I know you have other friends, and it has been every lunch and—”
“Stop.” He rolled his eyes and gave me that sexy grin I was so used to. “I was just upset about Mansfield Park. I don’t really like that story. How about you pick something else and we’ll get started in on it after Thanksgiving break?”
“Okay.” I smiled when he looked at me, but it was hollow. I could feel that it didn’t reach my eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Of course,” he said, almost too fast as he gave me another fake grin and cleared his throat. “Just got a lot of work to do before break, you know?”
“Oh.” I tried not to sound disappointed. “Right, yeah, I have a lot of homework too.”
“Between that and practice…” A shadow fell over his face. “I don’t know. You know how you have rough days?”
“Yeah.” I reached out and placed my hand on his arm. “We all do. It’s good to know you’re not perfect.”