Page 60 of Collided

“You can sit here,” I offer, not that there is any other place where he can sit in this room.

Heath sits on the bed that squeaks under his weight.

My cheeks flush from discomfort. I think about what he’s thinking and that further upsets me.

Pushing those thoughts away, I realize this is the first time a guy is in my room and sitting on my bed. A guy who must visit these kinds of rooms every night. I’ve never seen him with a girl before, but there’s no way he’s a virgin. That face. Those eyes. He probably wouldn’t even have to ask them for it and justdoit on the bed, against the wall—I need tostopthinking.

“So, you read books?” He gestures to my book wall.

“Yes.” I smile.

He leans back against the wall and gets comfortable on my bed. He folds his arms behind his head and stares at me with golden specks flicking through his eyes.

“Your romance books?”

He remembers.“Yes.”

“What are they about?”

Oh God.I never prepared myself for this question. How am I supposed to tell him the plot without sounding like an absolute hopeless romantic? Someone who’s in love with the idea of love and everything that comes with it: whether it’s complexity or simplicity.

“People,” I say vaguely.

Heath quirks up his lips in amusement and glances at my books.

I stand in his path to block the view. If he reads the titles, he’ll know exactly what they’re about, and I’ll never be able to meet his eyes again. There are some outrageous ones that I’ve turned toward the wall.

“Nothing special,” I add, but my cheeks burn and that’s a dead giveaway.

He stands up. “Nothing special, huh?” His height overshadows me and against his muscular body, I look like nothing.

While maintaining eye contact with me he starts walking toward me. For each one of his steps, I take two back. Soon my legs hit my book wall.

He bends down, then stands up.

I see a book in his hand, and I try to retrieve it, but he raises his arm in the air.

“Give it to me, please.” I lift my arm to reach him, but he’s just so tall.

“You’re always reading. I want to know why.”

He flips through the pages.

My heart rate drops. I think I’m going into cardiac arrest.

He can’t read the words on those pages.

Do something.

NOW!

I push against him to reach my book, and we move backwards. He stumbles and falls on the bed with me on top of him. Our faces get close, and my hands are splayed on his chest where I can feel his thundering heartbeats. His heart is beating so fast. Just like mine.

My eyes fall to his lips. The heat in my stomach doubles until an inferno lights up in there.

I’ve never felt like this before. No guy has ever made me feel like he does. There’s something about him. I can’t pinpoint it. The reason why I’m drawn to him. The reason why my heart beats so fast when he’s around. The reason why he makes me want to tell him everything.

Is it stupid that I’m aching to trust him when we’re only strangers?

---