“I listen a lot,” he said simply.“I don’t always talk.”
“I noticed.”Her lips curved.“But you still asked about my work.”
Brick’s gaze softened by a fraction.“You care.About Dillon, about those kids.”
Of all the reactions she’d expected from a man like him, this wasn’t it.There was no derision, dismissal, or condescension.Just recognition.
Her throat tightened.“I do.The foster system’s a mess.Nobody tells you that in school.They tell you about the success stories, the bright outcomes.They don’t tell you about the kids who get swallowed up in it.So I try.Even if it feels like drowning half the time,” Tessa said.
Brick didn’t look away.“You’re good.”
The words hit her deeper than she wanted to admit.“I try to be.”
“No,” he said, voice dropping.“You are.”
Heat spread beneath her skin.Too warm.Too vulnerable.She looked down at the table.“You don’t know me that well,” Tessa muttered.
“I know enough,” he said.
She dared to meet his eyes again.Something tense and unspoken crackled across the space between them.Chemistry, awareness, and possibility.
Brick cleared his throat like he needed the distraction and stabbed another piece of bacon.“You should eat.”
“I’ve been eating,” she said, taking a very deliberate bite of toast.
He made a low sound in his throat that sounded like an impatient growl.It was a little endearing, Tessa decided.
“Not enough,” he muttered.
“Are you worried about me?”Tessa couldn’t help but ask
“No,” he said quickly.“Yes.”
“Brick,” she said.
He glared at her, but it lacked its usual heat.“You didn’t exactly have a peaceful night.”
“I slept fine,” she said, watching him carefully.“Did you?”
Brick didn’t answer.Oh?Was he that worried about her?
Tessa hid her smile behind another sip of juice.“You didn’t, did you?”
“I slept fine,” he grumbled.
Liar.She imagined him tossing on that narrow bed, jaw clenched, trying not to hear her hum through the wall.
“Must’ve been the humming,” she said, seeing the faint pink creep up his neck.“I’ll try to be more quiet tonight.”
“I didn’t hear anything,” he muttered.
Tessa rested her chin in her palm again.“Brick?”
“What?”he grumbled.
“You’re blushing,” Tessa couldn’t help but point out.
It was unfair of her to tease him, but Brick was making it too easy and, besides, she liked seeing this unexpectedly shy side of him.Tessa suspected he seldom showed it to anyone else.
