Kissing the Shy Guy - Stephanie Street Page 0,33

braced her hands on my shoulders. My body tensed as she settled in behind me. I’d never been so physically aware of another human being in my life.

There was a hesitancy, an awkwardness, in the way Jenna held herself away from me after the intimacy we’d just shared. That wouldn’t work, not for the ride and not for me. Why did she do it?

I turned the key, and the engine roared to life. Glancing over my shoulder, I sighed. Before, on the ride over, Jenna had clamped herself around me, holding me tight. But now she sat behind me, her legs loose along the outside of mine. Hooking my hands over her knees, I pulled them into my thighs. She quivered under my palms as I slid them over her nylon covered skin, soft and silky.

She wrapped her arms around my waist, still reticent. I pressed her hands into my stomach. She sighed against my back, but then her entire body clenched around mine. So much better.

It didn’t take long to get back to the school parking lot. Jenna’s wasn’t the only car, but almost.

“It’s the red one!” She pointed to an older model, Volkswagen Golf. I pulled up beside it and cut the engine. Neither of us moved right away.

But then Jenna sighed and slid off the seat. I did the same, and just as reluctantly. She unclipped her helmet and handed it to me. I traded it for her skirt. Once I’d stowed the helmet, I took off mine and faced her.

“So, what now?” I asked, reaching for her hips. I wanted her close all the time.

But Jenna threw her hands up between us. “Adam, wait.”

“What’s wrong?” I didn’t want to come on too strong or anything, but we’d just spent the last forty-five minutes making out. What was her deal?

“Um, I just think, considering...” She rubbed her hands over her perfectly smooth hair, even after our ride.

I caught her hands in mine to keep her from making a mess of herself. “What are you thinking?” And did I want to know?

She inhaled deeply. Her eyes finally met mine, no longer soft and sleepy like they’d been at the park. The shutter had dropped again, leaving only determination behind. “If we’re going to work together, we can’t do this.”

I stared at her, unable to comprehend what she meant.

“Partners. That’s it.” She couldn’t mean it, could she?

“You can’t be serious.” Had I been the only one losing my head over those kisses? I didn’t imagine her reaction. Did I?

I thought back to the park. I knew what I’d felt, but I concentrated on her reactions, and she had reacted to me. It wasn’t like I’d forced myself on her. She’d returned every one of my kisses.

“I am,” she replied. Everything about her body language screamed step back, jerk. Blinking, I shook my head, trying to clear it. That hadn’t been the message she’d been sending for the last hour. What was going on here?

“I can’t afford to lose this chance to win the scholarship.” She took a step, backing away from me.

I reached for her while scrambling to find something to say. Something that would convince her she was wrong. I hadn’t imagined things. I knew it. So why? Why was she doing this? “But—”

“No.” She took another step back, putting her hand up when I moved forward, following her.

“No,” she said again. “Look what happened with Josh. He totally screwed me over, breaking up with me and dropping out of the competition at the same time. I can’t let that happen again.”

I shook my head, not believing what I was hearing. Was this some kind of joke? She’d played me? To get what she wanted? And I had fallen for it? So much for understanding women! I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t!

“I would never do what Josh did.”

Jenna stared down her nose at me. Her beautiful eyes stared into mine like sharp emeralds, ready to gut me with their razor’s edge. “It doesn’t matter. This is how it has to be. I’m sorry if you misunderstood.”

I studied her carefully, looking for any sign she didn’t mean what she said. There wasn’t one. I felt like I’d been kicked in the nuts while Jenna stood there cool as a popsicle on a summer day. Instead of the open and warm girl I’d held in my arms, Jenna had turned into the girl I’d never really seen only heard about. The Ice Queen.

Pulling her shoulders back, she never