He shakes his head and points to the extended burger.
“It’s because mine’s flat, isn’t it?”
He laughs. “Don’t leave me hanging.”
I secure my burger with both hands, then lift it toward the center until it taps Kai’s. “Cheers?”
Our eyes meet, and a new dose of hope blooms in my chest.
“Cheers.”
Chapter Four
Day2
Kaiand I didn’t talk any more about our past last night.
Colt Findley put an end to the date as soon as our food was gone and gave us strict instruction as he did.“You two will interact only when we give you the say-so,”he warned, and then told us to “stay tuned” for more instruction about tomorrow’s date.
Kai walked me to my room then, leaned a hand on the doorframe, and set those big brown eyes on me. In turn, I adjusted the frumpy romper, apologized that he couldn’t attend the bonfire I was hosting to put the thing in flames, and then awkwardly thanked him for the fun night.
It’s day two now. I swish the blush brush over my favorite palette and swirl it along my cheekbones, one after the next. I do a standard rule check as I follow my usual makeup routine by asking myself two simple things.
One: Have I been guarding my heart so far? The answer to that is, not really. Not consciously, anyway. In fact, when we started talking about Nate, I’m pretty sure I was about to pour my heart out before Colt Findley interrupted us.
I admit that I can do better in that area.
The next question follows. Have I been guarding my lips? I’d be cheating if I said yes because it hadn’t been necessary. It probably wouldn’tbecomenecessary either.
That thought is a significant blow to my ego. In fact, it’s more than an ego blow. It feels like Mimi the Clown is tying my intestines into balloon animals.
A pained sigh pushes its way through my chest. The idea that Kai might havezerointerest in kissing me is soul-crushing! Which makes me wonder how tightly I’m holding onto these rules of mine. Maybe I only came up with the kissing rule to protect myself in case Kai wasn’t interested.
Ouch.Mimi is reaching for my lungs now, threatening to close them off with one quick tie. I push my thoughts aside and reach for my lip gloss—enough rule checking for now.
I barely get the lip gloss wand to my lips when the bell sounds over the speakers.
“Good morning, bunny bunny boo boos! Colt Findley here. They say that breaking up is hard to do, but do you know what else is hard to do?Wakingup. Which is why I recorded this lovely date prompt last night after I got done with my waitressing shift. Can you believe some goofy-eyed jock refused to tip me last night?”
I twist the lid back onto my gloss and hurry to the dresser, determined to wear my own clothes this time.
“Any-who,” Colt continues. “Get ready to dig into your feels today, kids, because you’ve got a crepes and couples counseling date in the library in justfiveminutes. Oh, and you didn’t think we were going to let you wearyourclothes today, did you? Check the locker in your wardrobe to see if our little elf has been naughty or nice. Ciao!”
A groan pulls from my throat. “Are youkiddingme?” I resist the urge to glare at the corner camera this time because I don’t feel like giving the culprit any satisfaction.
I close the dresser slowly, giving a longing look to the cut-off shorts I planned to wear and drag myself over to the big dumb wardrobe. I can’t believe that I found the massive oak thing enchanting when I first arrived.
I fling it open, glare at the locker mounted in the back, then creak it open as well. My dread and anger vanish when I catch sight of the PJs hanging inside. A pale pink camisole with matching silk shorts and soft, fuzzy slippers.
I thought Colt was kidding about the whole naughty or nice thing, but it turns out the wardrobe troll knows how to be nice after all.
I waste no time changing into the cute jammies and pulling my hair up into a messy bun on the top of my head. I tug down a few wisps for good measure, spray Kai’s favorite body spray into the air, and walk through it nice and slow before speeding into the hall. The final bell buzzes the moment I step into the library through the double doors.
I’m surveying the room from one end to the next when my attention gets dragged to the far corner by the bean bags. A gorgeous creature—tall, tan, and muscular—leans beside one of the bookcases.
I’m pretty sure my heart tries leaping right out of my body to greet him. I mentally reel it back in. Yes, he looks incredible in a pair of loose flannel pajama pants and a white ribbed tank. And yes, that tank top reveals a series of muscled contours that have me recalling the time he started working out and flexing for me while I squeezed his bulging biceps after the gym.
“Good morning,” Kai says, pulling me out of my daze.
