Page 21 of Reverse Pass

“Got it.” He moves the piece to the left, but his smirk widens.

“Stop smirking,” I mutter.

“Stop looking at me like that and I will.”

I look up at him, and it’s a mistake because the look that passes over his face has my heart rate rising.

“Do you need help?” Joss calls out to us.

“Yes, please!” I yell, my voice coming out with a slight squeak.

He shakes his head, his eyes taunting me. “Coward’s way out, huh?”

I open my mouth to say something I’ll probably regret when Joss appears.

Saved by the bestie.

“What do you need?” she asks.

“I need it up and over to the left a little, but it’s having trouble getting slotted, and I can’t quite reach with my fingertips.” I explain to her, and her mouth crumples into a little smile before she pulls her lips inward, and there is a distinctive choked laugh from Ben’s direction.

“I hate you both right now. Just for the record.”

“You do not. You’re just tired and need to get laid.” Joss calls back.

Which is exactly the kind of thing she would say if we were alone, but we’re very much not alone and I feel the heat of her comment creep up my neck at the same time I feel his eyes on me. But I refuse to make eye contact with him. And if that makes me a coward, so be it.

A second later and the cleat locks into place and I can slide out from my precarious spot between the wall and the temptation that would certainly land me in one of the inner circles of hell.

“Thanks.” I smile tightly at Joss.

She has the decency to look a little remorseful, and hurries back to her spot at the desk. I take a breath and pick up some of the tools, continuing to ignore him because I cannot look at him right now.

“I think we can call it a night. That puts me ahead of schedule. I should be able to finish the rest in the morning,” I call out to Joss.

“All right. I’ll come in after my photography class to finish this mount and get it in the case. Then we just need to put the labels and stuff up, right?”

“Yep. And I’ll get them printed tomorrow morning. But for now, let’s just get home.”

She nods and we manage to pack everything up and head home.

* * *

I takea quick shower once we get back, and I raid the fridge for a flavored water and some raspberries before I head to bed. My body groans as I stand straight again from my crouched position, and I know I overdid it today in my hurry to get the exhibit up. Some days I wasn’t sure if the artwasworth the pain.

I pop a raspberry in my mouth and close my eyes, rolling my shoulders and my neck, trying to get the muscles to relax. I was probably going to need to find where I’d stashed the ibuprofen in the drawers if I wanted to sleep tonight.

“I can fix that for you,” Ben says as he opens the door to the fridge, and I jump, pressing my hand and the bottle of water to my heart.

“By giving me a heart attack and having worse things to focus on?” I glare at him, but he just laughs.

“Ha. No, by massaging your muscles. Happens to me sometimes when I do too many catching drills.” He takes a drink from one of the bottles he keeps stashed in the fridge.

I give him a doubtful look.

“Or you could just suffer.” He shrugs his shoulders.

“Okay. Fine. I’ll try it. Mostly because I don’t know where the ibuprofen is.”