Page 64 of Puck Block

Ford and his boyish smile are in the giant family photo hanging in my childhood home.

There is no way he’s going to mess around with something like that over some sexual attraction.

His voice scatters my thoughts. “What are you thinking about?”

I lie through my teeth. “How you owe me money for these.” My ripped pair of panties dangle in between us, and I raise my eyebrows.

I expect him to smirk, but his face remains stoic. “You want to know what I’m thinking about?”

I shrug. “Not really, no.”

He laughs sarcastically before reaching for his hockey bag and heading for the door. “Fine, I’ll just tell you in the car.”

I take advantage of his back to me and say, “Claire can just take me home.”

Energy fills the space between us when he peeks over his shoulder and shoots me a darkened look. His browline is a hood above his blue eyes, and his tense jaw ishot.“You’re not getting out of explaining last night. I didn’t mishear you when you said you’d taken too much insulin, so do as I say, Taytum, and go sit your hot little ass in my car.”

I narrow my eyes and stomp past him dramatically, all while ignoring the dip in my belly at the half-compliment that followed his demand.

[ 28 ]

FORD

My car could runon the fumes of my rising anger with every second that passes where Taytum doesn’t speak. I’m all tapped out on patience, and as soon as we pull up to her sorority house, she grabs onto the door handle to make a grand escape.

Too bad for her, I'm always thinking ahead.

The lock clicks, and her hair sways over her shoulder with a quick snap in my direction.

I should have made her sit in the backseat so I could use the child-lock feature. I put that little idea in my back pocket for next time.

“You want me to force it out of you?” I ask, leaning farther back in my seat to stretch my legs out as far as they’ll go under the dash.

Taytum’s soft sigh fills my car, and she crosses her arms againstmyshirt. “Fine.” She rolls her eyes. “I forgot to eat. That’s why my blood sugar dropped.”

I laugh. “It’s like you don’t even know me.” After last night, she knows more about me than before, like how irresistible Ithink she is. “I probably know more about diabetes than you do, and you’re the one who’s been diagnosed.”

She shrugs innocently. “Then you’ll know that if I don’t eat, my blood sugar drops.”

“Taytum.” I’m on the edge of anger.

“What?” If I were anyone else, she could get away with lying. But I know her better than she thinks.

“You’re lying to me,” I say. “You did the thing with your nose.”

She instantly covers it with her palm. “What thing?”

“You know…the little scrunch, and then you dart your eyes to the left.”

Her forehead creases, and I hide my grin by looking out my window. Each of her sorority sisters linger near the front window, and when I make eye contact with them, they all duck like they’re synchronized swimmers. I imagine them all falling to the floor and trampling on top of each other to avoid being caught looking at me.

I break the silence in my car and drag my attention back to her delicate profile. “Why is your sugar all of a sudden all over the place?”

The app doesn’t lie.

The glucose monitor on her arm pulls the same numbers I get when I prick her finger.

I drum my fingers over the steering wheel and wait for her to lie, but she shifts and turns toward me. Taytum’s pretty blue eyes are bluer than normal from the gloss covering them, and the worry lines around them drive me to do something I promised myself I wouldn’t do after last night–like touch her. I place my hand on top of her knee and give it a gentle squeeze. “It’s just me,” I reassure her. “Tell me what’s going on.”

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