“Wakey, wakey,” I coo, waving the pizza by her face.
Like a fairy tale princess awakening from years of slumber, her eyes flutter open, and her nose twitches as she picks up the pepperoni scent an inch away. A light bulb flips on as her eyes widen, and she sits up on her knees, locked on her pizza target.
“There’s more—hey.” I jerk the slice away and frown at the Reese-sized chunk removed from the end. “This was my piece.”
She chews slowly, staring up at me with her sleepy, innocent eyes. How can she be such a pain and absolutely breathtaking at the same moment?
Her blonde hair is tangled in a few places, and the oversized Cliffys t-shirt—wait a minute, that’s my black t-shirt twisted around her torso. Before, she had been adorable, but now, the meter is off-the-charts smoldering hot. The grease from the pizza shines on her lips oddly as delectable as the cotton candy she had on before.
Pizza lip gloss?Lord help me, there’s something wrong with my brain.
I clear my throat and try again, forcing my gaze from her lips. “I ordered pizza. Come outside if you want some.”
And I leave before I do something dumb like kiss her again.
She joins me outside still wearing my shirt and blinks at the setting sun in confusion. Quietly, she listens to me pray over our food before lifting up the box lid. “Half pepperoni and half Hawaiian?”
“Yeah, I didn’t know what you wanted, so I ordered halves of a few different types.”
She picks up a slice with the pineapples and ham.
“Hawaiian?” I say, my eyebrows shooting up. “Didn’t see that coming. I ordered that for me. I thought you’d want the others.”
“I love the sweetness of the pineapple with the salty ham.”
She takes a big bite and groans. The noise does a little something in my chest, and I shift in my seat.
“I also got you coffee,” I say, my voice oddly strained.
“Seriously?” she asks around a mouthful of food.
“I made you a promise. This was the biggest cup I could get you.”
She’s already chugging a few sips before I can finish my sentence.
“Sweet, sweet coffee. Oh, how I missed you.” Her eyes meet mine through the wafts of steam. “You’re the best, Tris. Thank you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I say, my neck heating. “What’s the plan after we eat?”
“Ask me when I’m done. I’m focusing on one thing at a time.”
I glance down, noticing she’s on her fourth slice of pizza. Where on earth does it go? She has no meat on her body. Even the neckline of my shirt hangs off one of her creamy shoulders. Like a magnet, my eyes zero in on that one spot, unable to look away. It’s the perfect spot for me to kiss.
Or her nose. Mmm. Her lips, even in the pizza lip gloss.
“Tristen?” She waves a hand in front of my face. “Where did you go?”
“Why are you wearing my shirt?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. I threw this in my bag before I knew you were coming. It was within easy reach and clean.” She tilts her head. “But didn’t you give it to me? So isn’t itmyshirt now?”
“I let you borrow it like you borrowed the tools from Lewis.”
She lets out a huff before taking another big gulp of coffee. “I hope you aren’t asking me to take off my shirt again. Once was weird enough. It better not become a habit.”
I cough, nearly choking on my bite of pizza. That escalated quickly.
“Please keep your shirt on. Wow. That’s a phrase I didn’t expect to be saying today.”
