Dammit, I was going to fall for her if I said yes. Problem was, I was going to fall for her if I said no, too. I felt heat creeping up my neck, but I kept it cool as I said, “For a dance? I’d be happy to show you a few moves if you’re not too busy thinking about Abby.”
She laughed, blushing deeper now, as she tucked a lock of hair back behind her ear, looking up at me through her lashes. “You can… show me whatever kind of moves you want to. But I’ll take a shower first, too, if that’s okay. I mean, I’m a bit gross.”
“Hmm. All right.” I tugged lightly on her shirt, and she giggled. “First showers. Then a dance.”
“I can’t wait,” she whispered, and it sent chills down my spine.
Yeah, neither could I.
Chapter 25
Alyssa
Iwas freaking out. I freaked out while I waited for Jade to finish her shower, and I freaked out while I was taking my shower too. And then, just when I’d gotten the freakout slightly under control, I stepped out of the shower to find a text from Daniela on my phone, and I stood next to the earth-brown tiles of the sink, toweling off while I read it.
Cat’s feeling a bit better. I am SO sorry about stealing the car. You can come back around whenever you want to, she’s also super apologetic about the whole thing and wants to see you again! I’m making dinner to make it up to you.
Well, so she said, but she made dinner for me just about every day. Made me dinner, provided me a home, was helping me find a job, and the moment she turned away to look after somebody else, I was having sex with the girl she liked. Jesus. I wasn’t making it into heaven.
I knew what Ishouldhave done. Ishouldhave told hergreat, I’ll be back soon,and then gone and told Jade I had to see Daniela and that I was really sorry, and then I should have played it cool and absolutelynothad sex with Jade. But I wasn’t sure I’d ever wanted something in the way I wanted to touch Jade, to cherish her, and—well, to have something proper, not aquick public fuck against a wall hidden in the bushes. I couldn’t believe I’d even done that.
So I told myself it would be just this once. Because things always ended up beingjust this oncewhen you told yourself they were.
Jade’s already making dinner for the two of us here, so I think I might just stay over here tonight, if that’s okay?
She dashed out a quick reply.This is how it always is when I try to get a boardgame group together. Nobody suffers like Daniela Holman.
Jesus, she was joking, but she’d probably feel serious about it if she found out what I was actually doing here. I wasnotthinking about it. I couldn’t. Not now. I’d give Jade everything tonight, and then tomorrow I’d think responsible thoughts.
I groaned as I put my clothes back on—I’d brought an extra pair of underwear, thank god, just because I was paranoid about packing underwear, but everything else was still dirty hiking clothes. I guess the situation was never perfect. I dressed how I could, and when I left the bathroom, I heard music streaming out from the living room, where my heart jumped at the sight of Jade, leaning against the window, looking out over the valley at night. She was so impossibly gorgeous, even dressed casually like this, a dark red henley and leggings, the strong lines of her jaw and the profile of her nose highlighted against the glow through the window. She glanced over at me, and my heart skipped a beat when her eyes met mine.
“All better?” she said, her voice low, almost disappearing under the music as she pushed off from the wall, strode over towards me. I flashed back to high school dance, to the nerves waiting to see if my crush would ask me to dance. Only this time, she was.
“My clothes are still icky, so I apologize in advance.”
“They’re not exactly dancing clothes either. I’m a bit bigger than you, but if you don’t mind a loose fit, you could wear something of mine.”
I swallowed a nervous flutter. “I… don’t mind a loose fit.”
She smirked, and I let out a tiny, needy whisper when she kissed my cheek. “One second, then,” she said, and she pushed into the bedroom for a minute before she came back with a button-up shirt she held out for me. “Here.”
“Oh, um, thank you. I think my jeans are what are dirtiest, though.”
“It’s a long shirt. Call it a dress.”
Okay. I could do that. I giggled nervously as I took the shirt. “Well… if you insist.”
“Trust me that I do.”
I kept giggling like an idiot as I slipped into the bathroom and got changed, pulling on the shirt that smelled as much like cedar and pine as Jade did. It was a nice, solid flannel, green and brown check, and it was definitely too long to be a shirt but too short to be a dress. Not that I minded that right now. The appreciative look Jade gave me when I got back to the living room with her only made it better, and I turned, shyly, showing it off.
“Fashion icon, right?” I said. “Should I do a runway walk?”
“God, you’re so fucking perfect,” she breathed, and it sent tingles all through my body. I swallowed nervously.
“You too.” I held out a hand. “So, um… may I have a dance?”
She slipped her hand into mine. “I was hoping you’d ask,” she said, her eyes gleaming, and I’d never wanted to kiss someone so badly. She led me towards the center of the floor, where she’d cleared a space with the furniture pushed to the edges, and I fumbled as she led me into a slow rhythm, not a dance yet so much as a step. Abby had shown me somethingsimilar, so I managed to keep up, but I already knew Jade was a whole different class.
