“Cool.” I put my hands up in surrender.
“I didn’t mean to bite your head off.” She scrubbed her face with her hand. “I’m just—”
Her stomach roared so loudly I thought there might be a dog nearby. She grabbed her middle and laughed.
“Hungry from the sound of it,” I said, smiling. I was hungry, too.
“Thanks for your help. I appreciate it.” She stepped away, then stopped. “You’re—not going to tell anyone about the kiss, right? I—”
“No. It’s fine.” I shook my head. Even though I really liked the kiss, it was probably a mistake. Too much crap had happened between us.
Her stomach roared again, and, as if on cue, mine did, too. Her eyes shot wide, and then a smile filled her face.
I busted out laughing.
“Okay…” I held my hands up in surrender. “There’s a Mickey Dee’s on our way home. Let’s grab some burgers.”
“I don’t know.”
“To celebrate. And…to silence the lions in our stomachs.”
“Okay.” She chuckled. “Asfriends.”
Chapter Nineteen
Grace
This is a bad idea…
My ponytail slapped against my back as I jogged next to Preach. We kept an easy stride, which I was thankful for, because I was tired after running all those sprints.
I can’t believe I kissed him.
What the hell was I thinking?
Itwaskind of nice, though…
My thoughts drifted to the moment our lips met. The way he pulled me to his body. The heat emanated from his chest into mine. Part of me hadn’t wanted to pull away. Part of me wanted to stay in that moment forever.
Stop! Stop it!I wasnotgoing to fall for the guy who hit me with his car and demolished my wristandmy basic training start date in one fell swoop. I wasn’t sure I could ever forgive him for that.
Sure, it seemed like he was turning things around, but still. He could go back to his old ways at the drop of a hat. Then what?
My heart was still bleeding because of all the shit that’d gone down this past year. Emmett, the move, the crash—
The sound of metal crunching metal, and my hand caught between it, rang through my mind. It stole my breath, and I stumbled but luckily stayed up right, and Preach didn’t say anything about my misstep.
Focus, Grace.
Kissing him was an impulsive move, a momentary lapse of judgment. It wouldnothappen again.
“You trying to kill me?” Preach said, ripping me out of my mental tirade.
I looked over my shoulder. He was a few feet back on the sidewalk. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re holding a sub eight-minute pace there, girl.”
Now that I thought about it, I was breathing pretty heavily.