Page 135 of The Fake Date Agreement

Shit. I flatten my lips. “Sorry. Notatyou. I thought… well, I thought there was something that probably wasn’t there, and I was coming to see you too, to find out.”

He cocks his head, intrigued. “Find out what?”

Now he’s standing directly in front of me, asking him if he likes me is impossible. “Um, it’s not really important.” It is. Too important to say and risk rejection.

Iwanthim to like me more than just a friend, but when I look at his handsome face and recall the effect he has on women, I figure he won’t. Not a guy like Caleb.

His gaze sharpens on me. “So, you weren’t uncomfortable?”

“No. Talking to you was…” My voice softens as I recall how easy it was, and how much I smiled. “Nice. It was really nice.”

He straightens, looking pleased. “Yeah?”

I nod, conscious I’ve started blushing again.

And we stand there, smiling at each other until it hits me how rude I’m being.

I back up into my room. “Do you want to come in and talk? I mean, I’m not even sure you’d fit on my bed. Your legs are going to hang over the edge, and you’ll have a crick everywhere because you’ll have to fold yourself in half to?—”

“I’d like that,” he interrupts, still smiling. “You weren’t really selling it to me, Myers, but it’s you, so…”

My heart skips a beat as a softness enters his gaze. “So…”

“I’m not sure there’s anywhere else I would want to be.”

The back of my eyelids prickle, and I look away, pretending I’m busy shucking my hoodie and sneakers, not wanting him to see me cry because he said something so sweet.

He steps into my room, closing the door behind him. “What were you doing before?”

“Staring at the ceiling.” The unvarnished truth slips out, and it isembarrassing.“I couldn’t sleep after I spoke to you. Couldn’t concentrate on reading either, and I didn’t want to watch anything, so I was staring at the ceiling like a weirdo.”

“Not as much of a weirdo as you might think.” He pulls off his hoodie.

I try not to get caught staring at the tanned skin on his belly when his shirt rides up.

He’s hanging his hoodie on a hook behind my door when he accidentally knocks the coat I wore to seduce Reid.

I blanch as three packets of ridged condoms tumble out of my pocket. I thought the pocket was empty. Clearly not.

“I’ll get that,” Caleb offers, already bending.

“No need, I’ve got it.” I squeeze around him, red-faced. I bundle up the coat and the condoms into a ball and shove everything into the corner of my room.

“Aren’t you going to hang it?”

“Um, I just noticed a stain. I need to wash it,” I lie.

He nods as he steps out of his sneakers, not giving the coat a second glance.

I release a quiet sigh, relieved he didn’t see it.

By mutual agreement, we get settled on my bed, and he pulls the covers over us both. “Come here.”

To my surprise, he tugs me into his arms, pressing my cheek against his chest.

With my big light off and my bedside lamp on, it's so cozy that I don’t intend to move again for all the money in the world.

“I was staring at the ceiling as well,” he admits, again surprising me. “Usually, I think about plays.” He runs his fingers up and down my back, making me wish I wasn’t wearing PJs so it was bare skin. “Tonight was the first time I was thinking about something else.”

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