Page 47 of Get Lost

Chapter Seventeen

The faint pink flush still creeping up Kelsey’s chest to her cheeks was almost as sexy as the way her body reacted every time he touched her. Muscles tensed. Breath quickening. Pupils dilated. Alex hadn’t put any thought into the actions, just… needed to touch her, wanted to challenge her.

Alex sipped his second whiskey and coffee, smirking to himself. Kelsey was definitely a challenge.

She’d despised him since elementary school, and he’d done nothing to change her mind about him. He could have told her back then that he didn’t start the Cheeto Girl nickname, but it would have meant getting his ass kicked by Ron Stevenson, which wasn’t an option. So he bit his tongue and took the heat that should have been directed at Ron.

He figured she’d get over it eventually and they’d be friends again, but as time went on, it became apparent that Kelsey wasn’t much for forgiving, and she definitely never forgot. The woman could hold a grudge like it was a lifeline.

Over the years, they’d always been in and out of one another’s lives. Orbiting the same schools, the same parties, the same social circles. Their moms were friends, and the two of them ran in similar circles. When he played football throughout high school, Kelsey cheered. When he was forced to help his mother with a church function, Kelsey would be forced into the same reluctant servitude because their moms remained tight over the years. As they got older, their circles changed but never strayed too far from the same places. If there was a major event, a grand opening, or a new local hotspot, they’d both end up there.

Case in point: Nineteen Twenty, the best brunch spot in West Hollywood, and he’d run into her there twice now.

No matter what they did, Kelsey and Alex always bumped into one another, and each time they did, he’d find a way to bring that spark back into her eyes.

The first time he really noticed the way she looked when she was angry was when they’d been sent to the principal’s office when they were six. Too young to really understand why he liked that look in her eyes or that angry set of her jaw, he hadn’t put much thought to it.

But the first time he’d discovered just how sexy that angry spark in her eyes could be had been later on. In the eighth grade. And he’d been chasing that spark ever since.

Forced into more community service by their moms, Kelsey and Alex were setting up chairs for a church potluck. She was the only other person there to set up that day, and she’d been ignoring him for the entire morning, which had been damn near excruciating. Tired of trying to get her attention for so long—not just that day but for the five years since she stopped talking to him in third grade—Alex was fed up. He’d finally had enough. He went outside, grabbed the garden hose, and hauled it back into the church kitchen, then he turned it on full blast, drenching Kelsey from head to toe, along with everything else in the small space.

Was it mature? Absolutely not. But did it get him the reaction he’d been looking for? Oh yeah. He’d had to pay for the damages, which meant working side jobs for his father for the next fifteen weeks, but she’d been wearing white, and adolescent Alex had been rewarded with not just that fire in her eyes, but a perfect showcase of her lace bra and the curves of her budding shape.

Alex chuckled softly at the memory.

“What?” Kelsey sipped her mimosa, watching him.

He gave her a sideways glance. “Just remembering your white bra in eighth grade.”

Kelsey’s jaw tightened sexily. “You’re too old to be thinking about fourteen-year-old girls, Arroyo.”

“I was fourteen, too, you’ll recall.”

“But you’re not now.”

“No, I’m not now. And now I’d like to see your thirty-year-old bra.”

“I don’t have any bras that are thirty years old,” she deadpanned.

Alex grinned.

He dropped his gaze to the top hem of her tank top and her breath quickened.

“Well, you can forget about that.” Kelsey snorted softly. “It’s never going to happen.”

“Why not?” He brought his gaze back up to her eyes.

“Because we’re working together, Alexander. And I’m a professional.” She huffed. “And you’re annoying.”

“We’ll see.” Alex smiled, then sipped his coffee, watching her as she tried to ignore him. Her nose still did that little dip thing at the end, like she’d been laughing so hard for so long that her nose wrinkle had left a little crease in the skin. Her full lips were rosy pink and currently pressed together in a fine line, which was just for show, because every so often they’d twitch, but she wouldn’t allow herself to smile.

After the silence had stretched out between them for a good ten minutes, her gaze flicked to him, then returned to the seatback in front of her. “Where are you moving?”

His lips quirked up. Her curiosity had won out, tossing the ball back into his court. “I’m not.”

Kelsey’s brows furrowed. “Why do you always do that?”

“What?”

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