"Luna," Jake said.
I whirled toward him. "What?"
His dark gaze met mine. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah, me too," I said, turning back toward the bed.
I felt a hand on my elbow. "Just listen," he said.
With a sigh, I turned to face him.
"I'm an asshole," he said. "I know that." He pushed his free hand through his hair. "But do me a favor. Pretend I'm not. Okay?"
I gazed up him. Standing there, he looked so tough and so forlorn, with his muscle-bound body and haunted eyes. I didn't know what to say.
Somehow, I managed to speak. "I don't even know what you mean by that."
He let out a long breath. "I mean," he said, "let's get the hell out of here. Forget Bianca. Forget Vince." His voice softened. "Forget all the stupid shit I said."
Desperately, I wanted to. It would be so nice to hit a rewind button, to go back to this morning – before Bishop, before Bianca, before talking to my sister, and before the Vince thing, whatever it was.
As if sensing my weakness, Jake moved closer. He leaned toward me until our lips might have touched. "Say yes," he said.
I felt myself swallow. I'd like to say yes to a lot of things. I felt the threat of a smile.
He moved a fraction closer. His voice was very quiet. "Come on. Say yes. You know you want to."
He was right. I did want to. But unfair or not, I wanted something in return. "If I forget everythingyousaid, will you forget aboutmehiding in your closet?"
Finally, his lips brushed mine. "Done."
An hour later, we were strolling through the same mall I'd visited with Bianca. But this time, I was actually having a good time. Okay, a great time.
As we walked from store to store together, I had to laugh. "You know what?" I told him. "I can't believe we're actually at the mall."
"Why not?" he asked.
"Because when I was in high school, this would've been my ultimate fantasy."
He gave me a sideways glance. "Shopping?"
"Actually," I admitted. "It would've been shopping withyou."
His eyebrows rose. "So, you wanted toshopwith me?"
In truth, I had wanted to do a lot of things with Jake. Some of those things, I had done this morning. And last night too. And if my luck held out, I'd be doing those things again before I slept. Part of me wanted to those things right now, maybe in the back seat of his car, or in some abandoned dressing room.
What was it about Jake that brought out my inner hussy?
I gave him a sheepish smile. "I didn'tonlywant to shop with you."
He grinned over at me. "Yeah?"
The guy way too smug for his own good. "Uh, yeah," I said. "I wanted to do each other's hair too."
The smugness disappeared. "Please tell me you're joking."
Jake had nice hair. It was dark and thick with a mere whisper of a wave. Earlier today, it had drifted through my fingertips like silken magic. I wanted to mess his hair up, not style it, or braid it, or brush it, or color it. But Jake didn't need to know any of that. The way I saw it, a little fear might do him some good.