“I’d like to get out of here sometime today. Could you two tone down the chatter so we can finish up? I need you standing over there, cat lady, and you next to her, richie rich.”
“Cat lady?” I mouth at Wilder. She shrugs, shaking her head, and zips into position. Almost as eager as I am to get this shit over with and part ways. The roller coaster of emotions we’ve been riding together is getting to be a bit much. Not to mention the overwhelming noise and chaos of the day. All I want to do is get home, put on my headphones and hide out in my room for the rest of the day.
Except. My sister is coming over for our Sunday night house dinner. And my oblivious morning self invited Luna to join us as well. So much for my quiet night of solitude.
Chapter 18
Unfiltered & Off Script
Luna
I’mrubbingmyhandstogether, trying to ease the nervous flutter in my stomach. Why am I so nervous about this? Right, because I let my irritation get the better of me and snapped at Beau. Now I’m going to ask him a favor. I’m not sure what got over me, but I think things were getting too close to friendly for my liking, so I lashed out. It was a flippant comment, but he looked genuinely hurt by my words.
His head is bent, concentrating on the bottle of hand sanitizer he’s squirting onto a palm as he steps out of the dressing room. So engrossed he doesn’t notice me standing there, shifting from one foot to the other.
I clear my throat, and he fumbles the bottle. We both reach out to catch it, hockey instincts kicking in, and end up bumping shoulders and missing the thing entirely. It clatters to the floor as if to sound out our failure.
Instead of reaching down to grab it, his hand closes around my biceps to steady me. I shiver at the warmth spreading through my arm at his touch.
“What’s up, Wilder? You stalking me again?”
I take a step back, ducking down to pick up the tiny bottle. I need to break the contact with him. My words get all tangled up in my throat when he’s touching me. I can’t think straight.
“No. But I wanted to apologize.”
He tilts his head, reaching a hand up to comb his fingers through his slicked-back hair. My eyes track that hand, then drop back to his chest to avoid direct eye contact. He doesn’t seem to be a fan, and neither am I. He’s much better at pretending than I am, though, so if I didn’t have the same problem, I don’t think I’d have noticed.
If I was expecting him to make this easier for me, he’s not going to. He lets the weighty silence hang between us until I wrangle my words. “I shouldn’t have said that to you. I have no idea what it’s like to be you. I shouldn’t have assumed.”
When I gather the courage to look up at him, he leaves me hanging. The smug smile painted on his face makes me want to reassess my judgment. Maybe he really is the cocky rich boy happy to humble me.
“And?” he asks.
“And what?”
“You said you wanted to apologize, but that wasn’t an apology.”
Why does he have to be so freaking obnoxious? “What?” I replay the words in my head. Right. “You’re a bit of a dick, you know?”
“I know.” His words are broken up by laughter.
“I’m sorry. You happy?”
“I’m delighted. And it’s fine. I’m used to it.”
His confession twists the vice around my heart even tighter.
“We good now?” He shifts on his feet as if he’s about to leave, but I’ve got another question for him. The one that’s harder tovoice than the apology was. I shoot out an arm, placing a palm on his chest to stop him from stepping past me.
“One more thing.”
He eases back on his heels. “Uh huh. Need a ride home?”
“Umm, well maybe. Is there any way I can come home with you?”
His smirk blooms into a full smile that crinkles the corners of his eyes and shows off the perfect, shiny white teeth. There’s a solid chance those teeth resulted from thousands of dollars of dental work. Might not be a literal million-dollar smile, but I’m sure there are at least five figures invested in it. But that doesn’t make it any less appealing.
“You want to come home with me, Wilder? Do you really think that’s a good idea?” His tone drips with honey and heat.
