Page 114 of Scoring Lessons

Real smooth, Wesley. Jesus.

“Okay…” She stared at me. “You say you’re not acting weird, and then you go and follow up with a random comment?”

“Yes.” I lifted my chin in defiance. “I’m allowed to have an opinion.”

She scoffed with a slight shake of her head. “You are unbelievable.” She looked over my shoulder, trying to make her escape, and before I could get another word in, she took off.

Well…fuck.

So much for trying to get the girl.

THIRTY

OLIVIA

LET ME BREAK THE RULE.

The drive back home was deadly silent.

My brother and Kennedy decided to keep Daisy with them for the weekend because they were thinking about getting a dog, and since Captain Sushi and Daisy got along—oddly enough—what better way than to get the grumpy cat used to having a dog around than with his only pet friend?

She was excited to go with them, and though I felt nothing short of betrayed, I let her.

It was late when we stepped into the apartment building. The only sounds were our steps against the granite flooring.

Wesley used his key fob to get access to the touchscreen and press our floor, then he crossed his arms, still refusing to acknowledge my existence.

One step forward, two steps back. It was a dance we’d gotten rather good at these past few months. And to be quite frank, I was sick of it.

I cracked under the suffocating silence. “Is this what we’re doing now?”

His jaw tightened. Not a single word came out of his mouth.

“Lovely,” I muttered to myself.

Whatever moment passed between us at the apartment was clearly long gone, and now here we were standing in this bottomless pit again.

We stepped into the elevator, and when the doors shut, he let out a quiet sigh.

“Okay, this is ridiculous.” I pressed the emergency stop button of the elevator and faced him. “If you have something to say, fucking say it, Wesley.”

“You promised,” he rasped, still avoiding my gaze.

I remained quiet, waiting for him to continue speaking.

He finally had the decency to look at me. His eyes shone with something wild, unrestrained. Whatever I did, it was clear it had hurt him. My heart cracked at the sight. “Whenever either one of us was ready to start dating or whatever, we promised to tell one another so we could stop this.”

“I know⁠—”

He raised his arms, exasperated. “So, why were you flirting with that guy?”

“I was being nice!” I exclaimed.

“Nice would be saying something kind, maybe a small smile. Not laugh like he was doing stand-up comedy. He doesn’t even look like he’s funny!”

I rubbed my temple in annoyance as I leaned against the elevator mirror. “You are so frustrating and confusing.”

His body was suddenly too close to mine. He rested the palms of his hands against the mirror and leaned forward, caging me in. I must have been losing my mind, because I liked it when he invaded my space. He smelled like something warm and crisp. His lips were so close to mine, and I wanted nothing more than to get a taste.