Always Only You by Chloe Liese (z-lib.org).epub

so I let him pull me along.
“Mind telling me,” he says quietly, “how you would have had me handle it?”
I make an awkward, baffled noise in the back of my throat. I’m so flustered I
can’t even find words.
“You taught me that denying something is the surest way to guarantee people
think you’re hiding something. I dismissed it without negating it. Just like
you’ve always said to.”
“Rennnn,” I groan. This was a time to shut it down. Denial. Short and sweet.
He frowns down at me and pauses, bringing me gently to the side of the
hallway. “What did I get wrong? How can I fix it?”
An odd lump of emotion forms in my throat. Ren’s saying what I’ve
wondered so many times in my social life. My empathy for his confusion cuts
my frustration in half.
“I would have preferred you to say, ‘Frankie Zeferino and I are not together.
We’re colleagues, and I was giving her a ride to work. That’s it.’”
Ren stares at me for a long moment, then nods. “Okay. I’m sorry. I can go
find Mitch and tell him.”
“It’s your call. It’s your public life.”
He narrows his eyes. “It’s your life, too, Frankie. I don’t want something
being said about you that you don’t want.”
At some point in our discussion, while trying to stay out of people’s way as
they passed, I got myself rather smashed to his front. Now the hallway’s quiet,
leaving only the two of us and the heat pouring off of his suit, his clean, spicy
scent. Warmth runs through every part of me that’s touching him and jolts me
with awareness. I take a step back.
“It’s okay, Zenzero. Maybe…maybe you did it right. Time will tell.”
“Either way, I’ll find Mitch. Tell him what you said.”
I grasp his arm. “Ren, wait.”
He really doesn’t mind that people would think we’re dating? Even when
he’s saving his heart for this woman? I’m so confused. But as is always the case
for me after a long day out in the overstimulating, socially draining world, I’m
too tired to try to figure this out anymore. I just know that what’s done is done
today, and him backtracking to find Mitch will only heighten Mitch’s suspicions.
That guy’s a nosy motherfucker.
“It’s fine,” I tell Ren, releasing his arm. “I promise. I overreacted.”
“Okay. Tell me if you change your mind, though.” His eyes search mine as
his smile returns. “You’ve got a hangry look brewing. Let’s get a burger in you.”
I open my mouth to disagree with him, but then my stomach rumbles. “I hate
when you’re right.”