Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
My eyes scaled up and down his body. “Fancy, there’s not a thing out of shape about you.”
His cheeks flushed a pretty pink, and I almost commented on it, but then was a little annoyed at myself for flirting with him. It would be cool to be friends with Clark again, really friends with him, but that’s all it could ever be. He was the marriage-and-kids type, while I was of the run-screaming-from-commitment variety. So I said, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“What? No. You didn’t.” He didn’t say anything else, and for a second I considered getting flirty with him again before I remembered I couldn’t bang Clark.
My ride pulled up then, and yeah, I still wasn’t ready to bail. “You still free?” I asked him, and his brows pulled together, but he nodded. “Wanna hang out? I have an idea.”
“What about your ride?”
I shrugged. “He gets a freebie, I guess.”
“I couldn’t ask you to do that. You’d still have to pay.”
“You didn’t ask, and I’m taking that as a yes. I’ll be right back.” When Clark didn’t try to stop me, I walked over to the car and told the driver I changed my mind.
“You’ll still be charged,” he told me.
“Yeah, man. I know. No worries.”
He pulled away, and I returned to Clark. He was looking at me with this pinched expression, like he couldn’t figure me out, but not in a way that said he didn’t want to.
“Am I driving, or are we walking?” he asked.
“My place, real quick. You can leave your car there.”
Clark hesitated a moment, then led me to his car. When we got in, I gave him my address, which he typed into his navigation.
“Damn, Fancy. You don’t play, do you? This is a nice ride. I feel like I’m a hooker and you picked me up or something.”
I was joking, and I hoped he knew it. When he gave a loud, throaty laugh and said, “You’re such a dork,” a relieved breath escaped my lungs.
“Today I feel like a high-priced rent boy.” I winked at him, and he laughed again.
We got to my apartment, which I knew was probably a shithole to him. Clark wasn’t the type to ever say so, though.
I was on the bottom floor. My complex wasn’t one where you went into my unit from inside a lobby, and my door was about fifty feet from the parking spot I directed him to.
“Let’s go.” I felt a giddy excitement deep in my gut. Twelve-year-old me was stoked right now, actually getting to hang out with Clark outside of gymnastics. I’d wanted to so badly when we were younger. I was a whole lot less cynical about love then.
I unlocked the door and went in. Suddenly, I wished I’d been able to clean up before he came over. My clothes were thrown over the back of the couch, and the outfits I wore to the Playground hung in the hall closet that didn’t have a door.
“Excuse the mess and follow me.”
He nodded, his eyes darting around and taking in my space. The complex was old, the carpet not dirty but just…well, old like the rest of it. I was sure his place was way better, but I also didn’t care. This was who I was, and that wouldn’t change.
When we got to my room, he said, “Holy shit. Do you run a clothing store out of your apartment?”
I laughed. “Clothes are my guilty pleasure.” Rummaging through my things, I found two pairs of shorts and a T-shirt. Luckily, we were the same size. I threw the top and one pair of bottoms at him. “Here, put these on.”
He looked at the clothes in his hand like they were an alien or something. When I began tugging my jeans down, he twisted around in a quick half circle, giving me his back.
Shit. I was making him uncomfortable again.
“Sorry. I guess I should have said something first. Nudity isn’t a big deal to me and, well, I’m in my underwear. Hell, I wear some smaller than this when I dance.”
“No.” He shook his head. “It’s okay. I don’t know why I did that.”
He turned back around just as I was pulling my exercise shorts on.
“Bathroom is across the hall. Don’t have one in here. You’re welcome to use it to change.”
“What are we doing?”
“Not telling.” I was having fun with him. It was weird because it felt like no time had passed at all, like we’d been friends for the past twelve years.
“Fine. I see how you are.”
I smiled when he went ahead and took off his shirt, changing into the tee. I walked to the closet, trying to give him privacy as he put on the basketball shorts I’d given him. “I’m a size ten and a half in shoes. What are you?”