Page 22 of Can't Always Get What You Want

“Maybe we should call it.”

"Yeah," she says after a beat, pushing off the barstool. "Probably for the best."

We don’t talk much as I walk her to her car, the neon glow of the themed restaurant fading behind us. The air outside is cooler, quieter, but the tension from earlier still lingers, thick and unspoken.

The sound of her car unlocking bleeps in the parking structure and Nova turns to me, arms crossing over her chest. "Well, this was fun.” Her voice drops. “Right up until the part where it wasn’t..."

I laugh.

She’s so cute when she’s all huffy.

I could kiss her.

But Idon’t.

Instead, I reach around her, hand on her car handle and pull it open for her, meeting her gaze with something unreadable.

“Well. Thanks for agreeing to having drinks. This was fun.”

“Fun,” she deadpans, clearly pouting.

I smirk at the way she says it—like it’s the furthest thing from what she actually means.

Giving her space, I step aside so she can slide into the driver’s seat, gripping the top of the door.

Her sigh is long anddramatic,before her gaze flickers up at me. There’s something sharp in her eyes, something unsaid lingering between us like an open tab neither of us wants to close.

I close her door and she starts the engine, rolling down her window so I can say, "Drive safe, Nova."

Her brows knit together. Lips part like she’s about to say something—but then she snaps her mouth shut.

I see it.

That irritation in her eyes. The quick inhale, the way her fingers tighten around the edge of her car door as if…

Is shepissedI’m not going to kiss her?

Nova exhales sharply, tilting her head like she’s re-evaluating me in real time. "That’s it? Drive safe?"

She sounds so disgruntled. "That’s it."

Her nostrils flare, and for a second, I think she might actually back out of the parking stall and leave me standing there, but she clicks her tongue and yanks her seatbelt across her chest with a little more force than necessary.

I lean down, resting my forearm against the roof of her car. "You seem frustrated, Montagalo."

She glares at me. "I’mnot."

“Did I do something to upset you?” My voice is teasing.Knowing.

Nova scoffs. “No.”

“No?” I echo, tilting my head, watching her.

She exhales, shifting in her seat, fingers still gripping the wheel like she’s debating whether to say more.

I knock my knuckles against the roof of her car, feigning deepthought. “Because if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you wanted somethingelse.”

Her lips press into a thin line.

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