Page 18 of Absolutely Not in Love
Pretty sure Gracie wouldn’t go for option two, so I push my hands into my pockets and hope Summer will take care of her when I can’t.
I clear my throat. “Um, yeah. Thatwasvery nice of her. It was a great concert.”
“Itwas,” Gracie says. “Something you know because you were there.” She leans a little closer and taps her finger into my chest. “Why did I see you there, Felix?”
Her tone drops when she says my name, and a bolt of heat shoots through me. I shouldn’t love the way my name sounds on her lips.
“Iwasthere,” I say slowly. “Excellent job.”
She frowns. “Thank you. But that doesn’t answer my question.Whywere you there? And why did you bring me my mail, and why do you always look so sexy and stuff?”
Behind Gracie, Summer covers her mouth with her hand, but her laughter is clear in her eyes.
I press my lips together. “And stuff?”
She waves a hand up and down, motioning to my body. “Don’t pretend like you don’t realize you have allthatgoing on.”
Huh.So she’s been checking me out. I like the idea of this way too much, and I fight to push down my smirk.
Gracie breathes out a huff, wobbling the slightest bit on her heels. She’s wearing the same black pants she had on when I saw her last week when she was on her way to play a gig with her quartet.
“I just want you to be honest with me,” she says. “Are you trying to impress me? To change my mind about hockey players?” She shoots a look over her shoulder at Summer, who has a hand pressed to her mouth like she’s trying to stifle a laugh. “Because it’s not. going. to. work.” Gracie emphasizes these last words with four more finger pokes into my chest.
I can’t resist flexing against the last poke, and she draws her finger back, her brows furrowed as she looks at her finger, then back at my chest. “Ugh.Your stupid muscles.”
I finally allow myself the smirk I’ve been fighting. “What did you think you’d find?” I ask, lowering my tone so there’s no way my mother will hear. “You’ve seen me in my underwear, after all.” It’s out of character for me to be so forward, but this is the first time Gracie has ever admitted to noticinganythingabout me, and it’s making me bolder,flirtier,than usual.
Behind Gracie, Summer gasps and starts to laugh.
Gracie scowls. “I did—that is—no,” she finally says. “That isnotwhat happened.”
“Pretty sure that’s exactly what happened,” I say, leaning against the open doorway. Energy courses through me, buzzing just under my skin. I’ve never been particularly good at talking to women, but this feels fun and natural, maybe even easy.
“But only because you came parading outside with no pants,” Gracie hisses. “Not because anything was—because we were—doing anything.”
“Who said anything about that? All I said was that you’veseenme. And you have.”
She huffs again and crosses her arms over her chest. “You’re being difficult on purpose.”
“Felix?” Mom calls from the living room. “Who’s at the door? If it’s someone you know, you should invite them in. It’s rude to make someone talk to you from the hallway.”
It’s a very Emily Jamison thing to say, but I barely take notice because in front of me, the color is leaching out of Gracie’s face. Her eyes dart around, landing on the pair of heels Mom discarded just inside the front door.
“Oh. You—you’re on a date,” Gracie says softly. She swears and takes a step backward, wobbling again, this time enough that I reach out a hand to steady her. She’s still carrying her cello on her back, and I’d hate to see her go down, taking her very expensive instrument with her.
She steps out of my grasp and my fingers only graze her shoulder, but Summer is right there, looping an arm around Gracie’s waist. “Okay. Time for you to say goodnight.”
“He wasn’t trying to impress me at all,” Gracie says to Summer, like she’s already forgotten I’m standing here. “He’s on a date!” she whisper yells. “He tooka dateto my concert.”
My brain fires off a dozen different thoughts in the two seconds it takes Summer to start leading Gracie away.
Why would it matter even if Iwason a date when Gracie has made it clear she has no interest in dating hockey players?
Why does she seem so flustered, sobotheredby the idea?
Why am I so happyabout the possibility of her being bothered?
The truth is, I didhope she would see me at her concert, that it might mean something to her that I was there. The fact that my mother was in town and I knew she’d enjoy hearing Dvorák’s “New World Symphony” was a nice bonus, but even if Mom wasn’t visiting, I probably still would have gone.
