Colton looked sheepish. “I mean . . . Jeanine offered the leftovers but I know you like fresh better.”
“Colton.” I leveled him with a look but was quickly distracted when I dipped a fry in the mayo-based fry sauce. Was that a kiss of sweetness? Every pleasure center in my body was firing. “Shit, that’s good.”
Colton chuckled. “I forgot how fun it is to watch you eat. Real meals, though. Not just granola bars over the phone.”
My cheeks heated. “Thanks for that, by the way. You know I get buried in stuff.”
He bobbed his head. “I do.”
His look turned wistful, focusing on the formicatable between us. I could take a guess as to what he was thinking about: all the time we spent studying together. No matter how we ended, I’d always have fond memories of that.
Falling in love for the first time. The only time for me.
My stomach was just starting to dip when Colton stood, patting his pocket. “Forgot something.”
“Huh?”
He sauntered to the vending machines, looking over the options. He tapped his card on the reader and selected a drink. He held up my favorite soda. “A drink.”
I pinched my lips together to suppress a smile. “Why are you spoiling me so much?”
Colt wiggled his shoulders and stuck his tongue in his cheek. “Trying to keep up with these book boyfriends.”
I scoffed. “I’m aware that these are men written by women and not actual real-life expectations.”
“Why shouldn’t they be? At the bare minimum, I can challenge myself to be better. A more considerate partner.”
My throat tickled and I coughed. Did he think we were partners? Were we? Was this a mistake of grand proportions, making him believe I was ready to be more than we were? His gentle hand was on my shoulder. “Down the wrong pipe?”
He asked it with such genuine concern that I didn’t know how to act. “I guess,” I coughed.
He cracked the soda can and slid it over to me. “Here you go.”
“Thanks,” I said, taking a sip. “Oh, hey, I finished the billionaire one and I feel like they’re about to kiss in the college book. Feels nostalgic in all the best ways.”
Colt grinned. “Yeah. It’s like living the sweetest parts of college again.”
A dense, palpable silence hung between us. Colton was part of my sweetest college memories. His smiles, his kisses, hisencouragement, his laugh. Being so smitten with him, convinced nothing could rip us apart.
But the thing that ripped us apart lived inside me, and I didn’t know how to forgive myself for pushing him away. I shoved the last few fries in my mouth all at once to justify not speaking.
Colt’s cheeks flushed and his voice was gravelly. “The kisses are important, huh? In the books?”
I nodded. “Unless it’s a one night stand, it’s usually a big turning point about halfway through. Gives you something to hope for.”
His expression was pained, and he licked and combed his teeth over his bottom lip. “Yeah. I could see that.”
As soon as I said my next words, I wanted them back. “You really love kissing.”
I was apparently not the captain of my body, because, without intending to, I’d leaned a centimeter closer to him and angled my face that much more toward his.
Why, Violet? Why did you have to make it more tense? You were the one who asked for a just-friends arrangement, to protect this man in front of you. And here you are, reminding him of not only every kiss, but of our first kiss.
“Yeah,” Colton said. “I do.”
I cleared my throat because for some reason, it was dry. “So, you really want a tour of the place?”
Colt’s eyes softened. “If you have time. I don’t want to intrude.”
