Page 12 of The One With The Secret Crushes

I let my thumb brush her cheek. "My junior year this girl came into my physics class to give Mrs. Hopkins a piece of equipment."

She gave her head a little shake. "You remember that?"

But I just kept talking. "And time stopped for a second, you know? She had this incredible hair."

"You noticed my hair?" She looked at me incredulously

I grinned like the horny teenager I'd been. "I did. And your ass, if I'm being honest."

Her mouth fell open, but no words came out.

"And I just thought...who is that? How do I not know her? And then you turned around and it was you. The girl I'd always thought was the nicest, smartest kid with the biggest dreams...but you weren't a kid anymore."

"Why didn't you say anything? Youneverflirted with me. Not once!"

"You were a freshman and you were grieving. I thought it was an infatuation that would pass." It was the one time I wished I hadn't taken my mother's advice.

"It didn't?"

"No. It got worse. I told my mom and she was pretty shocked. She said I shouldn't be dating girls two years younger than me. And I don't think she was necessarily wrong. Or right. High school is a tricky time." Especially for Mackenzie. "I thought if I still had the hots for you when you came back from college, then I'd give it a go."

"But I never came home," she whispered.

"It took a little longer than I expected to see if this crush of mine was real." But now that she wasright hereand my hand was on her skin and I was more than a little high on her scent, I knew it wasn't a crush at all. "This is more than infatuation."

The timer went off and while I was very sure of every word out of my mouth, Mackenzie was in shock. So I flexed my fingers in her hair and stood up. She tracked me as I washed my hands and moved around the kitchen assembling our sandwiches. I would make the rest later.

When I set her dish in front of her she looked up. "Is this a date?"

I cupped her thigh as I sat down beside her. "More like a warmup than an actual date."

"I...do you want to go on an actual date?"

"With you? Absolutely."

She was flailing now. "I don't understand!"

"What do you find confusing? Ask me anything. Let's get this all cleared up." I took a nice large bite of my sandwich because I was pretty sure it would take her a minute to form a coherent thought. The hot honey, pimento cheese, and chicken combined for a flavorful punch, and I hummed.

Her eyes zeroed in on me. "You find me attractive."

I let my gaze slide over her. I still wanted to feel that hair in my hands and I loved her eyes and smile, her body made me hard, and all I wanted was to touch her everywhere. "Yes Mackenzie, I am very, very attracted to you."

"You like me."

"Very much." I set the sandwich aside since we were actually talking. "I was attracted to you in high school, as I've mentioned, and I'm very attracted to you as a full-grown-assed adult. I liked you then. You were funny and sarcastic and touchy and we talked about anything and everything. It was always easy with us, wasn't it?"

She nodded, melting in front of me.

"And so far, it seems to me like nothing has changed in that department. Why is this so hard for you to believe?"

She pursed those very kissable lips to hold back a laugh. "Two hours ago I thought you'd forgotten me entirely. Give a girl a second to catch up."

"You can have all the time you need. I think I've proven I'm very good at waiting for you."

Her eyes rounded.

I jutted my chin at her food. "Eat."

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