Page 40 of A Little Tempting
“But not anymore?”
“There was an accident,” she answers vaguely, making my spidey senses tingle almost instantly.
“What kind of accident?” I push.
“Uh,” her eyes slash to Everett in the stands, then return to me. “A freak accident. Come on, show me a smile.”
Part of me wants to push. To demand answers. But it’s only taken me a few times being around her to know pushing is the exact opposite of what I should do. So, I tuck aside the sliver of information she gave me and spread my arms wide.
With a cheesy grin, I allow her to snap photos as she skates around me. Once she makes a complete turn, she looks at the pictures and frowns. “These all look fake as crap.” She peers at me again. “How’d you make it look so easy?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you spent fifteen minutes snapping photos, and yours looked awesome. Mine look…” Her face scrunches. “Like dog poop.”
“Careful,” I joke, “You’re taking pictures ofme, remember?”
“Well, could you try to look like you’re happy, at least?” she quips.
“Not sure what you want from me. I’m smiling, aren’t I?”
“Well, yeah, but…” Her brows cave as she sorts through the images a few more times, probably looking for anything to even remotely work with. When her eyes snap to mine, she raises her forefinger. “I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?”
“Just…give me a minute.” Skating to the edge of the ice, she yells, “Ev! Get my bag from the back of your car, will you?”
“Sure thing.” He disappears through the exit, and she pulls out her phone, letting her camera hang from the strap around her neck as she types furiously.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Did you know your eyes are like IKEA?”
I frown. “What?”
She clears her throat and looks up at me. “Did you know your eyes are like IKEA?”
“No?”
“Well, they are, ‘cause I can get lost in them all day.”
I snort. “Did you just try to use a pickup line on me?”
With a light laugh, she looks down at her phone again. “Give it a minute. I’m only getting started.”
“You’re Googling pickup lines?” I question.
“I think we both know I’m not clever enough to come up with these on my own, but I got you to smile, so we’re going with it.”
She’s cute when she’s focused. The way her eyes move from left to right and her lips silently form the words she reads.
A second later, she looks up at me and grins. “Okay, I’ve got one.”
“All right, let’s hear it, Thorne.”
She lifts the camera, pointing it directly at me. “Boy, you’re the only proof I need to know aliens are real.”
“How so?” I ask.