Page 29 of Necessary Time

“Will you still come this weekend?” he asked, holding my stare, which I was thankful for because the last thing I wanted him to see was the thickening bulge between my legs. My damn body running counter to my mind, like it had my whole life. “To the party, I mean.”

His mouth twitched in the corner, and he dropped his stare toward the floor.

“What time is it?”

“Seven.” There was the barest tease of a laugh in his answer.

“You know that’s my bedtime.”

“Maybe you can make an exception?” He looked back up at me, tip of his tongue pinched between his teeth. “For a friend.”

My shoulders sagged in defeat, a breath rushing out of me with more force than necessary. Had I been breathing? When was the last time I’d inhaled?

“For a friend,” I agreed.

He nodded, and I spun away from him, closing the bedroom door behind me and heading back to the living room. Grayson was upright when I got there, his eyes focused on the hallway, narrowing into slits when he saw me come out of the darkness.

“He’s young,” Grayson said.

“I know.”

“Do you?”

“We’re friends.” Even as I said it, knowing it was the truth, it tasted like a lie.

Grayson’s stare flickered from my face to between my legs and back up again.

“Friends.” He didn’t believe me.

I didn’t believe me either.

“See you on Saturday, then.” Grayson slid back down the couch, dropping out of sight before adding, “Friend.”

I all but fled the apartment, taking the elevator down even after I’d debating throwing myself down the stairs instead. I ran across the street and jumped into my car, locking the doors for no reason at all.

I cursed Wesley under my breath.

Cursed myself.

Then I drove home with the window down and my arm out, the breeze dusting over my hairs so softly, it almost felt like the way he’d touched me earlier in the night.

CHAPTERNINE

Wesley

I could feelGrayson looking at me while I arranged a sleeve of crackers onto a plate. I’d been doing my best to avoid him since the night of the turtle races, not because I had anything to hide, but because he was looking at me differently.

Well, maybe I had something to hide.

Because it had taken every ounce of strength in my body to not reach out and touch Colin when we’d been alone in my room. We were close enough that I could feel the heat coming off of him, and I was so close to reaching for the hem of his shirt, rucking it up just enough to graze my fingertips against his skin.

If there’d been any doubt in my mind about my attraction to men, whatever I felt toward Colin was enough to push it so far to the side I should have never even thought about it again. I wanted Colin and when he’d walked out, I understood what he meant when he said he was too old for me.

What he’d meant was I was too young for him, and the two things felt opposite each other. But he wasn’t too old for me. That wasn’t for him to decide. He didn’t know what my feelings were, so I’d decided to tell him and see if he would change his mind. That had proved to be easier said than done because Colin was either really busy at work or really good at pretending to be busy at work, so our calls and texts had been small-talk at best. I asked him last night if he was still going to come to the party and he’d said he would try.

That felt like a no, but I held out hope.

Maybe that was foolish.