Page 65 of The Wild Card
And I will stand on my own. Iwill.
So, I simply say thanks again, give them both one more hug, and head back to Sheet Cake alone.
By the time I make it back to Main Street and have found parking on a side street near the loft, I’ve worked up the courage to text Collin. I can text first. I’m an adult. I’m not being needy.
It’s called communicating.
This is what I tell myself, all while wondering why he hasn’t communicated withmefirst.
At the very least, I need to tell him about our successful social start on social media and that I’m back in Sheet Cake. But the reality is that I just want to talk to him.
I have no idea when I’ll see him again, and I don’t like that.
Molly:Long time no see, Mr. Graham. What are you up to?
He doesn’t answer right away, and I don’t immediately turn off the car. My audiobook—a romantasy—has just hit a good part where the enemies are realizing they’re not enemies after all and that they’d rather be kissing than killing each other.
My phone buzzes in my hand. The sight of Collin’s name on the screen makes my heart achieve liftoff like I’m a teen girl with a crush. Not an adult woman faking a relationship.
Collin:That’s Mr. Biceps to you. Dinner?
I’m just texting him that I’m already back in Sheet Cake, not Austin, when there’s a knock on the car window.
I jump. Then do a double take when I see Collin standing outside.
I don’t know how it’s possible, but every time I see him, the man looks better. Today, he’s a little more casual than I’ve seen him, wearing a worn pair of jeans and boots paired with an untucked T-shirt that’s tight enough to bejustshy of indecent. His neat brown hair is hidden under a backwards baseball cap.When he crosses his arms over his chest, I can literally see his chest muscles flexing underneath.
I turn off the car and climb out. “I thought you were in Austin.”
“I thoughtyouwere in Austin,” he says. “At least, until I found myself behind you on the drive here.”
“Seriously?”
“I recognized Harper’s car. When I realized you were the one behind the wheel, I tried pulling up beside you and waving, but you seemed awfully focused.”
I was—on my audiobook. Though more than once, I caught my mind wandering to Collin and had to start a chapter over.
“Focus is important while driving,” I tell him.
Collin lifts his eyebrows. “Were you focused on driving or the audiobook I heard playing just now? From what I could hear, it sounded … intense.”
My brain instantly spirals out, trying to think about what Collin might have heard. I prefer my books on the tame side as far as romance goes, but sometimes it’s hard to tell if the book is spicy or not until there are clothes flying off.
A flush moves through me as I recall the scene that was just playing. All clothes were intact, but the main characters’ heated argument had just given way to heated kissing.
“Um … both?”
Collin smirks. “I’ll bet. You’ll have to give me the title. Maybe we could do a buddy read?”
Are my knees going weak or am I just imagining it?
“Do you like fantasy?”
Seems like a safe plan to leave the romance part out. Or maybe I just don’t know if I can say the word to Collin, like it would somehow reveal all the romantic thoughts currently circling in my head.
“Are we talking high fantasy? Cozy fantasy? Fantasy romance?”
Collin places one hand on the car, boxing me in on one side, then leans closer. He brushes a strand of hair away from my cheek, his fingertips lingering on my skin, which is now flaming.
