Page 84 of Secondhand Smoke
A minute later, the garage door into the house opened and Barrett’s familiar head popped out, hair messy and disheveled like he hadn’t brushed it today. His attention landed immediately on her.
His brows furrowed as he took her in.
Nell swallowed.
She’d mortified herself that night, leaving things in a tenuous, uncertain limbo.
What if he rejected her on the spot?
One sweaty palm rubbed against her pants as her other hand clenched the container of cookies.
He surprised her, though.
Without a word, he rushed out of the garage toward her. She jumped at his sudden advance and held her breath.
“What’s wrong? Are you alright?” His brown eyes hunted for something wrong with her, skipping up and down her body.His ringed fingers reached out, hovering over her arms like he wanted to touch her but couldn’t bring himself to do it. He even gave extra attention to the container in her hand.
Nell’s mouth went dry.
“Whoa,” Paulie mumbled under his breath behind her, but she ignored it.
Her eyes were stuck on Barrett. Stuck on the way he . . . cared.
There it was again: the reminder that she was real.
She inhaled long enough to find her voice. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
He blinked, his hands falling back to his side, and stepped back. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, yeah. Sure, let’s . . . ” Barrett’s eyes hopped over her head, narrowed for a split second, then jumped back to her. He nodded and gently grabbed her upper arm to pull her away from the three frozen guys behind her. “Let’s go over here.”
He pulled her around the side of the house and back, where the others wouldn’t be able to hear them. She heard their mumbles fading the further they got.
Finally, he paused and faced her. “Are you feeling alright?” he asked, his voice hushed.
“Thanks for bringing my bike back,” she said, clearing her throat, then held out the cookies. “These are for you. For your drive.”
“Oh.” He sounded surprised, like he’d expected her to say something worse. He took the container and opened it up, looking at the stack of cookies. He chuckled. “Chocolate chip. My favorite. I’d say this is an appropriate enough thanks for the bike.”
The relief hit Nell so hard she went dizzy. There was a long moment of silence as she composed herself.
Nell inhaled, the air shaky. She’d come here for a reason, but now that she was looking at him, standing so close, her heart rate was distracting.
“Also . . .” She took a deep breath and pinched at her knuckles. “I’m sorry for the other day. You shouldn’t have had to see that. I hope it doesn’t change anything between us. You mean a lot to me. You all do.”
He stared at her with an unreadable expression. She blinked, melting under the intensity of his gaze.
“Anyone ever told you that you apologize too much?”
Nell bit her lip, and when she blinked again, that crooked smirk was on his face.
The corner of her mouth twitched up. “Once or twice.”
“Maybe you should listen to them.”
Nell huffed a chuckle, unable to resist. A soft, short one, but god it felt nice. It opened something in her she hadn’t felt in a while.
Barrett shook his head and sighed.
“But I do need to apologize for kissing you,” she said.
