Page 75 of Brides and Brothers
Easton’s guilty expression changed in an instant. “Wait, I didn’t kiss you. I met you in the middle, remember?”
Emma gave an awkward laugh. “Yeah, I guess you did.” Without her glasses her eyes stood out like two big blue moons. Camille stepped back a bit, wishing she could hide until their conversation was over.
“Wendy and I have gone on a few dates, and I’ve been trying to figure out whether or not we were going anywhere. I think I got my answer. I’ll give her a call tonight and apologize.”
“You can still go after her. I’ll take all the blame.”
Easton shook his head. “It wouldn’t be fair to her. I like someone else more.”
“You do?”
Easton rubbed his thumb across Emma’s hand, and Camille averted her eyes. “I’ve wanted to take you out since last semester when I sat behind you in humanities class.”
“Humanities?” Apparently, love at first sight could be one-sided. Emma didn’t even remember.
Easton nodded. “I noticed you sat in the same spot every week. I couldn’t get my courage up to ask you out. When I saw your name as the tutor for my calculus class, I signed up even though I didn’t need the help.”
Emma sucked in her breath. “You always caught on so quickly. I just assumed I was a good teacher.”
Camille eased back another step. At this point, Emma had every reason to scream, “Stalker!” and run for the nearest building, but she didn’t move. She didn’t even release Easton’s hand.
“You’re a good teacher,” he said. “I’ve always liked that about you.” He studied her countenance. “Am I scaring you yet?”
Emma held back an obvious smile. “No, just surprising me. I thought you’d given up when you asked me out after tutoring and I turned you down. What changed tonight?”
“It wasn’t planned.” Easton blew out a long breath. “I’ve been fighting my feelings for you all month, telling myself Wendy was better for me. But when you gave me those doe eyes and leaned in... I couldn’t resist.”
Emma hit his arm playfully. “I did not give you any doe eyes. I was checking to see if you thought Flynn’s song was as romantic as I did.”
Camille cleared her throat. “I just remembered I never called Aiden back. Why don’t you two walk through the student center and I’ll hang out in the car.”
Emma blushed. “Camille! I forgot you were standing there.”
Easton just grinned. “Thanks, Camille. We won’t be too long.”
Nodding, she turned around. As she walked away, she heard Easton say, “Are we to give Flynn all the credit? Here I was assuming you couldn’t resist my charms any longer.”
“No, it was definitely Flynn’s song,” Emma retorted.
“I’ll tell Flynn that Sage has competition.”
Their laughter was the last thing Camille heard before she reached her car. Not every day could two people walk away from an uncomfortable situation smiling, but love made even the rough times feel like a joyride.
Slipping into her car, she pulled out her phone. A sharp ache of longing caught her off guard, making her drop her phone into her lap. Reaching for her wedding ring, she twisted it back and forth. She wanted what Flynn and Sage had—the newness of love without all the struggle.
