Page 13 of Prickly Pair
“Maybe. Is it working?”
“A little.” I exhaled and stared at my arm, my eyes tearing up again. “I’m going to scar, aren’t I?”
“Yes.” He didn’t lie to me, and that was strangely comforting too. “It’s a bad burn. It’s probably going to blister, but we’ll see.”
“Okay. I trust your judgement, doctor.”
“Good,” he chuckled.
“To answer the Austin-Nick thing, no. They went to high school together and hated each other. I don’t know why. I happened to run into Nick a couple months ago and we . . .” had the best one-night stand of my life? But then I’d snuck out on him at three in the morning without getting his number and hadn’t heard from him since because of that. I’d convinced myself it was for the best, but now . . . seeing him again? I wasn’t so sure. “We had a date.”
“Was it bad?”
“No. It was really good.” I was blushing now. Matthew wasn’t exactly the person I wanted to tell all those details too.
I’d mostly told Avery and June everything the next day. I’d only withheld the part about my hot one-night stand being withNick.
What was he doing in Whynot? When we had our date, didn’t he tell me he was building something? But we’d been almost two hours away from Whynot, so I never thought he’d visit our little town.
“Does this mean my shot with you is gone?” Matthew asked earnestly.
My eyes widened. Was he being serious? “What? You want a shot with me?”
Matthew smiled and my stomach did a slow flip.
“I’ve only had a crush on you since I moved here,” he said.
“I didn’t know,” I whispered.
I couldn’t stop staring at him. Was he fucking with me right now? I mean, I’d felt the vibes a couple times, but he never hit on me, so I just assumed he wanted to be friends.
But then I remembered some of the things he’d brought me over the last year. My favorite flowers. Lunch.
Did I miss . . . all the signs that were obviously there?
“Why have we never gone on a date then? You know I’ve been dating.”
Matthew winced. “I am known to be a little too patient when it comes to dating. Plus, you and Austin . . .”
Me and Austin.I snorted and tore my gaze from him, looking back down at the burn.
“We can talk later,” he murmured. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring this up while you’re hurt?—”
“No, it’s okay. It’s a good distraction. My arm feels like it’s cooking. I just wish . . .” I trailed off. I wasn’t exactly sure what I wished.
Matthew leaned forward and inspected the burn on my arm a little closer. He let out a deep hum, his glasses sliding forward on his nose. My pulse danced as I watched him.
Maybe it was because it’d worked for my two best friends, but for the last couple years, I’d formed this fantasy that I’d end up with three boyfriends. It was ridiculous because I hadn’t had luck finding even one. All the dates I’d gone on this year had been failures, except for the night with Nick, and then I’d left him. The sex had beentoogood.
Footsteps behind us had us both turning. Matthew didn’t let go of my burned arm, keeping it under the running water.
Nick flashed us a smile as he grabbed a tray of croissants.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice pitching.
“Filling the case. We sold out.”
“What?” I hissed. “Fuck—Matthew.”
