Page 98 of Can't Help Falling

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“CANWEGOto your house?” Tyler asked the second he swung open his front door for Fin. She blinked at him. He already had a stocking cap and a scarf on, his jacket swinging from his fingertips, his shoes perfectly knotted.

She quirked her head to one side, trying—and failing—to catch his mood. He looked a little harried. A little guilty. “Why?”

Tyler glanced back at the apartment behind him, shifting on his feet. He was freshly shaved, and she could smell toothpaste and deodorant on the air. She suddenly felt like the fuzzy penny you sometimes find at the bottom of a purse. For once, she wanted to be as polished up as Tyler.

“It felt weird to be here without Kylie. And I think if I have you over...”

“It’ll feel even weirder.”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “Like I’m lying to her or something.”

They’d been given the gift of forty-eight hours to explore this thing between them without having to explain it to anyone yet.

“I get it. When we’re at my house, it feels like we’ve got a little stolen time to sort of chart the waters.”

“Right.”

“But when we’re here it’s like we’re...cheating?”

Tyler grinned. “Exactly. I knew you’d understand.”

He leaned forward, cupping her elbow and pressed his mouth to hers. “Damn.”

He leaped back and so did she, one hand over her mouth.

“Seriously,” he groused, rubbing his lips where they’d just been static shocked. “What is that?”

She shrugged. “My place?”

Tyler just kind of blinked at her for a moment. “It’s really surreal to hear you say that to me.”

She huffed and rolled her eyes. “You’re not over that yet? I like you, Ty. I want you to come over and get under my afghan with me.”

“Yeah,” he said, shaking his head and tugging his coat on. “This is not a dream, Tyler,” he muttered to himself, making her laugh.

They bumped shoulders on the way to the train. If it had been warmer, Fin wondered if they’d have held hands. But as it was, both sets of their hands were firmly ensconced in pockets. When they got on the train, it was midday and uncrowded, but still, they sat rather close on the bench seat. The train swayed and jolted, knocking his knee into hers. Fin stared down at their legs, that single point of contact. As she watched, Tyler pulled his large, booted foot back. He crooked it around hers, their ankles crossing, the entire sides of their boots touching. Fin caught her bottom lip between her teeth and looked up at him. His eyes went from where their ankles crossed to hers. His navy blues looked slow and lazy, like he was turning to her underwater.

They practically ran home from the train, both of them desperate to get out of the cold winter air and somewhere warm. Her house, her couch, under her blankets, against one another.

Tyler nearly vibrated next to her in the elevator up to her apartment. Neither of them spoke.

They speed walked down the hallway to her door, and Fin considered it a small miracle that she didn’t drop her keys. The second the door was open, Tyler shouldered his way in, slamming it behind them, unwinding his scarf, unzipping his coat, yanking off his hat.

His hair stood up straight for one moment before it cascaded back down into its perfect fall. When he turned to her, she saw the need in his eyes, the nerves, the desperation.

And even in the midst of all that, he hung up his coat, folded his scarf, lined his boots up carefully.

She nearly didn’t keep the groan contained. Why did everything about this man just kill her? She’d never been into neat freaks before. So why now? Why this preppy blond with his collar all but popped?

He helped her slide out of her coat, though she could feel the impatience thrumming through him.

“Remember when I helped you with your coat zipper?” she asked, surprised when her voice came out breathlessly.

“I remember,” he said, just as breathless. “I held my breath while your hands were inside my clothes. I felt like if I so much as inhaled, you would have slapped the shit out of me.”

“I don’t touch people,” she told him, turning around to face him as he hung her coat up. “Almost ever, Tyler. I don’t really like it. It’s too intimate, sometimes it’s even invasive. But that day? Feeling the way your body heated up the air around you? I wanted to touch you. I wanted to press my chest to yours and zip that coat up around both of us.”

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