“Why?”
Nova’s attention snaps toward me, and she raises her eyebrows. “I just told you.”
“No.” I drum a finger against my arm. “Why are youtryingto look cute today?”
I’d like to believe it’s because of me and the promised lesson. But I know her. More than she probably knows herself.
She’s not dressing up for me.
Nova sighs with a slump of her shoulders, defeat written across her face. She inches toward me while saying, “I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Yeah?”
“Brandon texted me after you left my room.” She smiles, and while normally I love seeing that look on her face, this time I don’t so much, and I feel like an asshole because of it.
Nova’s lips move, but I don’t hear a word. Not when I’m fantasizing about finding Brandon, kidnapping the motherfucker, and torturing him until he takes his last, rattling breath.
A light touch brings me out of the imaginary bloodbath. Nova rests her palms on my chest and leans forward, forcing me to look into her pretty eyes.
“Did you hear what I said?” she murmurs.
“Sorry. Can you repeat that?” I fist my hands until my knuckles turn white. It’s all I can do to stop myself from grabbing a fistful of her hair and kissing the fuck out of her.
“He wants to meet up with me at the fair later today.” Her grin stretches across her face.
I keep my features neutral so she doesn’t figure out that I’m already game for whatever she has planned. Maybe it’s because I want her to continue touching me and buttering me up. PerhapsI like her looking at me with those puppy eyes, silently begging me to help her. Not that it’s needed.
Nova huffs and slips her arms around my neck. “Will you please go with me? To make him jealous, I told him you’re taking me. It worked, but I don’t want him to call my bluff if you don’t show up with me.”
I lose the battle of keeping a straight face as a grin forms. “It made him jealous, huh? And what exactly did you tell him?”
“I told you already.” She frowns.
Tsking, I unfold my arms and settle my hands on her hips to hold her in place. “Telling a guy that your boyfriend is taking you to the fair doesn’t work to make him jealous.” I lean down and stop right before my lips touch hers. “So what did you really say to him?”
She averts her gaze for a moment. Pink tinges her cheeks with a soft blush. “He asked if I was ditching him for you.”
“And?” My chest tightens.
“I said it’s hard to do anything when my boyfriend can’t stop touching me all the time.” She cringes and peeks at me from beneath her lashes, likely seeing if I’m upset she implied we slept together.
Laughter bursts from me, and I throw my head back while covering my face with my palm. “Yeah,” I say through cackles. “Causing him to picture all the filthy things I’d do to you would definitely make a man jealous.”
She’s quiet for a moment, still clinging to me and tracing invisible symbols on my nape. “What do you think he pictured?”
“It’s hard to tell since I’m not him.” I recover and drop my hand from my face. Her expression has me pausing and studying it, needing to pick it apart and understand why she’s looking at me with disappointment in her eyes.
“Right.” She loosens her hold.
I crush her against my chest, not allowing her to escape. Call me greedy for her touch, I don’t care. “I’ll go with you.”
Nova’s features brighten. “Really? Thank you so much!”
She giggles like I just told her the best news she’s heard in years.
“So what was that text about, by the way?” Nova steps back and glances at my shorts, specifically where I slipped my phone into my pocket.
While I didn’t plan on telling her about the message, even though we talk about everything, it may benefit me to do so. She’s eager to help me because of this deal, and I selfishly want to find different ways of being with her.
