Page 49 of Hate You, Maybe
“Hold on,” he says, adjusting his towel.
That’s when I find my voice. “No, no, yes. Please. Yes. Hold on to that towel.”
“You’re still looking,” he points out. I clap both hands over my eyes and spin around so I’m facing the wall. Then I start to ramble. And it’s a gusher.
Like the Niagara Falls of apologies.
“I’m so, so sorry, Dex,” I choke out. “I had no idea you were planning to take a real shower. I thought that was an excuse I made up to get you out of the room so I could rescue you from Tori. But then, on the way to her cabin, I sort of told her the two of us are in a relationship, and bysort ofI mean Idefinitelytold her the two of us are in a relationship, but only so she’d stop making passes at you.”
I pause to gasp for oxygen like a fish on a dock. “And I fully realize I should’ve checked with you before doing that, but the words just flew out of me in a spur-of-the-moment kind of way. Like an instinct I hadn’t thought all the way through? Then once the lie started, I felt like I had to follow through. But I can totally go over there now and tell Tori the whole truth, which I would totally understand you wanting me to do under the circum?—”
“Kroft.”
The word comes out low and deep. Gentle. Almost amused. In fact, my name sounds like forgiveness on his tongue. And since my lungs are completely out of air now, I take the chance to refill them. Gratefully.
“You all right?” he asks.
“Yes,” I say on the exhale.
“I’m going to need you to talk a whole lot slower.”
“Okay.”
“Also, you can turn around now. I’ve got my shorts on.”
I slowly turn, dropping my hands from my eyes, and he’s not kidding. He does have his sweats on, but that’s all he’swearing. “You’re …” I nod to indicate his naked chest. “You still need a … a …”
What’s the word I’m looking for?
Elephant? Sailboat? Red balloon? My cheeks burst into flames, and my brain’s completely fried from witnessing the eclipse of Dexter Michaels. And the truth is, I’m only looking athalfhis body. I can’t even imagine if I’d walked in on him fully —
“The water in the shower’s hotter than I expected,” he says. “I’m gonna need a minute to stop sweating, or my only long-sleeved shirt will get wet and stay that way all night.”
T-shirt. Riiiight. That’s the word I was looking for.
I bob my head, wordlessly. Then I press my lips together, mostly to keep from drooling. I still don’t trust myself to say anything that makes sense yet. Kind of like Dex and his sweat. I’m gonna need another minute.
“So, what’s that you were saying about Tori? You told her the two of us are a couple?”
My mouth is stuffed with cotton. The statement sounds so much worse when he says it out loud. “I was just trying to help,” I croak.
“Yeah, I heard that part,” he says. I’m prepared for him to laugh at me. To scold me. To be angry. What I’m not prepared for is the bright smile that breaks across his face. “Thanks, Kroft.”
“Wait. What?” My jaw comes unhinged. “You’re glad?”
“I’m glad.” He moves over to his bed, sinking onto the edge. “She was missing my subtle hints.”
I let out a small snort, which doesn’t help with the heat on my face at all. “To be fair, you weren’t being all that subtle.”
“Or maybe you just know me well enough to catch on to my cues better than most.”
“Know you well?” I scoff. “We aren’t even friends.”
“We’ve worked together for the past three years, though,”he says. “The minute you got hired, you jumped right into leadership. Maybe you lost track, but we’ve been on a bunch of the same committees and teams. We’ve run for the same offices. Applied for the same campus roles. We’re in meetings together a lot. And someone as smart as you is bound to pick up on signals after a while.”
For the record, I didn’t lose track. In fact, I have a list of all these things on one of my clipboards.
“I always thought it was pretty bold of you,” he continues. “Going up against me for positions when I’ve been at the school twice as long. It’s only natural that I’d win some stuff over you. But that’s gonna change the longer you stick around. Assuming you want to stick around.”
