I was sad to lose Mr. Wrong Number because he’d really meant a lot to me since I’d come back to Omaha, but the combination of the no chemistry with Nick and the out-of-this-world chemistry with Colin left me without any doubt that it was the right thing to do.
Before leaving the bathroom, I scrubbed the paw prints off my skirt and sweater and removed my tights, tossing them into the garbage can.
Done and done.
When I got back to the table, Colin’s eyes dipped down to my legs and he smiled. There was something about the way he noticed little things—my missing tights, how early I liked to eat dinner—that made me feel like I mattered to him.
Even if only temporarily.
Colin seemed a little quieter when I came back. He was still charming and entertaining, but I felt like something was a little off.
Maybe he didn’t get along with his grandparents and seeing them had upset him.
Maybe he was embarrassed that they’d seen him with a girl who looked like she’d been dumpster diving. I wanted to break this weird feeling, so when we got in the car, I turned toward him in my seat.
“Okay. Question. Did you ever think about me before I moved in with you guys?”
He gave me a weird look out of the corner of his eye. “What?”
I giggled and looked out the window. “Let me give you an example. Even though I hated you because you were a jerk, there was a time your senior year when you crashed at our house. I had to go into Jack’s room at like five in the morning, looking for my charger, and there you were.”
He glanced over at me and just shook his head slowly.
“You were sound asleep on the air mattress, wearing just your boxers, and, well, this klutzy nerd about had a heart attack.”
He slid into one of his deep chuckles that warmed me from the inside. He squinted his eyes at me and said, “You little pervert!”
“Guilty. I can still remember exactly what those plaid boxers looked like.” I grinned. “Now you go.”
“Not a chance.” He hit the blinker and slowed as he merged onto the east ramp. “I plead the Fifth.”
“Oh, come on—give me something. There wasn’t one tiny moment of attraction in all of our years?”
“Not doing this,” he laughed.
“Well.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Now I wish I hadn’t been quite so forthcoming with mine.”
He tilted his head and laid on the gas, making me smile as that slinky little car moved forward like it’d been shot out of a cannon. He said, “Okay, well, remember when you got kicked out of the dorms?”
“I still have nightmares about those fire sprinklers.” I turned in my seat and said, “Wait—did you think I was hot when you came over for dinner?”
“Settle your ass down.” He grinned at me and then looked back at the road. “When I came over to your house for dinner, there were two things about you that I’ve always remembered. One, college turned you into the most incredible smart-ass. You finally had a comeback for all the shit I threw your way.”
“Ooh, sexy.”
He chuckled, knowing I was disappointed. “The second thing was that you rolled your eyes after literally everything I said.”
“You seriously don’t have any little confessions about finding me hot?”
He laughed again and I could tell I’d cheered him up—he thought this was hilarious. But I couldn’t believe he’d never once looked at me sideways. He explained, “I thought your eyes were very green when you rolled them. And you had the longest eyelashes.”
“Stop. I don’t need your compliment charity.”
He gave me a whole minute of silence before saying, “So you’ve spent all these years picturing me asleep in my underwear.”
“You wish,” I said, mortified.
“You literally said those words, Livvie.”
“Says you.”
“What is happening here?” He laughed out the words, and I was a little shocked to realize that going on a date with Colin was really fun. We morphed into our usual banter until we exited the interstate, and then he got quiet. When he finally pulled in the underground garage and drove into his spot, he said, “Listen. About this thing we’re doing.”
“I’m not moving in with you, Colin,” I teased. “We’ve already done that, and I need my space.”
He ignored my joke completely and said, “Regardless of how casual it is, we’re seeing each other exclusively, yes?”
“Um . . . are you asking or telling?” I honestly didn’t know what his answer would be, but he seemed intense about it and that made me feel . . . I don’t know . . . some kind of way.