Page 22 of Forever With You

“Nope.”

“Huh,” he murmured. A distant look crept into his features.

My fingers stilled. “You have?”

One shoulder rose after a moment. “I did once before. Apparently I was wrong.” The smile reappeared and was quickly gone. “Way wrong.”

“So ... like I said, you don’t like to get close.”

“No,” he countered with a frown. “That’s not the case.”

I arched a brow as I laughed softly. “Okay. Whatever.” Unfurling my legs, I stretched them out in front of me. As I wiggled my toes, I could feel his gaze on me, and even though I told myself not to, I glanced over. Our gazes met briefly, and then I looked away, swallowing. “By the way, I accept your apology.”

“You do?” he asked softly.

Refusing to look at him, I stared at my socks. “I still think you’re a dick, though.”

“Kind of hard to believe you really accept my apology if you think that.”

“Well, it helps that you’re really attractive. I’m shallow like that.” I was lying. I wasn’tthatshallow, but I enjoyed his reaction.

A surprise laugh burst out of him. “I feel like I’m being exploited over here.”

“Don’t let my shallowness mean more than it does,” I advised, fighting a grin.

“So I guess that means you—­”

“If that sentence has anything to do with sex, I suggest not finishing it.”

Nick chuckled. “Actually, I was going to say I guess that means you ...” He trailed off, and when I peeked at him, he had the most boyish grin I’d ever seen on a guy his age. “Okay, I lied. Totally had to do with sex.”

Smoothing my hands over my face, I hid my grin. “You ... you are terrible.”

“Possibly.” A heartbeat passed. “I like the hair, just FYI.”

Luckily my hands were still on my face, so he didn’t see my smile grow. I’d forgotten that I had put my hair in pigtail braids when I got home. “Thanks,” I said, my voice muffled by my hands.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked.

“Sure.” I lowered my hands, twisting toward him.

He dipped his chin, causing that damn lock of hair to sweep across his forehead. “You were staring at me earlier, weren’t you?”

Dammit. I tried to fight it, but I felt warmth creeping up my neck. “You’re so arrogant. I was not staring at you earlier.”

“You say arrogant, and I say observant.” Nick shifted before I could respond, reaching between us and tugging one of my braids. He tugged gently, his fingers curling around the braid. “You and I cool?”

It took me a moment to answer and I wasn’t even sure why. Deep down, I already knew the answer, so I forced it out. “Yeah, we are.”

“Good.” He slid his fingers down, smoothing them over the loop, drawing my attention, and I was helpless to not watch his fingers work their way down. “Will I see you at Mona’s again?”

Drawing in a short breath, I lifted my gaze, but he was staring at my braid. “Maybe.”

“Say yes.”

My heart was starting to beat faster. “Yes.”

“That was easy.”

---