Wild(54)

            I laughed, but the sound rang brittle, so I cut it short and just stared at him in my best imitation of my mother’s cool, principal glare.

            “Hardly.” Studying his face, I could see that he was serious. For once that mocking humor was nowhere in evidence. “There is no reason for you to be jealous. We’re not a thing.”

            He said nothing, just stared at me with those bitter-hard eyes. The blue was like some kind of frozen marble.

            “Not a thing,” he echoed, his lips unsmiling. He usually always smiled. Even on those rare occasions when he was serious, he had that derisive smile on his lips. But not tonight. Not now.

            Suddenly the bathroom felt claustrophobic. “Look. We don’t really know each other. And you agreed to back off—”

            “Maybe I changed my mind.”

            That made me take a step back. I laughed nervously. “Don’t be ridiculous. I have a date out there. You have . . . Rachel.” So they were just friends, but she had come here with him. “Nothing is happening here.” I motioned between us. “Nothing is going to happen here. You need to step away from the door.”

            “Don’t pretend like there isn’t something here. Like we haven’t been dancing around it for weeks now, Georgia.” He jabbed a finger toward me, coming off the door, advancing. “You started this.”

            I backed up, swallowing, miserable. Yeah. That night at the kink club. That kiss. And then I showed up at his baseball game like some kind of groupie.

            I sucked in a deep breath. “I admit we have chemistry, but that’s not anything either one of us can’t find with someone else. Someone more appropriate.”

            He tossed his head back and let loose a harsh laugh. “You gotta be fucking kidding me.”

            I blinked, itchy heat flooding my face like swarming ants. I didn’t like being laughed at. Not like that.

            He lowered his gaze back to me. “You’re fooling yourself if you think chemistry is an automatic thing you can find with anyone . . . It’s not something you can find with that asshat out there.” He looked me up and down. “I doubt you had it with your last boyfriend either. You always looked too bored when you were with him.”

            I looked too bored? That was an interesting description considering Harris dumped me because he claimed I was boring.

            “You have chemistry with me,” he added, “because we’d be good together.”

            The air fairly crackled around us, jammed full of his provocative words.

            I shook my head, marveling, “Where do you get off being so arrogant? How do you know I don’t feel it with Connor out there—”

            “Because you’re in here having this conversation with me. You haven’t walked away.”

            Damn. Good point. I hadn’t even tried to leave the bathroom.

            “I didn’t want to cause a scene.”

            “I’m not stopping you from leaving.” He waved a hand past himself.

            “You want to see me walk away?” Bravado rang out in my voice and my chin went up a notch. “Watch. I know it might be a new experience for you . . . girls giving you their backs but here goes.”

            I strode right past him, dodging around him, my wedge heels biting hard into the floor.

            I felt as much as heard him come after me. The rush of movement sparked the air all around us like electricity, and my heart actually hurt for a second in my chest, squeezing so tightly with awareness, anxiety, and I don’t know . . . something else.