Page 80 of Last Date

“To apologize?”

He lifted his head and met my gaze. “That, and also because I wanted to see you.”

My stomach churned at the heated look in his eyes. “You’re flirting with me, right?”

“Am I so bad at it that you have to ask?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s just… you don’t usually do that with me.”

“I told you I want to move our relationship forward.”

My pulse raced as I tried to gather my thoughts. Everything he was saying made me happy, but there were still things that bothered me. “So, if I’m understanding you correctly, you want to be more than just friends?”

He took so long to answer, I worried he wasn’t going to. Then he said quietly, “Yes. I’m afraid to admit that in case I scare you off, but yeah. I want to be more than friends.”

I blew out a shaky breath. “Feels sudden.”

“Not from where I stand.” A muscle worked in his cheek. “I… I’ve wanted that for a very long time.”

“I never saw that. I always felt like you were just mocking me.”

He sighed. “I didn’t know how to switch gears with you. You seemed to hate me.”

“I felt hurt, as you already know.”

“Because of that whole bike chain incident?”

“Yes. That soured things with us for sure.”

He grimaced. “I hoped that when I apologized, that would all go away. I hoped you’d start seeing me as… a man. Not the boy who picked on you.”

“It helped.” I felt shy about sharing my feelings, but he was being very open. I felt I should be too. “I have started seeing you differently. It’s been a little confusing, if I’m honest, because we still seem at odds much of the time.”

“I know. Part of that is my fault because I’ve felt so frustrated. I’ve wanted more with you, but I didn’t know how to make it happen.”

I said softly, “So you asked me out to lunch hoping to get things rolling?”

“Yeah.” He gave an embarrassed laugh.

“The lunch invitation did surprise me.”

“But you said yes,” he said quietly. “That gives me hope that you’ll let me get closer to you.”

I frowned. “Okay, but… did you see Peter tonight?”

“I did.”

“Do you plan on still seeing him if you and I were to become more than friends?” I felt breathless waiting for his response.

“Would that bother you?”

“Maybe.”

He smiled, his eyes glittering. “Finally.”

“Finally what?” I mumbled.

He moved slowly toward me, a predatory look in his eyes. “Finally you’re jealous.”