Page 65 of Text Appeal

“Hmm?”

“You keep looking at my face.”

“No. I just like your face.” He reaches out and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. Then he says, “Another ladybug. Those things must really love you, huh?”

Heat rushes to my cheeks. But I can ignore it. This is fine. He’s just messing with me.

“Are you blushing?” he asks with amusement.

“No. Shut up.”

He smiles.

“How long do you think it’ll take for this gossip to get around?”

“I’d be surprised if there weren’t strained thumbs all over town from people texting,” he says. “Anyone who doesn’t know by now will find out at church tomorrow. Pastor Mike will definitely give a sermon all about it. They’ll either hear then or when they go to get their morning coffee.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want me to take you home?”

I think it over. It doesn’t take long. “People will expect us be together. I’ll stay here if that’s okay?”

He just nods.

“I’m sorry he said what he did about your dad.”

“I don’t care what he thinks about me or my father.”

I raise my chin. “Then why did you hit him? Because he hit your first?”

“No. I could have dodged him. But he shouldn’t have touched you.”

I pause. “It was about me?”

“Yes.”

“Oh,” I say, surprised. “You don’t have to get into fights because of me. The last thing I want is for you to be getting into trouble.”

Connor leans in closer, and in a voice so deep it shakes me to my core, he says, “He shouldn’t have touched you, Blue. That was not okay.”

“You’ve given me a nickname?”

“Mm. Is that a problem?”

I shake my head. “No.”

“What would happen next if this was one of your romance books?”

“With the town?”

“No. With us here.”

“Um. Emotions would be high after the fight. Something like that causes a high-stress state so lots of hormones would be flowing. The characters in question are hetero, right? So, the hero would be dying to bang, have the hard-on of the century. But often the heroine is oblivious to his state of arousal. She might be a little shaken from the violence and focusing on the fact that he’s hurt.”

“She’s still processing.”

“That’s right.”

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