Move as One by Bree M. Lewandowski

Author:Bree M. Lewandowski
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, fiction, contemporary romance
Publisher: Bree M. Lewandowski
Published: 2023-10-30T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

With plush socks on her feet to combat the turbo mode her room’s air-conditioning unit remained on, no matter which way she turned the dial, Annalisa sat cross-legged in bed. Smidge had given up on being pet by her and moved to the far corner, licking his paws. She stared at the television without watching the sitcom from the nineties playing. The laugh track served as white noise for the surrounding scope her thoughts had taken.

I think I’m attracted to Joel. Like, actually attracted.

After dinner, when he walked her back to the room, it had been nice to smile and laugh, so nice to not worry about how close her first paycheck and the “rent” landed. The night had been fun, and she was reluctant to let it end, leaving her to stiff sheets and a woefully thin, oddly sticky carpet.

Stepping closer to him had stemmed from that but she saw how fatigue made his eyes dull and his shoulders slump. She had wanted to hold his hand or put her hands on his shoulders and tell him everything would be alright. She wanted to say, “I’m here now,” as if her presence in his working life made any difference at all.

Abruptly, she felt protective of him. That’s when a vibrancy shimmered, like sunlight on the ripples of a pond.

In a wonderful way, it was shocking the instant he put his arm around her. If he was weary, she’d carry fatigue, too. If he needed silence, she wanted to keep him from sitting in it alone. The weight of his arm rested across her shoulders and she was grounded, strengthened, and flustered.

I’m attracted to him. And maybe I wouldn’t know anything else, but when that biker blazed past us and he yanked me aside, I saw something in his eyes; I felt something in the way he hung on to me. We were talking about being friends, but his grip was tight. We were talking about memories, but I don’t remember a time when his eyes poured into mine like that.

Holy wow...

She flopped backwards. The bed’s springs protested the sudden movement with a rusty squelch.

Defense wanted to make a joke of it. She must be desperate. Hot for teacher, huh? Had the run-around of companies scorched her sense of self-worth as a sexual being, so she slid down for familiarity? Was that all this was?

Maybe. Honestly, maybe.

Then what was Joel’s excuse?

She curled her toes. His grip had been commanding; her body wanted to submit. He didn’t need to see her. Except he did and a pleasurable coil tugged low in her stomach.

The knobby, knurly popcorn texture ceiling saw her smile.

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