Page 177 of Becoming Us
“Eighteen.”
Aaaaaand he was young. Fuck. There had to be a catch. I’d never been into that.
But that also meant he was probably going to get even bigger.
I could feel my smile stretching, totally betraying me. I wasn’t doing a great job of hiding my attraction.
He didn’t look away. It was hypnotic, the way he held my gaze—like I was the only damn person in the room. Did he always do that? Shy people usually had a hard time maintaining eye contact. It didn’t add up.
The music wrapped around us, and I was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to ask him to dance. Silly, right? He wouldn’t agree in a million years.
Atticus shifted his weight, his brows lifting slightly, making him look his age again, in spite of his size. I was definitelymaking him uncomfortable, but he was trying his damndest to be polite.
So fucking cute.
“You don’t seem so scary,” I said before I could think it through and censor myself.
He tilted his head, confused—going from brooding soldier to golden retriever in two seconds flat. I wanted to pet him. Or have him roll over for me.
“What?” he asked, still puzzled.
I just smiled. If I said anything else, it would absolutely turn into me asking him back to mine for a quickie.
No, scratch that. I’d want to take my time with him.
Luckily, Colin and Ezra walked back, interrupting what would inevitably be me scaring off this poor, possibly straight kid.
They asked me to join them for practice, and I forced myself to tear my gaze away from him to answer. Then, before I could help it, I looked back—and his eyes caught mine.
“Would you toss for me?” I tried to keep the flirt out of my voice, extremely aware of how quickly Colin would pick up on it.
Atticus nodded, offering that tiny glimpse of a smile again.
He must look like a fucking god when he grinned. I wanted to be the one to pull that out of him. I was definitely going to crash practice.
We said our goodbyes, and he even managed a “Nice meeting you too” that melted me.
I walked off, and when I spotted Holly in the backyard, I practically ran to her.
She smiled up at me. “Look at you, showing up.”
I gave a dramatic sigh. “I just met the fucking love of my life, Hols.”
She chuckled. “Again?”
“I’m serious this time. I ran into Colin, and he has the most ridiculously hot friend. He’s built like fucking action figure. Am I still drooling?”
She laughed, clearly delighted to finally get some tea after such a long drought. “The love of your life is ahe? I thought you said men were only meant to be used as sex toys.” But there was something else lurking beneath her amusement. A flicker of something quieter. Something that looked a lot like longing. And for a second there, I did feel like myself again.
I squirmed uncomfortably. “This one’s different. And the love of my lifeissupposed to be a fantastic sex toy. Why else would I keep them?”
“Sure. Let’s say that’s how that works.”
I closed my eyes, picturing his pale eyes staring back at me. “He’s so hot.”
“And was he interested back?”
“Slight hiccup,” I said, taking the drink from her hand. “He might be straight, but who knows?” I bit the rim of the glass and tried not to outright grin at the memory of him.
