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“Okay.” His voice is so soft after my loud outburst.
I wince and mumble, “Sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize. You can be whoever the fuck you want around me.”
“Really?” My frown is skeptical. I can feel it.
He snickers and guides me down to the walkway beside the river. “Look, I came to meet you for pizza, didn’t I? And I even stayed when you started talking about your boring-ass research paper.”
I gasp. “Psychology is not boring.”
He starts to snore and I laugh, lightly slapping his arm.
His lips crack into the briefest grin, and I hold that moonlit image in my mind, reveling in how beautiful it is.
He just smiled.
It was only for a second, but damn… I feel like I’ve just won the lottery.
We walk along in silence for a few minutes, me trying to walk as normally as I can. My muscles start to ease up and my gait improves as we shuffle along the trail. It’s paved and well-maintained, a winding path along the river. The moon is bright and full, lighting the way ahead of us, and there’s a magical quality to the air.
I love the sound of the water, the crisp breeze in my face. Winter’s coming, but the cold doesn’t bother me. As long as the skies are clear, I’m a happy girl.
Looking up, I study the stars I can see and nearly lose my balance.
Carson’s arm shoots out to catch me, and then I’m leaning against him, smelling a mix of his leather and deodorant… and a touch of sweat, feeling his soft breath in my hair and the tension vibing between us.
I gaze up to glimpse his face, wondering if his heart is starting to thrum the same way mine is, but he quickly lets me go, stepping back and patting my shoulder.
“You good?”
“Yeah.” I swallow, frowning at the back of his head when he keeps walking forward.
When I don’t immediately follow him, he turns. “You want to go home?”
I have no idea what the time is, but the world is quiet enough that it must be getting late. I don’t want to look at my watch. That will bring reality back in, and then I’ll have to walk away from this guy, and who knows how or when I’ll be able to see him again.
“Are you ready for this to end?” I ask, my stomach clenching as I wait for him to respond.
He snickers and shakes his head. “Just thought you might be over my company by now.”
I grin. “Not a chance, shithead.”
A smile flashes across his face again, but he quickly irons it out and mumbles, “Lame.”
With a soft laugh, I close the gap between us, and before he can shove his hands into his pockets, I snatch one, curling my fingers between his without a word.
Holding my breath, I wait for him to let me go, but he doesn’t.
Instead, we walk beside the river, holding hands and not saying a thing.
It’s the best non-date I’ve ever been on in my life.
And I want the night to stretch on forever.
But time doesn’t play fair, and neither does my leg. I’ve gone and worn it out now, and my walk back along the river is much slower.
By the time we finally reach Main Street again, the town is shut down for the night, and I have no idea how long an Uber will take to get here or if I can even get one.