Page 22 of Burn for You (Flirting with Forever 3)

I shake my head and mumble. “I don’t know. I don’t know.” I press my hands to either side of my head, trying to think clearly.

She grasps my arms, gently pulling them down. “Breathe, Piper.”

The air I’d been holding in my lungs comes out in short bursts. My eyes meet hers and then Heath’s before I wave my hands in front of my face for a few seconds, fanning myself. “I almost fell on the ice out there, and Damon caught me. But then he insisted on walking me in, and—”

Heath chuckles, sliding a glance at me. “Damon’s a good guy. We’ve even met up for drinks before. I’m sure he was just being a gentleman, Piper.”

I whisper-shout, “‘Gentleman’? That gentleman has been doing everything he can to ensure that I have a hard time being mad at him all while he steals the department chair position right out from under me.”

Sophia wrinkles her nose and slides a glance at Heath. “We’re just going to go have a little girl talk. Be right back.”

She leads me to a quiet corner where we can still face the dance and observe the students like we’re supposed to be doing. She crosses her arms in front of her, eyes scanning over the dancers, then side-eyes me. “Piper, you seem really flustered. Like more flustered than I’ve ever seen you over anything. Is there some other underlying issue? Maybe we can talk it out.”

My blood is pumping rapidly through my body, creating the loudest whoosh, whoosh, whoosh noise in my ears, making it impossible to think straight. I blink and shake my head as I try to clear it. “I’m—I don’t know.” I bite my lip to stop myself from talking, but the understanding I see in her eyes has it all just gushing out of me like a geyser spurting everywhere. “I think I may be attracted to him, but there’s this whole situation with the job. And then, you don’t even know this yet because I got so distracted the other day with Damon taking over my class and the Midol and the Valentine’s Day period chocolate that I didn’t get a

chance to tell you and then I missed my chance and I was too embarrassed.” I stop for a quick breath and cringe. “That was an awful, horrible, run-on sentence.” I huff. “But there’s this guy I met on a dating app and I like him, too, and he wants to meet me and I keep saying sexy stuff to him that kind of isn’t me, but he’s clearly bringing it out in me, and oh my God, I don’t know what to do anymore. I feel like my whole world is spinning around and it makes me feel dizzy and I’m just trying to hang on.”

I stop and stare at Sophia, my lower lip trembling. Her mouth opens and closes a few times. “Wow. I don’t know which aspect of that has you the most worked up, but you’ve been holding an awful lot of stuff in.”

Nodding, I say, “I know. I’m really confused.”

“So, let me summarize what you said, just to make sure I’ve got it. You like this guy on the app, but you said some naughty stuff and now you’re nervous to meet him. Then you’ve got Damon being nice, and you feel like you might be attracted to him, but you’ve got the whole work issue looming over both of you. Is that right?”

I let out the biggest sigh known to womankind. “Yes. That’s pretty much it.”

“Well, don’t look now, but problem number two is headed this way.”

Chapter 13

Damon

On my way across the gym to talk to Piper, I get waylaid by Elena and her friend Marcy, both of them gussied up and full of excitement.

Elena gives me an excited, cheeky grin. “Damon—I mean, Mr. Madero—” She pauses, like she’s trying to decide whether to ask me something. “Did we see you come in with Ms. Mathison?” She taps her fingertip to her lip. “I thought that’s what I saw, but then we thought, surely not.”

Well, that’s not something I want to discuss with my sister in the middle of a school dance, and definitely not with her friend.

“I was merely making sure she didn’t fall on the way up the sidewalk. Her shoes were slipping on the ice.”

“Bummer. We thought you looked kind of cute together.”

Marcy giggles and whispers to Elena behind her hand. “Oh, Marcy had a good idea just now! You should totally dance with her.”

I scratch my head, pretending like I don’t understand what they are getting at. “‘Her’? Who are we talking about?” I wink at Marcy, who giggles again.

“Damon. You know who.” She gives me her best duh face. “Teachers are allowed to dance some. You should ask her.” She plants her hands on her hips and cocks her head to the side. “She’s just standing over there with Ms. Caringello. Girls like to dance.”

When did my youngest sister get so grown up that she thinks she can offer me advice on women?

“And her dress is so pretty, Damon. You should tell her.”

I’d noticed the dress as I was coming up behind her. It’s a deep red and nips in at the waist. The material at the bottom of the dress just seems to float around her like a red cloud. I steal a peek in her direction out of the corner of my eye.

Her hair is done up in an intricate braid knotted on top of her head, leaving her neck bare. I’ve already established that I’m a fan of that—but now I’m getting a look at her bare shoulders, too, and it’s like a full-strength kick right to my gut. She’s goddamn stunning, and the best part is I’m not sure she has a clue.

“Maybe I’ll just talk to her. How about that?”

“Fine, but talk about something other than school.” Elena rolls her eyes at me. “We’re going to go try the cookies.” She pats me on the arm. “You can do it.”

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