“Is that a get lost look?” Kevin asked.
Weston laughed. “What do you think?”
“I think I have your meal pass card in my pocket and I’m about to use it to treat myself.”
Weston shoved his friend. “Fuck off.”
“Worth a shot.” Kevin shrugged. He shoved Weston back before starting towards the exit.
“What?” I asked Weston when he sat in silence across from me. He studied my face, looking for something, and I’m not sure if he found it.
“I want to bring you to the team dinner tonight,” he told me. His hand found mine on the table, but when I frowned, he let it go.
“Why?” I asked while doing my best to keep my voice steady. I didn’t have my plan straight yet. Ari didn’t have time to do her research. I felt like someone had thrown me into a sea without a life raft.
Weston tilted his head to the side. “Did I really blow it?”
I shook my head, looking down at the table for my lie. “No, you didn’t blow it.”
“Really? Because you’re acting strange. Like…” he trailed off.
“Like?” I prompted.
He let out a sigh. In my peripheral, I could see him run his fingers through his hair. “Like you’re afraid of me.”
I looked up then. “I’m not afraid. Just skeptical.”
I could tell by the look on his face he didn’t like the association.
“What can I do to change that?” He asked.
I let out a sigh and whispered, “Honestly, I don’t know. I’m kind of struggling with listening to my gut nowadays.”
“What did I do to trigger a gut reaction?” Weston leaned in closer to create privacy for his next statement. “I thought we had a good time. Seemed like we were really getting along… seemed like we were into each other.”
I took a deep breath before diving deep and confessed, “You’re hiding something dark. I’ve had a bad experience with people telling me half-truths when I asked questions. So, I’m skeptical.”
I paid close attention to how he responded because he couldn’t hide when we were a breath away. His eyes shifted downward briefly. At first, I thought it was because he was too nervous to look me in the face but in reality, my shirt had dipped down because of my leaning. He was at the perfect angle to see the top of my boobs.
“Pay attention,” I told him.
“I am,” he insisted with a smile.
“And stop flirting. I’m trying to be serious.”
He nodded. “I can be serious and check you out at the same time.”
“Can you? Because you’re already derailing the conversation.”
“You think I’m hiding something dark,” he repeated in a serious tone to prove he could focus. “That I’ll draw you in while still hiding.”
My shoulders sagged in relief that he understood. “Yes.”
“You’ll never know unless you ask me. Covee, I like you. I want to give our arrangement a shot. If my word means anything to you, understand from now on, I won’t tell you any half-truths,” he promised. “But, I want something in return. I want to take you to the dinner.”
“I’m not promising to go anywhere with you if I hear answers I don’t like.”
“Fair. Go on and ask me,” Weston rested his chin on his arms and looked up at me. His hair had fallen back into his eyes. Before I realized, I reached out to brush the strands away. I rationalized my gesture as a necessity to see his eyes clearly so I could make sure he was being.
