When my eyes pop open, Garrick is staring at me with dilated pupils, and his lips are slightly parted as he drags a hand through his messy, dark hair. He loudly clears his throat and arches a brow. “Good?”
“Yep.” I attempt to ignore the erratic beating of my heart and the fluttering feeling in my chest as I meet his heated gaze. “In general, the coffee is shit in Oregon compared to Seattle. But Bumble Bees has my heart—and a decent amount of my weekly paycheck,” I add, laughing a little.
“Next to my family, great coffee is the thing I miss most when at college.” Garrick smiles, and it lights up his entire face. “Though you’re right. Bumble Bees is good. I won’t drink coffee from any other local place.”
“Don’t get me started on the shit they try to pass off as coffee on campus.” A shudder works its way through me. “I almost threw up the first day when I tasted it.”
“It’s nasty, for sure.”
Before he can dazzle me with another panty-melting smile, I take a second sip of my coffee and tilt my head to the side. “You didn’t answer me. How come you’re here?” I’m guessing Garrick and Will are friends, but that doesn’t explain Garrick’s motives for showing up at my house with coffee.
“Will and I share a house with two other buddies a few blocks from here. He mentioned he was driving Ellen to campus today, so I thought I’d bum a ride and see if you wanted to come with us?”
Ellen and I usually take turns driving Monday through Wednesday, because our schedules align, but that doesn’t mean I’m comfortable riding with Garrick and Will.
“Thanks, but I’m fine to drive myself.”
The smile doesn’t fade from his face as he says, “Parking is tight on campus, and it’s cleaner for the environment to only have one car on the road.”
“Garrick raises valid points,” Ellen agrees, and I whip my head around, glaring at my treacherous best friend.
All sense of pretense is gone now as she grins at me. “I already checked, and the guys will be leaving the same time as us. We’re on their route home, so it’s a no-brainer.”
“We should hit the road unless we want to drive around for ages trying to locate a parking spot,” Will says, distributing the other coffees. “Let’s make a move.”
* * *
“I thought you were giving up?” I say in a low voice as I sit in the back seat of Will’s SUV, alongside Garrick, heading in the direction of UO.
I drink my coffee as he turns to face me, his knee brushing against mine with the motion. Sincerity oozes from his face as he holds my eyes captive. “I told you I’d back down, and I meant it.” His tongue darts out, licking his lower lip.
That shouldn’t be hot, but it is.
“I never want to make you uncomfortable or disrespect your wishes. You’ve made yourself clear on the dating front.” His lips twitch. “That doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.” A full smile blooms across his mouth. “Our best friends are dating. We’re going to be seeing more of one another, so we might as well make the best of it.”
I stare at him through narrowed eyes, and he chuckles. “Friends? You just want to be friends now?”
He shakes his head, sending strands of dark hair skating across his strong brow. “You know what I want, but I’ll settle for friends if that is all that’s on offer.”
“It is!” I confirm, ignoring the devil whispering naughty thoughts in my ear.
“Okay.” His smile is so wide it threatens to split his face in two.
“Thatisall that’s on offer!” I rub at a tense spot between my brows, hating how flustered I feel in his presence. It is most unlike me, and I don’t like it.
“I know.”
“I hope you do, because if this is some kind of ruse to convince me to date you, it won’t work. I don’t break my rules. I haven’t had a boyfriend since junior year of high school, and even then, the only reason I caved was due to peer pressure. I’m way more assertive now, and I don’t let anyone pressure me into doing something I don’t want to do.”
“Understood.” He flashes me a perfect smile, and I’m torn between wanting to scream at him and kiss him.
Purely to wipe the smug grin from his mouth.
That’s all.
“I mean it,” I warn, scooting over to the door to put as much space between us as possible.
“I’ll be the perfect gentleman, and I promise I won’t hit on you again.” Leaning back against his door, he pins me with a searing-hot look that burns through my flimsy defenses, igniting every part of me. Resolve and confidence are written all over his face, and I feel like the only person in the room not getting the joke.
