Page 94 of The Snowball Effect

Even though Emma was still unsure how they’d gotten onto this topic, she was willing to take any distraction she could take. “Right,” she slowly said, switching gears in her mind to focus on the show.

Honestly, it made Emma feel a little embarrassed. She’d doggedly avoided watching any reality television for literal decades, looking at it with no small amount of disdain. And now, she was several seasons deep into watching a reality dating show with Regan andenjoyingit.

But she couldn’t deny that she was. “All I was saying is that I think that Chelsea is worth Samantha keeping around for a little while longer because she’s the person Samantha ismost attracted to. They haven’t had that much time one-on-one to explore it, so… I don’t know; it feels like a little bit of a waste to send her home so soon when she feels such a physical connection.”

“Hmm,” Regan hummed softly, watching Emma closely. Closely enough that it made her stomach start to squirm. “So, is that how your past relationships started, then? Because you were really attracted to them?”

Emma thought she might have whiplash by the end of this conversation. “I thought we were talking aboutThe One? When did it become about me?”

However, Regan’s gaze was unwavering as she dropped a hand on Emma’s thigh. “I’m distracting you. It’s a distraction technique.”

She did her best to stop herself from shivering at the touch. Which didn’t work, so she switched to hoping Regan didn’t notice and wouldn’t comment on it.

This was a part of her strange behavior, though!

All of the touching in the last few days. While Regan was always very tactile, Emma felt like it had somehow shifted this past week. Post-head injury. Rather than Regan landing a hand on her knee as they would sit and talk, she touched Emma’s thigh. Rather than bump shoulders together with a joke, she seemed to… cuddle in?

Granted, it wasn’t all that different from how she’d been in the weeks before. So, maybe Regan was just beingRegan, and maybe it was Emma who was different.

Maybe her mind was catching up with the fact that her body was so damn attracted to Regan.

“So?” Regan prompted her as she stroked her thumb along the inside of her thigh.

Emma inhaled sharply, disguising it as a cough.

If Emma didn’t know any better, she’d have to believe Regan was doing this to her on purpose! Was Regan teasing her?

She stared back at Regan, wondering…

“Uh – no,” she answered, trying to get herself back on track. Well, back on track with this weird avenue of conversation, anyway.

“What was it, then? That drew you to people, if not attraction?” Regan asked, leaning in as her eyebrows furrowed slightly. It was a look of utter concentration.

Emma felt her cheeks flush as she thought about Felicity. About the naïve way she’d viewed her in the beginning. “I mean, therewasattraction,” she hedged. “It was just about other stuff, too.”

Regan leaned in even closer, only inches away, as she clearly waited for Emma to elaborate.

Which she did, sighing. “She was my TA, my sophomore year. I thought she was so… so smart. Passionate. I really respected her.”

“Respect, the ultimate panty-dropper,” Regan murmured.

Emma continued to stare because Reganwasn’tteasing. At least she wasn’t speaking in one of her joking tones. It was… thoughtful.

And the longer Regan stared at her like that, the more Emma’s face heated.

“Well, what about you?” She turned the question on Regan, needing the focus to be off of her.

“Me? What about me?”

“Your past relationships, how did they start?” As soon as the question left her lips, she found that she was utterly riveted by the answer. Because, shockingly, she knew next to nothing about Regan’s dating life.

How hadthathappened?

Regan shrugged. “I haven’t really had relationships.”

Emma could only stare in disbelief. “Come on.”

“I’m serious,” Regan insisted.

---