Page 27 of Mark my Words

She tentatively walked toward me, her teeth still worrying her lip as her eyes darted to where Tay and Caleb had resumed their video game.

“So...”

“We don’t need to have awkward small talk, Sam.”

“Would you just relax for once?” I teased as I bumped my hip against hers. “Maybe I like talking to you.”

“Pfft. Yeah, okay.” Kristine rolled her eyes, and I wanted to kiss her to shut her up. She wasn’t used to letting people in past all that armor. “Because we have so many deep conversations.”

I refrained from commenting on things that had been deep between us but didn’t want to risk our temporary accord for a quick laugh.

“There’s bread on top of the fridge if you want to make toast. I’ll get this going.”

She nodded, stepping away and pushing up onto her tiptoes to reach the loaf of bread, exposing a sliver of her back beneath the hem of my shirt. I should have given her one of my jerseys. That’d be a sight to have Langley splashed across her shoulders. She’d never wear it, and it was a total cliché, but I found myself picturing it, nonetheless.

Whisking the eggs, I kept glancing in her direction, watching her move around our tiny kitchen, finally relaxing a fraction. She was stunning when she let her guard down and let herself be comfortable. I knew it’d probably be short-lived, but I still wanted to peel more layers off that onion. She didn’t realize that she checked all the boxes. She was naturally attractive without trying, took care of herself, seemed to be athletic, competitive, was funny—even when using her vocabulary to eviscerate you—and her work ethic and attention to detail were admirable. When she let down those walls, she was easily the sexiest woman I’d ever been with intimately.

“Stop staring at me. You’re going to burn that.” I blinked, and Kristine smiled, pointing a butter knife toward the skillet I should have been paying attention to instead of watching her.

Quickly flipping the eggs in the pan, I grabbed a few plates from the cabinet above the sink and tried to focus on not burning our breakfast. I was still shocked she’d stayed this long. I’d never expected her to be here when I woke up this morning. She continued to surprise me.

“How’d the dentist go?” she asked quietly, leaning her hip against the counter next to me, waiting for the toast to pop.

“Seriously?” I laughed as I smiled over at her. “What happened to no awkward small talk?”

She returned my smile, shrugging her shoulder a little, looking more approachable than I’d seen her in a long time. “We can stand here in silence if you prefer.”

“It was fine, just a cleaning, but my mom was harassing me to make sure I was taking care of myself.”

“Aww,” she cooed. “Is Sammy a momma’s boy?”

I normally would have cringed at that name coming from someone other than my older sisters, but at least she’d temporarily refrained from the maybe-meat based nickname.

“No,” I laughed. “But if I don’t humor her, she’ll just harass me until I do what she wants.”

“You do strike me as a people-pleaser,” she commented, grabbing the toast as it shot up and quickly buttering the surface as she glanced back.

“I do like to please,” I confessed in a low voice as I leaned in.

Reveling in the shudder I saw her try to suppress, I quickly slid the second omelet out of the pan and grabbed both plates, nodding toward my room. Taylor and Caleb were still absorbed in their game, but I wasn’t in the mood for an audience. Plus, we needed to talk about what happened the night before.

“We can eat in my room. Forks are in the top drawer.”

She grabbed a couple of forks and followed.

I don’t know why I was surprised to see my bed made as I nudged the door open with my shoulder, but it was, the pillows upright against the headboard and her sexy skirt folded neatly on my desk chair.

I sat on the edge of my bed, waiting until she’d climbed over the covers before handing over her plate.

“Thank you for breakfast.” She flashed me a shy smile as she sat cross-legged, leaning against the headboard.

“I told you I’d make you breakfast if you played your cards right.”

“Hmm,” she hummed as she took a bite of her toast, shaking her head at me. “Is that what I did last night?”

“Mmhmm.” I smiled, swallowing the bite I had in my mouth. “You played all your cards last night.”

“Not all of them,” she winked, and I found myself treading into dangerous waters. I knew she didn’t want a relationship, but I didn’t want last night to be it. I wasn’t looking for a girlfriend either, much to my mother’s dismay, but I was attracted to Kristine. Much more than I should have been.

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