See Me After Class(97)

I get on the boat first and then help Greer. I should have told her to change her shoes but being the greedy bastard that I am, I didn’t have it in me, not when they looked that tempting on her.

After a quick tour of the boat, Greer and I decide to sit at the boat’s stern while we take off into the lake, and once dinner is served, we’ll move to the table.

There’s a perfect bench in the back, just big enough for two people. She snuggles into my side, and I wrap my arm around her.

“Would you like a blanket?” Janet asks.

“That would be wonderful,” Greer says, taking the wool blanket. She drapes it over her lap, and I’m grateful she brought a jacket, too, because even though I love that top, she’d have been cold with nothing on her shoulders.

Once she’s situated, she lets out a long sigh.

“Comfortable?” I ask quietly.

“Extremely. I didn’t think my Wednesday night was going to end up on a sailboat, pulling out into Lake Michigan.”

“Surprised?”

“A little. A regular dinner at a restaurant would have been just fine.” She laughs.

“I’m sure we’ll have dates like that at some point, but I figured I needed to go big for the first date.”

“Already counting on multiple dates?” she teases.

I kiss the top of her head. “Yeah, I am.”

“Not sure how you can beat this.”

“I have ideas.”

Snuggling in closer, she asks, “Did you tell Cora what you’re doing?”

“No. She thinks I’m going out with the boys.”

“Smart, unless she contacts one of them.”

I shrug. “If she does, oh well. I’ll just lie until we’re ready. She’s been evasive with me ever since she moved in, and it wasn’t until recently that she confessed what she’s been doing.”

“Is that the marriage counseling?”

“Yeah. I won’t get into it because, that’s her story to tell to you as her friend, but to keep it brief, we both seem to have intimacy issues. Cora probably more than I do. Sex has never been an issue, but being affectionate, opening up and letting someone in, that’s been harder. She suggested I go to a session with her. I laughed her off until the other day. I thought if I really want to make something of this, then I should put in some time fixing myself.”

“You don’t need to be fixed, Arlo.”

“There’s room for improvement, and I became quite aware of that when you walked away.”

“It wasn’t easy,” she says quietly. “I felt like I was giving up on something I barely tapped into, but it started off too strong, too intense, and with a douse of hatred.”

“I never hated you,” I say quickly. “Did you hate me?”

“Yes,” she answers honestly. “And I hated myself for not having any willpower around you. I was tempting the beast and I didn’t know how to stop. It brought out a carnal side of you, a lustful side of me—which was great, but it wasn’t what I was looking for—and I was mad at myself for taking it to that level.”

“You weren’t alone in how things changed quickly between us.”

“I know . . . but then you dressed up as Jay Gatsby, and I knew there was a part of you that could be the man I’m looking for. Not just sexual attraction, but on a different level.”

“I can be.” I squeeze her tight to me.

“I don’t doubt it now. I think we’re granted with the perfect chance to get to know each other better now, which is what I’d like to do.”

“Ask me anything. I’m an open book.”

“Anything?”

“Anything,” I say, pressing another kiss to the top of her head, the act coming naturally.

“When I ran into you outside of the restaurant, the night I was going out with Walker, were you upset?”

“Upset isn’t the correct word. More like indignant. I had no idea what the boys were up to, and when I found out, I saw red. The last thing I wanted was to see you go out with another guy, especially . . . hell, especially when you looked so goddamn fine in your dress. I spent the entire night agonizing over my stupidity. I had a deep conversation with Coraline, and it helped me snap the blinders off and realize what I was missing out on.”

“When I saw you that night, it felt absolutely devastating. At the time, I felt vengeful because of everything that had happened between us, but I was devastated because it didn’t seem like you cared. I thought maybe I saw a flash of something in your eyes, but I couldn’t be sure.”

“I cared. Trust me, I cared.”

“Is it weird to say that makes me happy?”

I chuckle. “Glad my pain and agony bring you joy.”

She pokes my side. “You know what I mean.”

“I do, and I understand.”

“I do need to come clean about something from that night, though.”

Fuck, if she says she slept with him, I’m not sure how I’ll handle that. I’d have no right to be angry. She’s irresistible. Walker would be a blind idiot— “Walker and I are friends, and friends only.”

Thank. Fuck.

“In fact, he talked about someone he’s extremely attracted to but can’t act upon that attraction, and I . . . well, I talked about you.” She’s blushing. God, she’s adorable when she blushes.