I ground my teeth together as my body stiffened. Then I shrugged off her comment. I wasn’t dating Train. So whatever she’d said shouldn’t bother me.
“Let’s get back. I have to help my mom.” His tone matched his grimace.
Quietness hung over us all the way back to his house. Train kept his head down. Meanwhile, my stomach clenched. Nina could be trouble even if I weren’t dating Train. After all, she was a jealous ex.
When we reached my car, his shoulders finally relaxed. “Why didn’t you tell her we weren’t dating?”
“Would it have mattered what I told Nina?”
He clutched the back of his arm. “No.” His tone was even. “Thank you for having my back.”
“No problem.”
A beat of silence stretched between us until Train’s next-door neighbor started his car and the muffler backfired. I flinched a little.
A strand of hair fell over Train’s forehead. “So why did you come over? Did you think about my offer?”
And we were back to that. “Before we were rudely interrupted, I was about to ask you what you knew about my mom.”
“Are you going to push this football thing?” His tone was husky, his expression deadpan.
The camaraderie we’d had in the few moments where we laughed and shared personal details about ourselves vanished. The anger and frustration I’d harbored on the way to his house was front and center.
“Seriously?”
“I’m waiting,” he said.
Wow, this dude was moody, although I could be too.
“Screw you.” I opened my car door, but he cocooned me with his body.
He planted one hand on the roof of my car, while he tucked a stray hair behind my ear. The butterflies and nerves rushed back stronger than before. The boy had a softer side. The boy had manners, although only when his mom was present. The boy had a way of making my heart race, my belly ache, and my palms sweat. He was probably right about one thing—I would be throwing myself at him, especially if he kept showing subtle hints of niceness.
“I’ll call you when my dad has a refrigeration guy pinned down.” Then he pushed off the car and hurried toward the house as though I were some kind of demon that was there to take his soul.
I stomped my foot. “Train, wait.”
The house door slammed shut, and I jumped. I couldn’t make heads or tails about what was transpiring between us or what had happened in the last hour or so. All I knew was my stomach hurt, and not from lack of food. The guy drove me mad. If he thought I would cave on football or jumping his bones, he was in for a rude awakening. I was about to bring out the big guns.
