Just for Now (Sea Breeze #4)(23)

“Um, I—uh—no. Not right now,” she stammered as she pulled her backpack up higher on her shoulder.

“Want to go get some coffee? I didn’t have time for any this morning.”

Amanda glanced back at the door, and the girl who’d been talking to her before class stood waiting on her. “I was going to the library, but I wouldn’t mind some caffeine first,” she replied, looking back at me.

Yes. She had caved easy enough. “Can we go alone? I wanted to talk to you about some things.”

Her eyes widened a bit, and I could see the understanding. Did she want to pretend it hadn’t happened? I wasn’t going to be able to do that.

“Okay. Let me go tell Kelsey I’ll meet up with her later.”

Amanda



Why was I doing this? I deserved the Stupid Award. But then again, how was a girl supposed to tell those pretty blue eyes of Preston’s no? It was impossible. When he set out to get your attention, he was insanely hard to ignore. He hadn’t made peace with what had happened between us. I knew that was what all this was about. He needed to feel okay with everything. He and Marcus were close. He probably felt guilty. The sooner I eased his guilt, the sooner I could get my distance. This friends thing was not what he wanted. He wasn’t friends with girls. He had friends. Lots of friends. None of them were female.

Once we got outside the math building, I grabbed Preston’s arm and pulled him away from the crowd and underneath an oak tree. There was no need for us to go get coffee and pretend. It would only give him a chance to get more under my skin than he already was.

“Listen, I know what’s bothering you. I get it. This is about Marcus. So whatever you need me to do to ease your conscience so you can go on with your happy-go-lucky self, just tell me. Let’s not pretend that we’re going to be friends. Because honestly, I can’t be your friend. It would never work.”

Preston stood silently staring at me while my little “clearing of the air” became a full-blown rant. I hadn’t meant to get carried away, but I had. Just looking at him and feeling my body get all excited by his nearness made me mad. What did the guy have to do to me to make me hate him?

“This isn’t about Marcus. I wish to hell it was. But it isn’t.” Preston reached out and put a hand on my waist and pulled me closer to him. Oh my. Not what I was expecting. “I can’t stop thinking about you, Manda. I try. I try all the damn time, but I can’t.”

Wow. My knees were a little weak.

“I want to be near you. I can’t seem to keep away.”

Double wow. I couldn’t form words at the moment. A strand of his pale blond hair was falling in his eye, and I wanted to tuck it behind his ear. To touch it. But I didn’t. He pulled me closer.

“Can we be friends? Will you forgive me for that night?”

The word “friends” was back again. I hated that word. I had never been friends with anyone who made my heart race and my body tingle. How could I even manage that kind of relationship?

“We can try,” I choked out.

His hand slid behind my back and settled on the curve above my bottom. Friends didn’t stand like this. He wasn’t doing a very good job with this friends thing.

“I’ll be good. I promise. I’ll be the best damn friend you’ve ever had.” His voice had lowered into a husky whisper. I shivered from the sexy sound.

“Mmmm, I’m gonna have to work on that,” Preston added. “Feeling you shiver. I like it. I’m gonna want to feel it more.”

I swallowed hard and tried to control the emotion in my voice. “Friends don’t get this close, Preston,” I said, and I started to take a step back when he pulled me tightly against him.

“No, Manda, they don’t. But I can’t stop wanting you close. Can we be close friends?” He asked, lowering his head until his warm breath tickled my ear. Closing my eyes tightly, I grabbed his arms to keep myself steady. What was he doing? “I like you close. Real close.”

“Have you lost your f*cking mind?” Cage York’s voice broke the spell I’d fallen under, and I found the power to shove away from Preston.

“Stay out of this, Cage,” Preston snarled, turning his heavy-lidded eyes from me to Cage.

“And let you get the shit beat out of you? ’Cause if you touch her, not one of those buddies of yours is gonna have your back when Marcus kills you.”

“I said to back the hell off.”

Cage smirked and shook his head. “I ain’t gonna do that. You can go find another f*ck buddy. Amanda is off-limits. You hurt her, then you hurt Low. I can’t let that happen. So you see, this gets personal.”

Cage had always been protective of Willow. They’d grown up together and were best friends. Marcus had issues with it sometimes, but over time he had started accepting it more and more. Especially since Cage had fallen in love with Eva.

“We’re friends. Leave this alone.” Preston turned to face Cage. This wasn’t looking good.

“Cage, he’s right. We are just friends. Let it go. We aren’t and will never be anything more than friends. I promise.”

Cage shifted his eyes from Preston to me. The concern and disbelief in his eyes as he met my pleading gaze was hard to miss. He didn’t believe either of us. But this really wasn’t his business.