“Yes.” I roll my eyes as I march toward the kitchenette. I need that caffeine. “Nothing else happened. I’m assuming that you heard Jake and I were kissing.”
“Making out.”
“Jesus. Maybe I do want to move to the city because the gossip in this town is ridiculous. No, I wasn’t kissing Jake. Or making out with Jake.” She chuckles, which eases some of the tension from my shoulders.
When I walk through the threshold. I stop in my tracks, finding Jake leaning against the counter with his hands shoved into his pockets. Watching me. “I need to go. I’ll talk to you later.” I hang up before she replies. “Is something wrong?”
“I want to apologize.” He shoves off the counter.
“Don’t.” I raise my hand to ward him off. “You don’t need to apologize. You haven’t done anything–”
“I believe I do. Somehow, I’ve done something that’s given you the impression that I’m interested in Amanda, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. I didn’t go home with her last night or bring her to my place.”
“Right. Well…” The hair on my arms stands as he strides closer. “I should check on Dale.”
“And for some reason, you seem to think that I don’t find you attractive.” He cups my face and tilts my head back until I don’t have a choice but to close my eyes or be brave and meet his stare straight on.
I brace my shoulders and inhale. Holy fuck. The heat in his eyes makes my legs quake. When he licks his lips, his gaze dips to my mouth.
“Don’t. Let’s pretend like nothing happened and go back to ignoring each other.”
“No.” His fingertips tighten on my skin. “I need you to listen to me for a second. Just listen, and if you don’t believe me, then I’ll walk out of here and we can go back to pretending there’s nothing between us.”
My heart skips a beat. The raw vulnerability on his face gives me pause, so I wait.
“I didn’t go to Amanda’s place when I was back that Christmas either. I haven’t been with her since we broke up back in high school.”
“But–”
“Just listen for a second.” He’s too fucking good-looking for his own good.
“Fine.” I fight the urge to roll my eyes.
“That’s better.” The corners of his lips curve upward, and my toes curl.
He could say anything to me, and I’d fall for it. It’s pathetic, but I can’t stop the inevitable from happening. He’s the kind of guy who knows exactly what to say to a girl to get her to believe him.
“She did contact me that weekend, but I told her I wasn’t interested. Kaleb and Spencer might’ve thought I was going to see her, but that’s not why I left. I left because if I spent another second there, I’d have punched Spencer in the face for coming on to you. I knew his reputation and had spent the day trying to convince him that you were too young for him.”
He strokes his thumbs along my cheekbones as his minty breath fans across my face. The heat from his body warms me until my cheeks feel flushed.
“It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Yes, it does.” His thumb caresses my bottom lip, stopping me from speaking. I glance toward the next room, but there’s no sign of Dale. “I told him that because I wanted you for myself.”
“No, you didn’t.” I jerk backward, rocking back on my heels. He lets me go only to wrap his hand around the back of my neck and tuck a strand of hair behind my ear with the other.
“Yes, I did.”
“No. You. Didn’t.” Anger swirls through me at his words. How dare he make fun of me. “I don’t want to be placated or treated like a child.” I jerk out of his grip and cross my arms over my chest. “Just because you feel sorry for me or something is not a reason to play games with me.”
“I’m not playing any games.” He rakes a hand through his hair as he paces in front of the kitchen cabinets.
“I was there. I know you weren’t interested in me.”
The door to the kitchenette shuts as Dale flips on the television in the adjacent room. If I weren’t so pissed off, I’d be embarrassed yet again. But I don’t have enough energy to devote to an audience.
“You don’t have any idea what was going on in my head.” I back up as he stalks toward me until my back hits the wall. “I ignored you because I wanted you, and your brother would’ve had my nuts in a sling if I didn’t handle things right.”
