Read Online Matters of Circumstance by Ashley Andrews - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Ashley Andrews
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was so embarrassed that you could have cooked an egg sunny side up on her scorching cheekbones.
“Aw, Farrah, it’s not that bad. I mean, yeah, you just proved that you’re impatient and probably horny right now, but since we’re both teenagers it’s not like I can’t relate. As a matter of fact, if I stop talking I’ll probably do something I’ll regret, so—”
She did not have to say anything for him to cut himself off, and she had to wonder what made him do it. Farrah dared to peek, and saw that he was also pink in the face. It was nice to know she wasn’t the only one. In a way, it was sort of endearing.
“It is that bad, isn’t it?” she asked quietly, lifting her head more.
“Not in the way you’re thinking. It’s just that talk like that makes it really hard to do the right thing.”
“It is reassuring, in a way, that you’ll be all chivalrous and stuff,” she admitted. “But I never doubted you.”
“I have to say, Fare, you can be a little too trusting sometimes,” said Neal, folding his arms and resting his head on them, looking right at her. He was lying close enough for her skin to prickle, but not enough for their bodies to touch. A part of her wondered if he was purposely doing it to tease her or if he only wanted the nearness for his own sake. “The time your wings started to hatch, for instance. You hardly questioned me at all; you just let me lock myself in a bathroom with you.”
“You said yourself, I was hysterical and covered in pus. Who would take advantage of that?” she retorted. Then more seriously, “Besides, I did think about it, and your story checked out. You managed to predict everything perfectly, and you just…” She trailed off, trying to find the right words. “I’m pretty good at smelling bullshit, and you didn’t stink. It wasn’t that I was being too trusting.”
He thought about that for a moment, his eyes distant and his expression unreadable. When he refocused on her he had rolled onto his side and his hand seemed to touch her face of its own accord. The contact was tentative, however, as if he expected to be brushed off any second. She didn’t, and after a moment of quiet his thumb slowly stroked along her cheekbone.
“I don’t know,” he said softly. “Maybe it’s just because I’m me, but if I had seen a hysterical you being taken around by some guy I didn’t know I probably would have freaked out.”
“No, I see what you’re saying,” she said as she leaned into the touch, covering his hand with hers. They didn’t have to kiss just yet to be intimate, really; it was just hard to see that sometimes.
“I don’t want to be your dad, though. I just wanted to tell you what I felt. You don’t have to listen.”
“I would have freaked out, too, if I saw what happened that night from another perspective.”
“And we actually haven’t known each other all that long,” he said, his hand slipping form underneath hers to tuck some of her hair behind her ear. It was usually wavy and somewhat bushy—clear evidence of her Hispanic heritage—but she and Ruby had straightened it the other day to see how it would look. After all that work Farrah hadn’t had the heart to immediately wash it back to normal, so it was currently much easier to manipulate. She liked that Neal seemed to notice.
“Feels like we have,” she murmured. “Feels like I’ve known you forever.”
“I know, but in reality…”
“In reality it doesn’t actually matter, does it?” she asked, searching him with her eyes.
Neal grimaced slightly. “That came out wrong. I was just trying to make a point. It doesn’t really matter, but at the same time I don’t want to go so fast it ruins everything, you know? I—yeah. I don’t want anything to get screwed up.”
She saw what he was saying, she truly did. This relationship obviously meant something to him, and he didn’t want to see it destroyed. When Neal sat up so did she, and she said, “Me
“Aw, Farrah, it’s not that bad. I mean, yeah, you just proved that you’re impatient and probably horny right now, but since we’re both teenagers it’s not like I can’t relate. As a matter of fact, if I stop talking I’ll probably do something I’ll regret, so—”
She did not have to say anything for him to cut himself off, and she had to wonder what made him do it. Farrah dared to peek, and saw that he was also pink in the face. It was nice to know she wasn’t the only one. In a way, it was sort of endearing.
“It is that bad, isn’t it?” she asked quietly, lifting her head more.
“Not in the way you’re thinking. It’s just that talk like that makes it really hard to do the right thing.”
“It is reassuring, in a way, that you’ll be all chivalrous and stuff,” she admitted. “But I never doubted you.”
“I have to say, Fare, you can be a little too trusting sometimes,” said Neal, folding his arms and resting his head on them, looking right at her. He was lying close enough for her skin to prickle, but not enough for their bodies to touch. A part of her wondered if he was purposely doing it to tease her or if he only wanted the nearness for his own sake. “The time your wings started to hatch, for instance. You hardly questioned me at all; you just let me lock myself in a bathroom with you.”
“You said yourself, I was hysterical and covered in pus. Who would take advantage of that?” she retorted. Then more seriously, “Besides, I did think about it, and your story checked out. You managed to predict everything perfectly, and you just…” She trailed off, trying to find the right words. “I’m pretty good at smelling bullshit, and you didn’t stink. It wasn’t that I was being too trusting.”
He thought about that for a moment, his eyes distant and his expression unreadable. When he refocused on her he had rolled onto his side and his hand seemed to touch her face of its own accord. The contact was tentative, however, as if he expected to be brushed off any second. She didn’t, and after a moment of quiet his thumb slowly stroked along her cheekbone.
“I don’t know,” he said softly. “Maybe it’s just because I’m me, but if I had seen a hysterical you being taken around by some guy I didn’t know I probably would have freaked out.”
“No, I see what you’re saying,” she said as she leaned into the touch, covering his hand with hers. They didn’t have to kiss just yet to be intimate, really; it was just hard to see that sometimes.
“I don’t want to be your dad, though. I just wanted to tell you what I felt. You don’t have to listen.”
“I would have freaked out, too, if I saw what happened that night from another perspective.”
“And we actually haven’t known each other all that long,” he said, his hand slipping form underneath hers to tuck some of her hair behind her ear. It was usually wavy and somewhat bushy—clear evidence of her Hispanic heritage—but she and Ruby had straightened it the other day to see how it would look. After all that work Farrah hadn’t had the heart to immediately wash it back to normal, so it was currently much easier to manipulate. She liked that Neal seemed to notice.
“Feels like we have,” she murmured. “Feels like I’ve known you forever.”
“I know, but in reality…”
“In reality it doesn’t actually matter, does it?” she asked, searching him with her eyes.
Neal grimaced slightly. “That came out wrong. I was just trying to make a point. It doesn’t really matter, but at the same time I don’t want to go so fast it ruins everything, you know? I—yeah. I don’t want anything to get screwed up.”
She saw what he was saying, she truly did. This relationship obviously meant something to him, and he didn’t want to see it destroyed. When Neal sat up so did she, and she said, “Me
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