Chapter 12

Graham drove a big truck. Of course, he did—he needed something huge for his mammoth frame. He didn’t fit anywhere.

~Jesus. That sounded so wrong. What’s wrong with me?~

Whenever St. Claire was around, my head was lousy.

We walked into an empty parking lot, thank God, and I hopped into his mammoth car. It was a bit difficult, with how tall the truck was. Every time I lifted my legs, the jacket hiked up, exposing more of my thighs. I was sure a bit of my butt was revealed as I climbed in. I was lucky the parking lot was empty.

I glided into the seat, self-conscious at the touch of leather underneath my bare skin, my very naked butt and crotch. The leather was cold and slick. Everything felt awkward.

Graham hopped in too and turned on the heat even though it wasn’t necessarily cold. But since I was only wearing his jacket and recently got out of the shower, it was hard to keep my body warm.

I turned to him and smiled weakly at his thoughtfulness.

I didn’t want this charming Graham, who could make me laugh and was aware of my every need. It messed with my head. Here I was, trying to hate him for being a bully and for stringing me along, and then he was doing something thoughtful.

Graham powered up the engine and turned to me for directions. I indicated the way home, which was short, and slumped back in my seat, pushing down the hem of the jacket over my thighs. It kept riding up, much to my discomfort.

We were silent for a few seconds. There was no music or radio on, only the sound of our breathing. I squirmed in my seat. The squeak of the leather seat was loud.

“How long have you been a swimmer?” he asked when we were a couple of blocks away from school.

“We don’t have to do small talk,” I fought back.

Graham turned to me and arched his eyebrows in concern. “Are you mad at me?”

“Wow, how did you figure that one out?”

His brow furrowed and his jaw clenched. “I’m not going to lie to you, Hazel. I’m not sorry about the exchange for the jacket and ride.”

I refused to acknowledge his statement.

“But that’s not it. You were angry last week. You didn’t even greet me.”

“Do you think we are pals now?” I retorted.

“After Ashton’s, I hoped so.” He sounded a bit down. Guilt filled me but I shut the feeling down. I had no business feeling anything but contempt toward him. When I didn’t respond, he exhaled in his usual exasperating way. “Talk to me. What did I do wrong now? Because one moment I think I’m making progress, trying to get you to open up to me and get to know you. And the next, you hate my guts all over again.”

I scowled, crossing my arms over my chest. “I heard rumors.” I didn’t know why I was humoring him, but the words were out before I realized it. I’d wanted to yell at him for a few days now about the college girl he likely kept around but remained quiet instead.

Again, it wasn’t my business. I shouldn’t care about what he did or who he hooked up with. I shouldn’t be feeling anything for him.

“You can’t be serious, Miller,” he scoffed. “You can’t believe in rumors.”

“It came from a good source.”

“What did they say?”

“That you were hooking up with a college girl,” I answered shortly.

Graham was silent for a second, which made me guess the rumors were correct. I turned to look at him, but he was casting me a funny look. He was amused. One side of his mouth curled, and his eyes brightened with something that made a shiver of pleasure and fear roll down my spine.

“What? Eyes on the road!” I demanded. The last thing I needed was an accident. I didn’t think I had the patience for it.

He chuckled, shaking his head. He turned to look at the road, but his lips turned into a grin. “You’re jealous.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’m not jealous.”

“Yes, you are,” he said patiently. He was out of his mind. “You wouldn’t be bothered by it otherwise.”

“Get off that high horse, St. Claire.”

He laughed and his cackle waved through my body like a warm liquid until it concentrated in my lower stomach.

“Just admit it, Miller. It would avoid us plenty of meaningless conversation.” He looked so smug and victorious that I had to roll my eyes.

“There’s nothing to admit.”

He bit his lower lip before answering. “For your peace of mind, there’s no need to be jealous. I’m not hooking up with anyone. Why would I want to?”

I shrugged nonchalantly, though inside, my stomach was fluttering and unclenching. “I don’t care.”

“Right.” He sounded like he didn’t believe me.

