Page 36 of Science Project

A wimp. At least that was what Carter would probably say.

“So sweet.”

My gaze flickered up to hers. “Respectful.”

She didn’t have to call me sweet or nice because I would’ve done that if it were any woman in my bed. It shouldn’t be celebrated, but expected. And by the look on Nicole’s face, that wasn’t what she expected anyone to do.

Which pissed me off.

“Are you hungry?” I asked.

“A little bit.” She pushed herself to a seated position and leaned against my headboard. Her gaze raised to the mirror across from my bed, and she lifted her hand to her face. “Did you do this too?”

I nodded.

She slipped off the bed and walked toward the dresser, her eyes widening. “Oh my God. There are so many,” she whispered.

Her lips trembled, but she bit her bottom lip to stop it. Then, she leaned forward and peeled off one of the bandages, flinching when she saw the wound underneath it. I shuffled my feet against the hardwood, not sure what to do.

“I’m never going to be able to hide these,” she said under her breath.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

But I had heard her. Who was she hiding these from? Kids at Redwood?

After she replaced the bandage, she glanced at me in the mirror.

“Why are you so nice to me?” she whispered.

Because I like you.

“Returning the favor,” I said, but, God, it was so much more than that. I shuffled my feet across the floor, rubbing my sweaty palms together. “You know, from the other night when you cleaned up my black eye.”

“Oh,” she whispered. “I thought it was for another reason …”

My heart raced inside my chest, and I wanted her to say that she thought I liked her the way that she liked me. But she never finished the sentence, and I so desperately needed to hear it. So, I moved closer to her.

“Like what?” I asked quietly, standing next to her but placing the cream on the dresser and keeping my gaze on it. I couldn’t look her in the eye … because what if her reasons were drastically different from mine?!

Nicole moved a few inches closer, her body facing the dresser too. “You know …”

I swallowed, heart pounding.

She glanced up into the reflection, those bright eyes burning into me. When I lifted my gaze to meet hers in the reflection, she pulled hers away and gently ran her fingers across her bandages, cheeks reddening.

A moment later, she looked back at me through the mirror. Her gaze dropped to my lips, then lifted to my eyes. I swallowed again, my mouth suddenly dry and my heart so loud that I could hear it in my ears.

I moved an inch closer to her, our arms brushing against each other’s.

She leaned closer, brushing her arm against me again.

Does she know what she’s doing to me? She has to know the effect she has on guys.

Especially guys like me.

She stared at me in the mirror, her eyes wide and her lips pressed together, as if she desperately wanted to tell me something. And, hell, I wanted to tell her something, too, but it probably wasn’t the same thing.

---