Page 62 of It Was Always You

She looked to the side, clearly uncomfortable on the subject of her dad. How bad had that conversation been, anyway?

"My dad is overprotective. We aren't doing anythingwrong." She met my gaze again. "If I get grounded for keeping you out of the cold, it's worth it."

She sat on her bed and watched me as I took off my backpack and then my letterman jacket. I felt uncomfortable under her scrutiny, but I tried to ignore it. What did she see in me? In her mind, was I still just her brother's annoying best friend, or could she possibly see me as something more?

When I met her eyes, she looked away before I could figure her out.

She cleared her throat. "So what restaurant did you hit up tonight?"

"McDonald's." I sat in the chair at her desk.

She squinted. "I never would have pegged you for a McDonald's kind of guy."

I shifted in my chair. "When you eat out as often as I do, you gotta try everything."

"So what did you get tonight?"

"I ordered chicken nuggets. And to try and be a little healthier, I added a side salad in there, too."

She pulled one leg on the bed and set it under herself. "Their chicken nuggets are the best. My dad made this weird Asian dish that one of his coworkers told him about."

"And I'm guessing it wasn't a new family favorite?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Definitely not. I could really gofor some chicken nuggets, though. Maybe I should take this whole rebellious daughter thing to an extreme and sneak out to get some."

I laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure the ones I ordered would have tasted good."

"Wait,wouldhave tasted good? Didn't you get some?" She gave me a confused look.

I realized my mistake and looked around awkwardly. "I didn't actually get to try them. My card was declined."

Her eyebrows raised. "It was declined? So you didn’t eat any dinner?"

I shrugged. "No. But I had a pretty good lunch, so I should be okay."

She stood right up from her bed. "I'm not about to let you starve, Noah. Just tell me when you don't get food. I can get you some."

"But you said yourself that your dinner was gross. I figured I wasn't missing out on much."

"I can find something else. It's not like that's the only thing we have to eat in the house." She gave me a scolding look and headed for the door. "You should've said something, Noah. I'll be right back."

I stood and grabbed her hand to stop her. "You really don't have to. I'm fine."

She looked back at me meaningfully. "It's really no problem, Noah. It’s not like my dad guards the fridge or takes a count of exactly how much leftover food there is. Imean, we usually have you and Easton eating us out of house and home, so it really isn't going to be that big of a deal."

I nodded and released her hand, feeling a wave of emotion coming over me. I didn't deserve this. She was being too good to me. "Thank you."

She opened the door slowly, peeked her head out to make sure no one was watching, and then left. She was back five minutes later with a sandwich.

She shut the door behind her before handing me the plate. "I wasn't sure which kind of sandwich you liked, so I just made ham and cheese. I hope that's okay."

"This is great. Thank you again, Lexi, you're kind of like my guardian angel right now."

She shook her head and waved me away. "I'm just being a good fake girlfriend."

I smiled. "Pretty much the best fake girlfriend ever."

She looked down, and there was something in her expression that made me wonder if I'd said something wrong. I'd only repeated what she'd said about the fake boyfriend/girlfriend thing.

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