Page 26 of A Little Tempting

“From winding up with second-degree burns.” I lift my cup as if to prove my point.

His smirk makes my heart thump a little faster as he moseys toward me. “I think I’ll take my chances.”

“And I think I should get going.”

“AndIthink your avoidance tactics are not very subtle.”

Molars grinding, I repeat, “I’m not avoiding you.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” he notes while his long legs eat up the last bit of distance between us.

Do I recognize his gait? Is it the same one from the costume party? And if it is…would I still be interested? He’s an escort, for Pete’s sake. An. Escort. There’s no way I could ever be interested in someone like that, and even if I was, he’d have to be interested back, and…there’s so much red tape surrounding all things Reeves, it’s…it’s annoying and unnecessary, and I don’t need to forget it.

“Thanks for the coffee.” I lift my cup into the air again. “I’ll see you in class.”

I start to sidestep him, but he moves in front of me. “Why are you avoiding me, Dylan?”

Frustrated, I mutter, “You should know you’re annoyingly stubborn.”

“It’s one of my best traits.” He grins. “So tell me the truth. Why are you avoiding me?”

“I already told you I’m not?—”

“You don’t avoid Everett.”

“What does this have to do with Everett?”

The same knowing smirk toys at the edge of his lips as he takes a sip of his coffee, blowing out the heat in the cool autumn breeze. “Everett lives next door. I live next door. Everett says hello. I say hello. Everett’s at a party. I’m at a party. And yet, Everett gets, at the very least, a smile, and I get the cold shoulder.Why?”

“What? You want a smile?” I challenge.

His dry laugh kisses my cheeks. “I mean, yeah, I’d kill for a smile, but you’re missing my point.” The same smile is etched across his face, but it’s different now. More forced, maybe. It doesn’t reach his eyes and is almost strained as he adds, “Do you have a thing for Everett?”

“What?” Now it’s my turn to laugh. “No.”

“Then, what is it?”

“What is what?”

“Why don’t you avoid Everett, but you avoid me?” he pushes.

“I don’t avoid Everett because Everett is…Everett.”

“So, you admit you’re avoiding me.”

“I’m not—” I growl and drop my chin to my chest. Looking back up at him, I try explaining a little better. “Everett is…he’s family and a…friend.”

“A friend?”

“Yeah. A friend.”

“And what am I?”

“You’re…” My voice trails off, and I bite my bottom lip, unsure what to say.

He steps closer, crowding me and stealing my space as well as my oxygen as I stand helplessly in front of him. “I’m what, Dylan?”

“I dunno?” I lift a shoulder. “You’re Reeves, I guess.”

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