He whirled back. “We are.” This time, his confusion was genuine.
“Oh, really?” I cocked my hip and lifted an eyebrow. “Well, friends don’t avoid friends. You’ve been avoiding me. On purpose. I still sit at the exact same table every day for lunch. And we still keep getting calculus assignments to work on.”
“I know,” he broke in with a tortured wince as he blew out a breath. “I know. I just…” Closing his eyes, he bowed his head and squeezed the bridge of his nose before looking up again. “We got a little too close that night. I still want to be your friend, Reese. I will be your friend. I just…I need some time and space to control my…my horny guy urges.”
He thought we’d gotten too close?
My curiosity was killing me to find out exactly in what way he thought we’d gotten close. The horny-guy-urges comment—which, I loved by the way; I might have to steal that phrase soon—made me think maybe he was only talking about sex. But the depth of feeling in his gaze said it was more than that. It said something so much deeper than a little physical interaction.
I wondered if the boy had just confessed he’d fallen for me.
My heart gave a happy lurch, almost pounding its way through my ribcage.
Needing to taunt him, just a little, I stepped forward, coming so close to him I’m sure he could feel my breath on his face.
He stumbled back until his spine hit the wall. And when I kept closing in, he exhaled, his entire body tensing. I finally stopped with a bare inch of space between us. That familiar inch was always keeping us apart.
“Jesus,” he breathed.
“So you thought we got too close, huh?”
His gaze fell to my mouth, and he appeared completely unable to look away. With a vacant nod, he murmured, “Yes.”
“I see.” I made myself stare at his chin, since it seemed like the least likely thing to turn me on, even though the dimple there was a total turn on. “And you haven’t had enough time or space to control those pesky urges yet?”
He gulped. I was so close I could actually hear the swallow shift down his throat. “Not…quite…yet.” Damn, he sounded sexy when he was breathless.
I made a sympathetic sound. “Gee, I’m sorry to hear that.” Even though, I totally wasn’t. I loved knowing I turned him on. I tapped on his dimple playfully. “Make sure to let me know when they’re gone. Okay? I’m ready to have my friend back.”
He reached out and took hold of the edge of the kitchen counter as if he needed to grab on to something to keep from reaching for me. Shaking his head, he let out a breath. “You are so evil. If I didn’t like you so much, I’d take you right now.”
Sweet Baby Jesus. Talk about turning my panties to mush.
The euphoria that surged through my veins was unreal. The first time I’d seen Mason Lowe, he’d been like this mythical, totally inaccessible erotic beast I probably wasn’t even fit to stare at. To be standing so close to him, actually turning him on, was so unreal and amazing I wanted to dance, and scream, and burst with joy.
“Really?” I said. “How?”
Heat flared in his expression. “Probably hard and fast against this wall.”
“Hmm.” I bit my lip, trying not to react. But I stared at the wall behind him, picturing it…vividly. “That sounds…fun.” And wow, it really kind of did.
But he was my friend, and I’d probably tortured him enough for one night. I managed a friendly grin. “I guess since we’re friends and you’re not going to take me, I’ll give you that time and space you need then.”
I took a step back, and then a few more, retreating until the air in his lungs hissed out as he wilted his shoulders.
Shaking his head, he murmured, “Evil, evil, evil.”
As he rested his butt against the side of the counter, looking drained, I shrugged. “Would you really have given me a freebie just now?”
He glanced up, his eyes swirling. “Just say the word.”
Hot damn.
My grin stretched wide, loving the power I wielded. I could actually make the unbendable Mason Lowe break one of his sacred rules and give a girl a freebie. “Cool,” I admitted. Scooping up my purse from the table, I remembered I’d left my phone on the floor in the hallway.
“My phone,” I told him before I disappeared for a second. When I returned with it, he’d slunk to the table and was sitting in a chair with his elbows resting on the tabletop and his face cradled in his trembling hands.
Tucking my phone away, I said, “I guess I’ll see you around then.”
When I slung my purse strap over my shoulder, he lifted his weary gaze. “Are you seriously going to walk out of here right now after I just confessed my soul to you, cool as a cucumber, without reciprocating at all?”
“What?” I sent him a blank look. Then I rolled my eyes and reached out to ruffle his amazing hair. “Mason Lowe, if you don’t know by now that I’m attracted as hell to you, you’re freaking blind.”