Page 21 of Such a Sweet Girl

‘No. I can’t do this. I can’t be this person.’

Before I could stop her, she stormed out of the kitchen to where Nick sat, ripping his headset off. Nick snatched it back, cradling it like a baby that he worried she’d hurt.

‘Nick, I can’t do this. It’s over.’

If she’d been expecting him to beg, or yell, or react, she’d be sorely disappointed.

‘Yeah, alright. Calm down. Whatever.’

Francesca’s chest rose, her fists clenching by her sides. Then her shoulders dropped with a shake of her head, and she walked out of the patio doors. Nick simply pulled back on his headset and laughed with his mates about hispsycho bitchgirlfriend dumping him.

I desperately wanted to slap some sense into him. He wouldn’t know a good thing if it bloody well gyrated on his lap.

Instead, I followed Francesca, catching up with her amongst the trees between our homes.

‘Wait,’ I said, grasping her fingers. ‘When can I see you?’

‘What do you even want with me?’ Her words were terse, her face suffused with anger.

‘I can’t explain it, but there’s something here. I feel a connection that I want to explore.’

‘Why? I’m going back to dentistry school, and you’ll what? Fly back to England? I’ve let myself fuck one man for half the summer who didn’t give a shit about me. I don’t need…this.’ She gesticulated between us with a flick of her wrist, her words like little poisoned darts threatening to cut us off before we’d even begun.

‘It’s not the sex. I mean… I won’t say that you didn’t just blow my mind in there, but I want to get to knowyou. Show me who you are and what you love. I think there’s more to this than just lust, Francesca. Don’t you?’

‘We’ve known each other for all of five minutes. You’re just thinking with your dick like your asshole of a son, and I’mtiredof it.’

If she truly wanted to end it, I needed to respect that. But something lingered, some small string of hope still knotted between us.

‘If you want me to leave you alone, I will. But you felt what I did, didn’t you? Felt more beneath the surface. Something exciting.’

‘I felt horny. So did you.’

‘Undeniable. But take sex off the table, let me know you.’

Her teeth grazed her lower lip as she looked toward the moonlight glittering across the lake. On spotting the jetty, her resolve softened.

‘Bake with me?’

From the tension that filled her shoulders when she asked, she expected me to refuse.

‘I’d love to.’

A small smile played over her mouth.

‘Really?’

Stepping closer, I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, smiling at her. ‘It would be an honour to watch the master at work. Beats frozen pizzas any day.’

Making space between us, she narrowed her eyes. My heart broke for her when I realised she was trying to figure out if I mocked her.

‘I mean it. You’re incredible in the kitchen. Ineveryway.’

‘I’ll let you know when I’ve got a free house, and you can come over for a baking lesson. But that’s it.’

Holding my hands up, chest height, I nodded. ‘Scouts honour. I’ll behave impeccably.’

ELEVEN

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