Page 24 of The Very First Night

I think on it for a second, realizing that Tanner might have a point. Whatever—it’s not like I was actually expecting someone to attack me. He just snuck up on me.

“Agree to disagree,” I say with a chuckle.

“Yeah, yeah.” Tanner rolls his eyes in amusement before his humored expression is replaced by something else, something unreadable. His eyes travel around the room, clearly attempting to find something to look at that isn’t me.

“Are you okay?” I ask with genuine concern in my voice.

“Oh, uh…yeah.” Tanner clears his throat before walking over to the wall and flipping on the ceiling fan. “This house is sweltering, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty brutal. I don’t know how you guys have been doing this for days.”

“Meh, I’ve lived through worse.”

“Is something wrong?” I ask tentatively.

“No, no…um.” He gestures to my body.

I look down and notice that the sweltering heat has caused me to sweat profusely, and my camisole sits low on my breasts, clinging to my damp flesh like a second skin. The chill from the fan has caused my barely covered nipples to harden and they now unavoidably poke through the fabric.

“Oh geez,” I say as I cross my arms over my chest, only to realize that covering my nipples only pushes my boobs further out. I keep adjusting myself, trying to figure out how to be a sliver more modest, to no avail. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, I don’t mind. Doesn’t bother me one bit. However, it seems to bother you… Here.” Tanner pulls his T-shirt over his head and hands it to me. My expression must give my thoughts away as he laughs, “It’s not sweaty, you big baby. I just put it on.”

I pull it over my head without questioning him. I’ll admit, I feel a lot better now that I’m covered up.

“Better?” he asks. I nod in response. “Good. What’s got you up so late?”

“Couldn’t sleep. Someone broke the air conditioning.”

“I don’t like what you’re implying, Katarina.”

“Just Kat,” I say, attempting to be stern, but a smile invades my lips as I say it.

“Oh yes. Just Kat.” He says my name in a way that perplexes me, like there is some other meaning to the word. “But no kidding, it’s hot as balls in this house.”

Tanner walks to the fridge and pulls a pint of ice cream out of the freezer door. He holds it up in question.

“Yes, please.”

He reaches past me and grabs two spoons, one teaspoon and one tablespoon, before extending the smaller of the two to me, earning himself a grin.

“I’ve always preferred those ones,” I say as I snatch it out of his hand playfully.

“Lucky guess.” Tanner opens the ice cream container to reveal a fresh, untouched pint of rocky road.

“My favorite!” I immediately dig my spoon into the perfectly smooth surface of deliciousness and then shove the massive scoop of ice cream into my mouth.

He stares at me with a puzzled expression on his face.

“What?” I say through my mouthful of ice cream.

His face contorts again, except this time his lips form a smile. “Nothing, you’re just really hot when you talk with your mouth full like that,” he says, dodging my arm as I swat at him. He digs his spoon into the other side of the rocky road.

“Shut up,” I laugh.

He simply shrugs as he slowly chews through the chunks of chocolate.

We stand side by side, leaning against the cool countertop. The only sound in the room is the scraping of our spoons against the cardboard container as we try to get every last bit of the rocky road.

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