Then she tries again, going for the handle, so I shove myself in front of the door, blocking it with my body.
“You can’t trap me in a bathroom, Kasien.” Her voice is low and sharp.
“Then stop running away,” I reply.
Her eyes widen more with irritation.
“I’m allowed to!”
“No.” Shit. Wrong word. “I mean yes, just not yet. Please.”
She studies me, upset, hurt, and still so gentle.
“Then tell me the truth. Were you ashamed to acknowledge me?”
That hits harder than a punch.
“What? Jesus. No.”
Of course she thinks the worst possible thing.
“So you have a girlfriend?” she asks gently, this time looking even more hurt.
“I definitely don’t,” I answer, not able to hide the little smile because that idea is actually funny to me.
I step closer without meaning to, hands tense at my sides. She crosses her arms tighter, chin lifting with that stubborn fire that kills me.
“Then what was that? At the restaurant? You couldn’t even look at me.”
I can’t look at her now either, because the guilt physically hurts. Yet I can’t stop looking.
“I panicked.” My voice comes out rough.
She raises an eyebrow.
“That’s the truth,” I mutter, stepping even closer until she has to tilt her chin up.
“I swear.” I force my voice to be softer. “I’m so sorry.”
I would gladly get on my knees to make myself even smaller, but that would probably be weird as fuck.
She hesitates, just for a heartbeat. And I feel it—the shift, the crack in her defenses. Her expression softens and my stomach is flipping over once again. The music is blasting behind the door but it’s getting more and more muffled as I look at her, the world around us slowly dissolving.
Her eyes flick down to my mouth for half a second.
That’s it, that’s the moment.
The oxygen in the room changes. The floor tilts. Everything inside me lights up like a fuse.
But she suddenly shoots her hand behind me, reaching for the handle once more, so I slam my back on the door again.
“I’m supposed to get a kiss,” I blurt out.
The sharp edge in her eyes blurs, her shoulders sink just a bit and her fingers tighten around the hem of her dress.
The confidence from a second ago melts off her face and the same shy, nervous girl from my car looks back at me.
She swallows, her gaze dropping to my chest and then climbing slowly back up to my eyes, like she has to drag it there. Her lips are close to mine because she’s wearing heels. She’s so close I could grab her neck and kiss her right now.
