Page 32 of Romancing the Grump
We’re quiet as we walk toward the elevator, the awkwardness of our conversation making the air tense and weird.
“So, do you still want to talk?” I ask as I push the up button.
Nathan runs a hand across his beard. “Yes, but I’ve got something I need to do first. Can I meet you upstairs in just a minute?”
The elevator doors open, and I step inside. “Okay. Just knock.”
He nods as the doors slide closed, hiding him from view, and I breathe out a long sigh.
Well.At least now I know I can officially kill my crush. Though, I have a feeling this crush won’t want to die.
CHAPTER 8
SUMMER
I’ve only beenin my room ten minutes—barely long enough to pee, check my teeth, and change into leggings—when a knock sounds on my door. Themaindoor, not the one connecting my room to Nathan’s.
I still can’t get over how he literallyfellinto my room earlier. I thought my heart might stop. I couldn’t see his face—he was just this giant blur of a man—and I panicked.
Then I realized it was him, and my heart started pounding for an entirely different reason.
I look through the peephole and recognize Nathan, then give myself a tiny mental pep talk.
I can do this. I can control my feelings. I can squelch a teeny tiny crush and move on.
I open the door and smile. “Hi,” I say, gesturing for him to come in.
“Hey.” He steps inside, and I close the door and move into the room.
He follows behind me, almost bumping into me when I stop at the foot of the bed. It’s possible we didn’t really think this through. There’s nowhere to sit in here, not unless we want to sprawl out on the duvet, which doesn’t exactly feel conducive to a serious conversation about his brother’s legal trouble, especially when I’m also trying to quell my growing feelings.
The only chair is all the way in the corner, facing the built-in desk. At least he can sit in that one. I’ll just have to make perching on the edge of my bednotseem awkward.
“Do you want to take the chair?” I ask, gesturing toward it.
“Sure.”
I’m standing at the foot of the bed when he moves past, and he lifts a hand to my arm, his fingers grazing over my elbow as he steps around me.
The warmth from his fingertips lingers, and I lift my opposite hand to cover the spot he touched.
It’ssillythat I’m responding like this, though it’s possible it only feels silly because now I know he’s not interested. Before the friend zone conversation, I would have found that little bit of physical touch thrilling. Evenpromising.
But nope, nothing promising happening here. Nathan just needs some legal advice. Whoop-de-freaking-doo.
I sit on the side of the bed while Nathan picks up the chair and moves it closer. Then he pulls a bag of Peanut M&Ms out of his back pocket, holding them up.
“I thought since you said you weren’t above bribery…”
Oh. my. gosh.
Nathan brought me M&Ms. Is he trying to kill me here? Making himself irresistible while simultaneously telling me he’s completely off-limits?
“That’s what you had to do downstairs?” I say, reaching for the bag. “You had to buy M&Ms for me?”
“Let’s call it a thank you,” he says as he lowers himself into the chair.
“Don’t thank me yet. I’m not even sure I can help.” I grab a couple of shrink-wrapped plastic cups from the bathroom counter, then return to my spot and open the M&Ms. Without even thinking, I immediately start sorting them into the cups by color.
