“Hmm… I’m going to take your very generous offer to let me change the subject. What do I want to know?”
She expected him to make her blush, and braced herself to hide the reaction.
“Why blue?” He trailed his fingers through her hair.
The tender gesture caught her off guard and snatched away her thoughts. Lean in. Kiss him again. She ignored the impulse. “I wanted hot pink, but the girl who does my hair didn’t have any in stock.”
“Lucky for me, I like the blue.” He rubbed a lock between his fingers. “What does your dad think you’re majoring in? In his mind, what are his college dollars buying?”
“Teaching. Like I told you before.”
“You hesitate every time you talk about it. In the car. At Kandace’s. What aren’t you saying?”
She didn’t want to get into this, because he’d take it wrong. On the other hand, skipping the question would make it seem like a big deal, and it wasn’t. “He jokes about kicking me out if I pursue dancing as part of the teaching.” She made sure to put some laughter in her response.
His scowl was worse than she expected. “Jokes about it?”
“He’s not serious. He was so hurt over Mercy leaving when she was eighteen, he’d never throw one of us out.”
Andrew worked his jaw up and down, and then his frown vanished. “No. I’m sure he wouldn’t.”
The flat, neutral tone was the same she heard every time he held back. She’d love to know how to unlock the things he hid. The glimpses she got intrigued her. She could see why he and Mercy were such good friends. When he wasn’t wearing the mask, he was sweet and fun. Too bad she didn’t know how to get him to leave the mask off.