Page 26
“We have history. We dated almost all of freshman year, and it was serious, Drew.”
“But you broke up.”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t his fault. I . . . I hurt him. And I don’t know. I think I have to find out if we still belong together.”
When Drew didn’t answer, she kept going. “He asked me to dinner Saturday, and I said yes.”
Twelve days ago, Nicole never would have told him any of this. But he was the one who’d gone silent on her, so he didn’t get to expect her to sit around waiting on him. If he planned to stick around, he needed to know what he was walking into.
“Yeah, well, that’s not going to stop me.”
“Stop you from what?”
“Stealing you away from him.”
“Are you serious right now?”
“Dead serious. I know you’re into me. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have gotten off the phone with your ex to talk to me.”
“Maybe I’m just being polite.”
“Or maybe you like me more than you want to admit.”
“Wow. Aren’t we cocky?”
“I was there, Nicole. You don’t kiss a guy like that unless you mean it.”
Rolling onto her stomach, Nicole propped herself on one elbow. “We had a moment. And yes, it was nice.”
“Just nice?”
“More than nice,” she admitted. Then she thought about Saturday, and Cedric, and that took some of the fun out of saying it. “Maybe we shouldn’t have—”
“You regret kissing me?”
Nicole chewed on her bottom lip, wishing she could lie. “No, and that makes me feel like an awful person. I still have to figure things out with Cedric.”
“Damn. That sucks.”
“Says the guy who waited two weeks to call me.”
“I know, and that’s on me.” He went quiet for a second. “I almost didn’t call, you know?” The joking had left his voice.
“Oh yeah? Why not?”
“Because I don’t do this.”
“Do what?”
“Think about somebody this much.”
With her eyes closed and her forehead pressed against her arm, Nicole tried to figure out what the hell to do with this boy. Part of her wanted to call bullshit and tell him she’d heard it all before.
“Drew, we’ve known each other for, what, two weeks? You barely know me, and I barely know you.”
“I know enough. I know I had more fun talking to you at that party than I’ve had in a long time. I know I can’t stop thinking about you. And I know seeing you with Ced today pissed me off, which makes no sense because I’ve got no right to feel that way.”
“What do you want me to say to that?”
