She starts to hum along to the end of the song and jumps right into the next one. Her eyes are closed and there’s a faint grin on her lips. She doesn’t say anything else, just sits there quietly and contently as I drive her home.
When I pull into her driveway and park, I release my seat belt and climb from the driver’s seat. I make it to the passenger side and open her door before she’s made a move to exit. I help her out, slinging my arm around her shoulder as I escort her to the door. “Got your keys?” I ask.
She pulls them from her bag and dangles them in front of me.
“Thank you,” I reply, finding the one that unlocks the front door. “Come on, beautiful. Let’s get you inside.”
“I had the best time tonight,” she says, stepping into her house.
The second I cross the threshold, she moves. Like a cheetah, she leaps at me, knocking me back against the door and almost sending us both to the floor. But I’m able to right myself to keep standing. “Are you okay?” I ask, hoping she didn’t injure herself in the shuffle.
“I’m fine,” she declares, leaning her head against my shoulder. “Thanks for catching me.”
I chuckle. “You leaped into my arms.”
“Yeah. Because I knew you’d catch me.”
I press my lips to her forehead, the words I long to say on the tip of my tongue. “I’ll always catch you.”
She sighs, her eyes closed. “I’m tired.”
“We should get you to bed,” I state, walking toward the hallway that leads to her bedroom.
“Yeah.”
When we reach her bedroom, I slowly lower her to the floor. She keeps her arms wrapped around me, holding me tightly. All the things my brother said come flooding to my mind, and I can’t help but wonder if maybe, just perhaps, she actually feels the same way I do. Of course, she has no clue how I really feel because I’ve never told her.
What if…
“I have an idea,” I start, causing her to look up at me. “What if I stayed here tonight. With you.”
I don’t know what I was expecting, but confusion wasn’t it.
She watches me, as if trying to figure out what I just said. “You want to…stay? Here?”
I shrug, as if it’s no big deal, all while my heart is pounding so loudly, I’m sure the neighbors can hear. “Why not?”
“Because we’re just…ya know, fooling around.”
My heart drops to the floor. “I know, but?—”
“No, buts. You wanted casual, right?” she asks, releasing her hold on me and stepping back. The distance is excruciating. “You always do casual.”
“I do, yes,” I confirm.
Until now.
“We have to keep it that way,” she insists, her arms crossed over her chest as she looks anywhere but at me. “That’s what we agreed to.”
I don’t argue with her. No agreement was really made. It was just assumed, in my opinion, which is part of the problem. I haven’t really communicated well because I knew she was nursing a wounded heart and didn’t want anything serious.
At the time, that arrangement was perfect.
I usually don’t do serious either, but somewhere along the way, it started to feel different, and I never told her. Hell, I didn’t even see it myself really, not until someone else slapped me upside the head with their observations. All I know is she wants to keep things casual, and I don’t want to lose her and the friendship we’ve built just because I’ve started to have feelings.
Oh, who am I kidding. Definitely not my brother. Collin saw it. Camden too.
I fell in love with her.
