Page 43 of The Long Way Home
“No. I’m good. I’ve already got my plan.”
She blinks. “Oh.”
“I don’t need anyone to fill a space. I’ll just hang with you,” I add.
She looks at me, trying to tell if I’m serious. “You wouldn’t get bored with that?”
“Not in a million years, Sunny.”
Her mouth lifts slightly, almost to a smile.
We turn the last corner, and her dorm building comes into view. Rachel slows her steps a little, and I match her pace.
When we reach the steps, she stops and looks up at the building. Her hands are still tucked in the front pocket of my hoodie. She turns towards me, swaying just a little on her feet.
“This is me,” she says, nodding toward the door.
“I know,” I admit, trying not to show how much I don’t want to leave yet.
She pulls her hands out and starts lifting the hoodie.
“Here,” she says, reaching for the hem.
I shake my head once, firmly. “Keep it.”
“Rhett—”
“I’m not gonna argue with you again tonight. I’m tired, Sunny. Please just keep it.” I step back a little so she can’t hand it to me.
She holds it by the sleeve for a second, then gives up and lets it fall back down around her.
“Fine,” she mumbles. Her fingers twist the edge of the sleeve.
I can’t tell if that means she’s mad, nervous or just tired.
She shifts her weight to the other foot, hesitating, maybe waiting for me to say something else. I force myself to speak before I do something stupid like follow her to her room and show her how badly I don’t want to be her friend.
“Get inside safe, alright?”
She nods. “Thanks for walking me, Rhett.”
I give her a short nod back, then turn to leave. I wait until I hear the door open and close behind me before I walk off the steps and head toward the road. My hands make their way back in my pockets, skin still cold from giving her the hoodie.
I was reckless with her tonight.
Reckless in the way I looked at her. I stood too close, knowing how that effects me. I let my guard slip open just long enough for her to see inside. I told her something I don’t tell people. Something only Josh ever knew. And the way she looked at me, like I could be something worth loving, almost made me forget why I keep that part locked up.
And God help me, I wanted to be the one who noticed her tonight.
Not Sean. Not any of those guys who kept looking at her like she was something they could take.
Me.
I wanted her eyes on me, her attention on me, her wanting pointed in my direction. I wanted to give her exactly what she was aching for, to show her she never needed to chase it from men who didn’t even see her. And the worst part is simple and brutal: if she had asked, really asked, I would have said yes. My hands would have found her body without a second thought, like they had been waiting for the invitation all along.
But wanting her is the one thing I can’t act on.
Chapter Ten
