Page 30 of Charmed By the Next-Door Neighbor
"But you'll be cold."
"I run hot. Take it."
She hesitates, then reaches out and takes the shirt. When she puts it on, it swallows her. The shoulders hang down her arms, the hem falls to mid-thigh. She has to roll the sleeves up three times before her hands appear.
She looks ridiculous.
She looks perfect.
"Thank you," she says quietly.
I just nod, not trusting myself to speak.
We get back in the car. Without the engine running, there's no heat, but at least we're out of the wind. Claire curls up in the driver's seat, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them. My shirt bunches around her like a blanket.
I try to find a comfortable position in the passenger seat, but it's impossible. My legs are too long, the seat is too small, and every position I try makes my knees or my back protest.
"This is insane," Claire says after a few minutes of silence. "This whole night is insane."
"Yeah."
"My car dies. We're stuck in the middle of nowhere. We have to sleep in a sedan that's barely big enough for one person, let alone two."
"Could be worse."
She turns her head to look at me. "How?"
"Could be raining."
As if on cue, I hear the distant rumble of thunder. Claire starts laughing. It's slightly hysterical, but it's real, and the sound of it fills the car and does something to the tightness in my chest.
"Of course," she says. "Of course it's going to rain."
"Might not."
"Oh, it definitely will. That's just how tonight is going."
She's still laughing, and I find myself watching her in the darkness. The way her shoulders shake. The way she's smiling even though everything's gone wrong. The way she somehow makes being stranded on the side of the road seem less like a disaster and more like an adventure.
"I'm sorry," she says when the laughter finally dies down. "For dragging you into this whole mess. The fake dating thing, and now this…."
"You didn't drag me anywhere. I said yes."
"I know, but—"
"Claire." I wait until she looks at me. "I said yes because I wanted to. Not because I felt obligated. Not because I thought I owed you something. I wanted to help you."
"Why?"
I could lie. Could say something about being neighborly, about doing the right thing, about any of a dozen safe answers that wouldn't reveal too much.
But I'm tired. Tired of pretending. Tired of keeping everything locked down.
And we're stuck in this car until morning. Nowhere to go. Nothing to do but sit here in the darkness and finally say the things I've been holding back.
"Because I like you," I say.
Her eyes go wide. "You... what?"
