My Aussie Guy - Liz Lovelock Page 0,32

what people relish to be around. He can make people laugh and boost them up. Perhaps that’s why I’m drawn to him.

“Time to stop staring at me and flip.” His voice pulls me from my thoughts. My cheeks warm as I realize I was caught drinking him in like a cold drink of water on a hot day.

Shaking my head, I flip the coin. “Heads.” Left again. “Are you prepared if we end up at an empty field?” I glance over at him and then back at the windscreen. My palms have become sweaty. I put the coin in the drink holder and then rub them up and down my jeans. Why does he make me so nervous? My heart always races when it comes to Aiden. Even the mention of him gets it going as if I’ve just gone on a run. It’s crazy.

His eyebrows bounce up and down, and I laugh.

“I’m prepared for anything and everything. You have no idea,” he says.

“Cocky much?” I reply dryly.

“Oh, firecracker, you like to push the flirting buttons, don’t ya?”

I scoff. “Flirting buttons? What even is that? You’re the one who pushes them… whatever they are.” I pick the coin up as we near another intersection. I flip it and reveal it as we get close. “Before you push another button, it’s tails, right?”

He nods. “What’s been with your silence this week?” he asks.

I bite my bottom lip, wondering if I should tell him the truth or not. “I was unsure if this…”—I gesture between us—“should happen.”

Aiden turns to me, his brow furrowed. “Why?”

I attempt to clear the nervousness from my throat. “Because you’ve only just come out of a relationship, and I’d rather not be the rebound girl.”

Aiden reaches over and takes my hand. “Trust me, you’re not a rebound girl. You’re the girl who makes my heart race. The one who’s a firecracker and who pushes those flirty buttons.” He chuckles. “We don’t have to rush into anything. Let’s enjoy each other’s company and maybe a few kisses.” He shrugs, and again, he has me smiling with all the uncertainty wiped away. Though, for some reason, I can’t shake the feeling that there’s something he’s not telling me.

I pause for a moment before I respond, “Okay. Next time I go radio silent, just show up at my dorm door.”

“Don’t worry. I will.”

I look over, and he winks.

My stomach somersaults.

Tell her! My subconscious screams.

If it were a person, I think it would wring my neck for my stupidity. Why can’t I tell her the truth? Perhaps it’s better if I say nothing, but then, Parker is sure to say something, so I bite the bullet. “Look I should tell you that my girlfriend and I were never really together.” I swallow another lie, even if it is a micro one. I keep piling them one on the other.

“What? Like never really a couple?”

I nod. “Yeah, we were friends with benefits.” I catch her hand entwining ours together, and the smile is wiped from her face.

“So, like… what is kind of happening here.” Her finger moves between us.

Damn, wrong choice of words.

I shouldn’t have said anything.

I reach over and take her hand. “No, nothing like this. She was a convenience thing… that’s what it was to both of us. She knew I was coming here, and yeah, so we just never agreed it was an actual relationship, although we were exclusive to each other. What me and you have…” I pause for a moment to gather my next words carefully before I ruin this and she never talks to me again. “It’s more than what I had before. So much more. You set my heart on fire, and I sound super corny saying it like that, but it’s the truth. From the moment I met you in that library, I knew I wanted to get to know you.” I wish I wasn’t pouring out my heart when we are driving, because I want to pull over, take her face in my hands, and kiss those perfect plump lips.

“You’re not just saying this to get in my pants?”

“I wouldn’t do that, even though getting into them might be a challenge in itself. I don’t think they’d fit me.”

Elsie throws herself forward, laughing so hard that, a moment later, I catch tears glistening on her cheeks. “You completely took the expression ‘get in my pants’ and turned it into something totally different. You’re something else, Aiden. I never know what to expect with you.”

I