Page 71 of Trip Me Up

The car door opened, and Niall slid into the car. “Sorry I’m late. I—”

The rush of warmth I felt was only happiness that I could end the conversation with Marlee, which hadn’t gone the way I’d wanted at all. It wasn’t because of Niall. “Hey, Marlee, I’ve got to go.”

“Wait, no. We’re not done. You’ve got to let yourself—”

“Talk to you later bye,” I said in a rush and clicked the end button. I tried to smile at Niall, but the pomaded russet waves of his hair reminded me of how good he’d looked on camera. Next to Brandi.

“Hey, sorry.” Niall’s eyes drooped, and purple shadows were only half-concealed by his carelessly wiped-off makeup. “That took longer than I thought it would.”

Of course it had. Because of all the flirting. I pulled out the smile I used at Mother’s functions. “Don’t worry about it.” I grabbed a tissue from the box in the console and scrubbed at the traces of foundation on his face.

“Hey, I need some of that skin.” He stilled my hand and took the tissue from me, wiping more gently than I’d done. “Is something wrong? Are you mad because I’m late?”

“No. I don’t even want to do this.” That day’s reading was at a local university. Being one myself, I knew the students would engage in a game of one-upmanship with their difficult questions for us. I wouldn’t be able to float by with my vague answers about Tolkien and L’Engle. And Niall shouldn’t have to rescue me.

“Then what’s wrong?”

He rubbed at his cheek, and my gaze arrowed to a spot just to the left of his mouth. “Is that lipstick?”

“What?” But he must’ve known what I was talking about because he wiped the spot.

“Is it yours or hers?”

“Hers?” His red eyebrows rose.

“That—that interviewer. The blonde. What’s-her-name.” Of course I knew her name. He’d only said it about a hundred times during their interview.

“Brandi Brewer. So you watched it.”

“I had it on while I was getting dressed.” I shrugged and looked out the window.

“You’re not upset, are you?”

“Of course not. What do I have to be upset about? It’s not like we’re—Anyway, I didn’t think it was professional of her to flirt with you like that.”

“Flirt with me?”

I stared at the buildings we passed, but I imagined his red eyebrows raised somewhere near his hairline.

I hated myself even as I raised my voice to a nasal imitation of Brandi-Brewer-the-interviewer. “‘I don’t interview a lot of writers with a physique like yours. Care to share your workout routine?’ ‘Any chance you’ll be doing a walk-on role on the show?’ ‘Are you seeing anyone?’” How my gut had churned when she’d asked that. Of course he’d said no. And the air kisses. Ugh.

Why was I acting like this?Feelinglike this? I’d never been jealous. Okay, I’d been jealous of the girl Stephen had dated after me. Even though I’d known he was a snake, I’d given him my heart, and I hadn’t gotten back all the pieces after he’d broken it. Which was exactly why I couldn’t give any part of it to Niall. If I lost any more pieces, could it keep beating? A cold, heavy lump weighed in my belly.

“Sam.” He waited until I dragged my gaze back to him. “It didn’t mean anything. I didn’t care about her. Not like I—” The blush started at his neck and washed all the way up to his cheeks.

The lump in my belly eased. Okay, then.

“Oh. Hey. I had an idea.” His eyes sparkled. He pulled his phone from his back pocket, frowned at it, and tapped.

My phone vibrated in my hand. “You texted me?” He’d called me about logistical stuff, but he’d never texted me.

“Better than a text.” He smiled, closed-mouth, like he was holding back a secret.

I glanced at the screen. A notification appeared at the top.

Niall Flynn has gifted you the audiobook Secrets of the Wood Elves.

“An audiobook?”

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