“Some accident,” he mutters, finally straightening to his full height. Damn. I forgot how tall and broad he is. “You always did have impeccable aim.”
I threw up on him at one of my college parties that Micha dragged him to. Yep. Lovely reminder.
I roll my eyes at him. “And you always did have a flair for dramatic reactions.” I adjust my purse strap, distancing the weapon from potential repeat offenses. “What are you doing back in town? Are you visiting your parents or simply stalking me down for another kiss?”
My eyes close, and I blow out a slow breath. I didn’t want to mention that night to him but seeing him has me frazzled for some reason. He chuckles lightly, and my eyes slowly peel open, mortification crawling up my face, making my skin itchy and hot.
“No. Sorry to disappoint you on that. I just moved back.”
“Oh.” I do some sort of owl blink. “I hadn’t heard.”
The streetlight catches in his hair, turning it the color of wheat fields in late summer, and his square jawline has the type of stubble I imagine would tickle my hand and feel deliciously scandalous against my inner thighs. Not that I’d ever know, and I certainly won’t be finding out. Unfortunately, he’s ridiculously gorgeous and wears it with the confidence and arrogance of a man who knows it.
“It was a quick decision. You look…” He trails off, his gaze taking me in fully for the first time.
“Amazing,” I finish for him.
“Different is what I was going to say.”
I frown before I can stop it, and I hate that’s my first reaction. This is why I left Josh. This is why I’m working on myself and rewiring my brain.
“Different is not a compliment, and you’re staring,” I point out, one eyebrow arched.
His hand rubs the back of his head, and a slow smirk curls up his lips. “I’m shocked to see you, I guess. And I’m not going to compliment you.”
I bristle. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re Micha’s sister. Whatever I want to say, I shouldn’t. I’m trying to reconcile the girl who kissed the hell out of me with the woman standing before me, and I’m struggling a bit with that.” He gestures vaguely at me.
“Hey! You kissed me first, and I didn’t kiss the hell out of you.”
His smirk grows into a devilishly seductive smile, and heruns his thumb along his bottom lip in a bastardly distracting way. “I beg to differ.”
My jaw drops. “Are you intentionally trying to be a jerk and embarrass me?”
“Are you actually this immature and easy to rile? It was a simple, drunk kiss. A mistake. Nothing to be embarrassed about.”
I hate all of that for far too many reasons, and it naturally raises my hackles. “Just a mental note for your future. Women don’t generally love it when you call us immature and a mistake. It makes you sound not only like a condescending dick but also a total asshole. Besides, you just said I kissed the hell out of you. Which is it?”
“Both. You kissed the hell out of me, and it was a mistake.”
I cross my arms, holding the box of chocolates closer. “Now that we’ve cleared that up, I’m going to go. I’m twenty-five minutes late.” Except I don’t move, and I don’t know why. I kind of want to kick him in the shins for what he said to me, yet there’s a part of me that wants to see what he’ll say next.
“Yes. I should, too. I’m meeting some people in there as well.” He doesn’t move to leave either.
“Small circles in our world. Anyone I know?” Micha is in Sudan, so I know it’s not him.
His lips twitch. “My brother and a few other guys. Yeah, you know them. A couple are your cousins.”
“That’s who I’m meeting up with too. Though likely different people from you because I’m not meeting up with Alden.”
“He’s too old for you anyway.”
I laugh lightly. “So are you.”
His eyes round as if he’s now realizing our age difference. “Very true. But you’re not so young anymore, despite how Micha still speaks about you.” He clears his throat and notesthe candy in my arms. “That’s a lot of chocolate. From your boyfriend?”
For some reason, I don’t want to answer him. Micha knows I broke up with Josh recently, as I moved into his house after I moved out of Josh’s apartment. But the last thing I want to talk about with Aston Hughes is my ex-boyfriend or the fact that my parents sent me a Valentine’s Day present because of him.
