When he leans in and presses his forehead to mine, my eyes close, and I let out a huge breath I feel I’d been holding in for years.
Nate’s back.
He pulls back, a strange gleam in his eyes. He cups my face with both hands. “You’ll be careful, right? If my dad gets in your face, tell him you’ll go to the police. That’ll probably make him think twice about doing anything. And call me if you need anything.”
While he’s holding me like this, the rough palms of his hands pressed to my face, I can’t think, let alone speak. Something else trickles through my senses, something more than relief. Heat gathers at the base of my spine and my mouth goes dry.
It gets worse when his gaze dips, zeroing in on my mouth.
What is he doing? And why is my body suddenly so interested?
Nothing happens, though. He lets go of my face and gets to his feet, then runs a hand through his dark hair.
“I should get going,” he says, “can’t be late for work.” His cheekbones are flushed and he won’t look at me.
Seems like I’m not the only one who’s working through something here.
“Wait.” I scramble up to my feet as he steps out of the bathroom.
“What?” Hands in his pockets, legs apart, he’s the very picture of nonchalant.
“Look… I won’t ask you to tell me who hurt you, or how.” I consider my words. “Not unless you want to. But if you walk out of my life again, I’ll punch you in that pretty boy face of yours and mess it up.”
He chuckles. “Fine.”
But I’m serious. “Thing is…” I chew on my lip, look down at my burned hands. “I fucking need you.”
His eyes widen, but then he nods, a small smile curling the corners of his mouth. “Yeah, man. I need you, too.”
“Can I copy your notes?” Sydney asks during history class, and I shove my notebook at her without a word. “Cool, thanks. Hey, West?”
“What?”
“Can you pass me your pen?”
“Sure.” I shove it her way, too.
“What about your history book?”
Uh, whatever. I shove everything her way.
“Okay, Weston.” She puts a hand on my arm and leans in, a frown on her small oval of a face. “What’s going on?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re a thousand miles away today. You might as well be on the moon for all the attention you pay to the class, and me.”
I stare at the heap of things I’ve pushed her way.
Then I reach up and tuck a red curl behind her ear. “Everything’s fine.”
“Is it?” She tucks her bottom lip between her lips, and it’s hot, and cute, and that makes me think of Nate, and I laugh.
Because it’s weird. I’d give my right arm to be with Syd, I’d give everything, and I’m pretty sure I’m not into boys, anyway. I mean, I’d have noticed by now.
And certainly not Nate.
So what was that all about?