“Right,” I said back like I didn’t care.

“So, tell me about swimming…” he suggested after a few seconds of silence.

“There’s nothing to say,” I lied.

“Unless you want to keep discussing your jealousy and my lack of hookups,” he teased with a grin.

I pressed my lips.

“I could go on all night.”

Or I could ignore him all the drive home, but I knew he wouldn’t shut up. And again, I had no patience left.

I did the next best thing. “Freshman year,” I answered with a sigh. The guy was relentless. “I joined the swimming team during freshman year.”

Graham looked impressed by the fact. “It explains the nice body.”

I blushed at the compliment. He had touched and kissed every curve of it on Friday night. I could almost muster up the feeling of his hot, wet mouth all over me. I pressed my thighs together.

“Haven’t thought about getting a scholarship in swimming?” he questioned, oblivious to my flustering, thank God.

I cleared my throat. “I wish. But I’m not good at it.”

Graham raised both eyebrows in clear surprise. “I can’t imagine you not being good at something.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, St. Claire, but I’m not.” I threw back his words from earlier. It earned me a smile from him. I had to press my lips from smiling back. “What about you? How long have you played football?”

“Seeing as my father was a football legend—”

“Right, stupid question.” I nodded.

“Yes.”

“Hey!” I protested. “Don’t make me feel worse.” My day had been bad enough.

“Sorry.” He didn’t sound apologetic. Not at all. He was practically bubbling with laughter. “Want another compliment, then? Or are you going to ignore that too?”

I brushed off his words. “I wouldn’t be against it.”

He chortled. “You look so hot in my jacket, you should keep it.”

“I might.” I had already thought about it, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. “It’s really comfy. I could sleep while wearing it.”

Graham groaned, exhaling hard. “You can’t sleep in a jacket. And don’t make me think about you only in my jacket and in bed.” Heat overwhelmed my body. “Fuck, too late,” he said.

“You have a dirty mind, St. Claire.” I managed not to sound breathless. My thighs clenched, though.

“Can’t help it, it’s your thighs.” He eyed said thighs and I chuckled, then widened my eyes.

“Eyes on the road!”

“You would have trouble driving too if you had full view of my chest,” he promised.

It was true that I kept eyeing his arms and his shirt-clad chest, wondering what was underneath. It looked hard but safe. I had lain down on it but had never touched it.

“Don’t worry, I know you want to touch it and I’m not against it.”

I scrunched my nose, pretending to be disgusted when I actually felt anything but. “Don’t be ridiculous. Jackson has better pecs.”

One of Graham’s massive paws landed on my thigh, and he gave me a warning squeeze. Even though it was closer to my knee, I felt electrified, ready to jump from my seat but unable to move. I couldn’t help but obsess over the feel of his calloused, long fingers wrapping around my bare skin.

“Hands to yourself,” I managed to say. “You promised.”

“Then don’t talk about Jackson’s chest. Or any other guy’s chest. You’ll give me a complex.”

“St. Claire with a complex? Impossible,” I scoffed.

“Imagine that.”

I laughed. “Humility is a good trait.”

“I find confidence more attractive.”

“Really?” That information piqued my interest. “What’s the first thing you notice about a girl?” I didn’t know why I was interested in knowing that. Did he mainly pay attention to older girls?

“Their eyes,” he answered without much thought. “I like to see if they are able to hold a stare. It means confidence most of the time.”

His revelation left me reeling. I was expecting a much different answer. I couldn’t help but ask. “Really?”

“Yes.” He turned to look at me and I didn’t avert my gaze. I didn’t want to. Graham was the first to remove his gaze and steered toward my house to park the car. I didn’t realize we had arrived in my neighborhood. He turned back to me and smiled. “Did I shock you?”

I bit my lip. “A bit. I expected something else.”

“Don’t worry.” He shrugged. “The next thing I notice is her tits.”

I rolled my eyes. “Way to kill the mood.”

“It’s not over yet.” His voice dropped a decibel. “I think you owe me something.”