Page 14 of Just Our Secret

I opened the cabinet and looked up, the colander a lot higher than I remembered. And of course these two Jolly Green Giants didn’t even own a stool. I reached up, my fingers barely touching the edge of the shelf where the colander sat. Stretching on my toes, I used my other hand to press down on the counter to give myself a boost. But still, it wasn’t enough.

“Want some help?” Wade asked from behind me, humor in his tone.

“No,” I said through gritted teeth while I reached for it. “I’ve got it.”

Continuing to stretch, my fingers tapped the side of the plastic colander, pushing it further out of my grasp. I heard Wade chuckle behind me, then froze when I felt him come closer.

“Here,” he said, easily reaching the high shelf over my head.

My senses were completely overwhelmed by his nearness. The warm spice of his cologne, the heat from his chest as he towered over me, and the sound of his easy laugh so close to my ear.

He brought the colander down and put it on the counter in front of me as I lowered myself off my toes. He could have stepped back. I could have moved away. And yet, we both stood there, inches apart, looking at each other.

Had he really meant what he’d said? Was it really a mistake? Because I couldn’t be the only one who felt the heat passing between us. Could I? Before I could ask, Liam’s voice clattered into my consciousness from the living room, cheering about winning against his uncle.

We sprang apart again, just like we had in the firehouse’s bunk room. When it was clear from their muffled voices that they’d started another round and weren’t coming in here, I risked a glance at Wade. He stood on the opposite end of the kitchen, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed. It was a casual pose, like he’d been standing there the whole time. And yet when his eyes met mine, they were dark with desire.

I opened my mouth to ask him if he was sure there was nothing more to that kiss than a moment of convenient lust, but then he suddenly pushed himself off the counter and shook his head.

An easy smile played at his lips as he started to leave the kitchen. “So, we’re cool? We can forget that whole thing even happened?”

I swallowed. No. We werenotcool. We were freaking hot as hell together, and I really wanted him to admit it.

I wanted him to lunge for me. To pick me up and put me on the counter, grabbing my ass while he ravaged my lips.

But instead, completely used to pining over him without getting anything in return, I just nodded. “What whole thing?”

He grinned, backing out of the kitchen. “Exactly.”

EIGHT

WADE

We’d been sitting side by side, supposedly working on a group response question or some shit, and Andi hadn’t said a damn word to me. So obviously, that “whole thing” was in fact awhole thing.

Acting like it hadn’t been made it worse—way worse than I’d anticipated. I’d kept my hands shoved in my pockets through most of our Sunday night dinner just to ensure I didn’t act like a creep and try to touch her. My fingers, my mouth, mymindwere addicted to her, but I had to go cold turkey after my first taste.

I’d figured things would be awkward, but I hadn’t expected her disappointment. After all, Andi had slept with Chad. She’d chosen him, not me. Fuuuck did that hurt to remember sometimes, even still. At the same time, Chad had bailed, and she’d never seemed heartbroken. She’d never seemed anything but determined to be a good mom and not lose herself in the process.

She’d done a damn fine job. And while she was at it, she’d turned into an even more gorgeous version of herself. When I reached up and brushed against her to grab the colander Sunday night, I’d had a flash of hoisting her up and spreading her legs so they’d lock around my waist. I would’ve slipped my hand into her V-neck shirt and finally gotten a handful of her luscious—

“Do you agree?” Darion, a fellow group-discussion participant, forced me back into the moment.

I cleared my throat. “Yeah. Yep. Totally agree.” Or, I have no idea because I was too busy fantasizing about all the things I wanted to do to Andi but definitely never would.

“Great. One more question, and then we can chill.”

Thank God for Darion because Andi and I weren’t very focused. Poor guy. He read the question aloud, and I glanced at Andi. She read along with him, eyes cast down at her textbook, chewing on her bottom lip.

I’d tasted that lip, and for not nearly long enough. Pretending I’d just been jonesing forsomeoneand that I hadn’t very specifically wantedherhad been one of the worst things I’d said aloud.

For some reason, I’d expected the lie to come easily. I’d been lying to Connor by omission—I’d never told him about my feelings for Andi. And I’d done the same with Andi. But directly lying to her face—pretending I didn’t want her with every goddamned atom in my body?

Yeah, that shit hurt.

The only consolation I had was that she’d claimed we’d be fine. We’d forget about it. But there we were, only speaking to Darion and not each other, a cold wall between us despite the fact that we sat right next to each other like always. Well, not quite like always, because she’d situated her backpack a few inches farther on her side and seemed to be particularly uninterested in the arm rest between us.

When Darion excused himself to the bathroom, I turned to her. “So. Seems like it got weird again.”