“This is the last time,” I say. “I swear.”
“Yeah.” He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Fine.”
I gather my hair over my neck and turn. And this time, he gets it on the first try, tugging so hard it unzips halfway down my back.
“Thanks.” I scuttle back into my fitting room, pulling the curtain closed behind me as he goes back into his own fitting room.
“You should get those jeans, by the way,” I say as I shimmy out of my dress.
“I’m going to.”
“Oh. Okay.”
I hear fabric rustling and pause.
“Are you trying something else on?” I ask.
A long beat of silence.
“Yeah,” he says. “Just some shirts.”
I slip one of the T-shirts over my head.
“Shirts, plural?” I ask. “You need more than one?” We’re only extending this trip by a day.
“They’re on sale. There’s a discount if you buy three. And I can use them. For work.”
I wish I didn’t find that endearing.
“Did my dad manage to find anything?”
“Yeah. He did. He’s out there, waiting near the front.”
I pull on a pair of jeans that are absolutely too tight and discard them, reaching for another.
“You were right before,” Jacob says. “This morning.”
“I was?”
More fabric rustling.
“Yeah,” he says. “We should talk about it.” He clears his throat. “There’s obviously an…attraction between us. But I don’t think it’s wise for us to act on it.”
I look at the cloth partition that separates us. “Right. You said as much before, but I don’t get it.” I pause. “Though you don’t need to explain. If you’re not into it, or something, I’m not trying to convince you—”
“Neelu.” His low voice sends goosebumps up my arms. “Clearly I was into it.”
My stomach flips.
“I only think…you’re only here for one more night. You’re leaving tomorrow. And isn’t this complicated enough as it is?”
He has a point. “Yeah. No. I get it.”
He goes quiet again. “And it’s not that…that Idislikeyou. It’s only…I don’t think we see eye to eye.”
I snort. “Right.” I button up a new pair of jeans.
“Do you…don’t you think so?” he asks.
