Page 102 of Faking Forever
Their eyes met in mutual shock and unease.
“I’ve heard that the storms could get a bit intense in this part of the world,” Smith said. The first words he’d spoken after his decree that they should talk.
“I’ve heard that about winter here, but, I mean…” Kenny shrugged a little helplessly. “It’s late January.”
“Yeah.” He was starting to shiver a little now, and small puddles were forming around his feet.
“Um… I’m going to take a quick shower,” she said. “You can have one after me, if you’d like. To warm up.”
He nodded his appreciation.
“That would be great. I’m also pretty rank after the game. I don’t know how you can stand to be in the same room as me right now.”
Kenny actually didn’t mind the way he smelled. The mixture of aftershave, sweat, and rain was a heady combination, and if she wanted to kept a clear head during their talk, it was best for her sanity if he showered.
“You can borrow one of your old T-shirts and shorts, if you’d like?” she suggested, choosing not to respond to his previous comment.
“Exactlyhowmany of my T-shirts and shorts have you stolen?”
“I haven’tstolenthem, merely acquired them. Via the laundry.”
“It’s blatant theft, and you know it.”
She eyed him askance, wondering how much of that disgruntlement was genuine.
Well, if they were going to have this talk, they might as well ask a baseline question the way polygraph testers did.
“Are youreallypissed off about the T-shirts?” she asked.
His eyes homed in on her face and she could tell the blunt question surprised him.
His gaze turned inward as he considered it and then shook his head, his lips tilting upwards.
“Not really. Honestly? I kind of like the idea of you sleeping in my shirts.”
“Even The Smiths shirt?”
“EspeciallyThe Smiths shirt.” His eyes took on a gleam of possessiveness that stole her breath away.
“Because it has your name on in?”
“Yeah.” His voice roughened, deepened, while his pupils dilated until a splinter of green was all that remained of his irises. “In fact, it would be perfect if we could somehow erase the Theand add an apostrophe in front of the seconds.”
His eyes were dark and turbulent as the storm raging outside.
Kenny gnawed at her bottom lip.
Okay, then. Baseline set.
“Why doyoulike wearing them?”
She stared at him, wide-eyed, caught in a trap of her own making. She couldn’t blame the man for wanting his own baseline.
“I started wearing them shortly after you moved out of our room,” she admitted. “The first onedidaccidentally find its way into my laundry. But after that, I admit, my means of acquiring them involved sneaking around and larceny. Not my finest moments. But I liked wearing your shirts. They comforted me. Made me feel close to you.”
As baselines went, it was a doozy.
Way too nakedly honest.
