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I tilted my head slowly to one side and then the other as if I was thinking it over, but I already knew what I wanted to do with it. “Finish writing it and turn it into a screenplay,” I admitted.
His eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Really.”
“That’s awesome, Liv. You know—I’m actually working on one myself,” he said. And here I was, thinking there was nothing else he could say that would make me like him even more. “A screenplay, I mean,” he clarified.
“I knew what you meant,” I said with a playfulness to my tone. “That’s pretty cool, Neil,” I added, mashing my lips down on a smile as I glanced over his features. Dark eyes, sharp jaw, full lips, a nose that was just slightly askew, balancing out the ridiculous perfection of everything else taking up residence on his face.
My thoughts were racing again, but I had a grip on what most of them were this time:
Neil is hot.
Like, actually,reallyfreaking hot.
And he’s smiling at me.
And my heart is still racing.
And I think I mightdefinitelylike him.
I like every single thing that’s come out of his mouth so far.
I really do want to get to know him again, be his friend again, maybe. Maybe something more.
I think Icouldget him to kiss me.
I smirked, amused by my own thoughts.
“Would you be interested in swapping scripts when we’re done?” he asked. “We could read them over Thanksgiving or Christmas break, give each other some helpful feedback.” His words were confident, but there was something about his appearance that betrayed a level of vulnerability I couldn’t read in his eyes—his Adam’s apple slowly climbing up and dipping back down his throat, the quick bounce of his knee beneath the table.
I’d been so busy feeling off balance in his presence that I hadn’t noticed an unbalance on his end, too. Now that I had dialed myself back a few notches, I could see it. I could practically feel his heart beating from across the table.
Neil was definitely nervous.
My smirk stretched higher at the thought, and I felt the upper hand shift back over to me; I could eat him alive if I wanted to.
It wouldn’t have been the first time I’d had such a thought before Neil casually waltzed into my confident awareness and pushed me right back off balance again. Apparently, this time was no different.
“Just think about it and let me know.” He smiled. “There’s something else I’ve been wanting to tell you all day, though. Since we’re clearing air today and all.” His smile shifted from innocent to amused, and I had to remind myself to take a breath.(No, literally.)“So… the first day of school?” he continued.
“Uh-huh,” was the only word I could find to urge him on.
“I might’ve said something to the guys about wanting to kiss you, too,” he said. “And… I might’ve had a bit of an internal bet going on as well.”
I blinked and blinked again. Swallowed. Allowed air to pass through my lungs in an automatic fashion.What?
He stood up and pushed his chair in with an amused smirk still curving his lips. “See you later, Liv.” And he walked away.
I wasn’t able to piece my thoughts together fast enough, and now he was gone. What the hell would I have said to that anyway?
I took one deep breath in and released one confused, stunned puff of air back out.
The first official thing I learned about good boys like Neil? Was that sometimes they said things a bad boy would say, but it turns out to be way fucking hotter. Because you’re looking directly into the eyes of a total enigma. An achingly hot, virtuous enigma with the morals to prove it.
Chapter 8
Rumor Has It