Page 7 of Just Our Secret

But the idea that people judged her? Made her feel less than when she was so goddamn much more? It set me on fire.

“Sorry, but they’re idiots. They should be inaweof you. You’re doing all the same shit they’re doing in half the time, with double—quadruple—the responsibility, and you make it look easy.”

She sighed. “Yeah, sure.”

I nudged her shoulder with mine. “Seriously. You’re an amazing mom. And a great student, if Connor bragging about your grades every semester is any indication.”

“He does not,” she said, eyes wide, that blush returning in full force.

“Oh, yes he does. It’s almost like he has some hand in it—like he’s getting the grades himself.”

She chuckled. “Ah, my big brother.”

I smiled at the loving exasperation. “He’s extra. But he’s too proud of you to hold it in, and I get that. You’re killing it, Taylor, and anyone who can’t see that is missing out.”

Dr. Pressman entered in a flurry of conversation with her grad student, and everyone piped down. I caught Andi’s eye one last time before class began and gave her a little nod, hoping for reassuring.

She smiled again, and I flicked my eyes to the front of the room to keep her from seeing right through me. Dr. Pressman launched into her expectations, and every bit of her explanation reinforced why I’d put this class off as long as I could. But as a senior, I couldn’t avoid it any longer. Andi was smart to get it done her junior year.

Our legs brushed once, the smooth skin of her long, gorgeous leg sliding against mine when she shifted in her seat to get her bag.

“Sorry,” she whispered, biting her lip to make a regretful face.

I did not look at her lip or the way she bit it. Somehow. Instead, I gritted out, “No problem,” and prayed my body would not continue the little fantasy that shot through me at the contact. Throughout the rest of the class, I had to actively fight the image of me sliding my hand up the smooth, soft skin of her inner thigh, right up her shorts to—

“All right, folks. See you Thursday.”

Bags rustled and people immediately erupted into conversation.

I leaned in just as Andi reached for her bag. “I’ll block for you. Let’s go!”

She nodded in acknowledgement and I was out of my seat and hauling up the stairs, with her right behind me. Despite my little mental vacation seconds ago, I’d planned our exit. I shifted to the side and physically blocked one side of the exit so she could sneak out before a flood of other students streamed in front of her.

“Thanks,” she said as we speed walked to the exit of the building.

“No problem. My two seasons of high school football taught me well.”

Her smile flashed, another punch to the gut. “Yeah. You always looked cute in your uniform, too.”

“Oh yeah? You never told me.” I sounded downright casual, but on the inside, I reeled from the compliment.

She chuckled. “Yeah, shocking, right?”

We slipped past a large crowd of students taking their sweet ass time to round the corner of the building, and she broke into a light jog as she checked her watch.

“I can’t be late.”

“You’ll get there. It’ll be okay.”

“I hope so.”

We shuffled along next to each other for another minute before I remembered my idea. “I meant to see if you and Liam could come tour the firehouse after school on Thursday. No pressure, of course, but I thought he might like that.”

She slowed her pace and hiked her backpack higher on her back. “He’d love it. He’s obsessed with fire trucks… and you. So it would be his best day ever.”

“Oh, hey now. I thought ‘best day ever’ still belonged to Connor and your dad when they took him out for ice cream after his last day of school in the spring.”

She beamed. “Oh, thatwasa best day ever. But there have been many since. I suspect Thursday will be too—as long as I don’t mess everything up by being late.” She swung her bag down and into the passenger seat of her car in one swift move, then shoved the door closed. I beat a path ahead of her and opened her door, but she grabbed the handle at the same time, effectively grabbing my hand.

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