His brows lift, calling out my bullshit. “You totally avoid me.”
“No!”I do.I shrug. “Okay, maybe a little.”
“I knew it.” His smile dims. “Am I really that annoying to be around?”
“You’re not annoying.” I sigh. “At least, not all the time.”
“Then, what is it?” His grin is back. “Am I too charming?”
“Oh, God,” I groan.
“Too handsome?”
“Too egotistical,” I fire back, smiling in spite of myself.
“Sure, but that can’t be the real reason.”
“It’s not.”
“Then, why?”
I shrug, forcing myself to hold his stare so I won’t appear as weak as I feel. “You’re just . . . distracting.”
“I make you nervous.” It’s not a question.
“It’s not that.”
“Then, what?”
“Whenever you’re around I feel . . . unraveled. And I don’t like feeling that way.”
“You like control.” He states the obvious.
“Ineedcontrol.”
“Well, I recall a time when you let yourself be a little wild.” He holds up his hands and continues before I can object. “I think you should give yourself permission to do that every once in a while.” He nods toward the creek. “Which is why we’re going in there.”
“The creek?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He reaches for the hem of his shirt and pulls it up a few inches. “How do you feel about skinny dipping?”
“Absolutely not.” I laugh.
“I thought you’d say that.” He grins, pulling his shirt back inplace and squats to roll up his jeans. “Which is why we’re catching crawdads. The only thing you’ll have to expose is your ankles.”
“Why are we catching crawdads?” I wince. “We aren’t going to eat them for dinner, are we?”
“No. It’s just for fun.”
“Fun,” I repeat.
“Yeah, fun. Something you deserve to have more often.” He finishes rolling his jeans and pushes to his feet. He reaches out a hand to help me up. When I don’t immediately take it, he studies me with a frown. “You never caught crawdads as a child?”
“No.” I almost laugh. There aren’t a plethora of creeks or crawdads in the city.
“Well, it’s never too late to start.”
I place my hand in his and he tugs me to my feet, then we make our way to the creek. Jackson wades into an area where there is a small pool of water.
