into silence again for a while. But things are loud inside my head. And when she’s finally writing the answer to number thirty, I let out a heavy sigh.
“What? Did I get it wrong?”
I shake my head. “Nope, it’s perfect. Except I promised myself that I was only going to tell you the truth from now on. So here goes. The dumbest thing I’ve ever done was tell Kaitlyn that I wasn’t attracted to you. I said it to shut her up. But also because I felt bad for looking at you that way. Because I thought you wouldn’t want to hear it.”
Chastity’s pencil drops onto the table.
“Yeah, I know. We already dispelled that theory. I just needed you to hear it from me. I find you attractive. So attractive that I spent the whole week thinking about it. And I’m sorry if I ever made you feel otherwise.”
She turns to me. “Well, if we’re apologizing for things, I’m sorry I lied about Friday nights in the kitchen.”
“You already apologized for that.”
“I know. But it feels like it started the whole disaster. If I hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t be having this little chat right now.”
“Fair enough. But I’m over it now. I just want us to tell the truth to each other. Can we do that?”
She turns her head and gives me a wary glance. “I’ll try. Some of my truths you don’t want to hear, though.”
“Let’s just see how it goes. Are you going to tackle question thirty-one now?”
“I guess.” She lets out a sigh. “Here’s a true statement—I hate algebra.”
“Yup. But you’re more than halfway there. By Christmas you’ll be free.”
She returns to her work, picking up her pencil and attacking the problem. “God, I hope the quiz isn’t made up of really long, hard ones.”
There’s a really dirty joke just begging to be made, here. But I let it pass. I’m very helpful until she’s finished with problem thirty-one.
“How’d I do?” she asks.
“Groovy. Once you divided by Y, you didn’t have any more problems.”
She beams down at her paper.
“Also? You look really touchable in that sweater. Just saying.”
“Dylan. That’s off topic.” She gives me a sideways glance.
“I know. You can do the last problem now. But we’re telling each other the truth, so…” I shrug. “It’s a great sweater. The skirt is nice, too. Makes me wonder if you’re wearing tights or not. So that’s fun.”
“Stop distracting me.”
“If you want.”
She goes back to work, trying a couple of approaches to the last problem. But when she tucks her hair behind her ear, it exposes a span of skin at her neck. And I can’t help but think of the sweet, sexy noise she made when I kissed her there.
Knowledge is a dangerous thing. I can’t unhear that sound. I can’t unknow how much chemistry we have. And I don’t even want to try. “Can I tell you my other problem now?”
“I guess,” she says, erasing something on the page.
Instead of speaking, I lean in and kiss her neck. It’s just a brush of my lips across her skin. But I inhale the lemon scent of her shampoo, and my heart starts to pound like I’m a drug addict who’s suddenly within reach of his next hit.
“Dyl,” she whispers. “Maybe you should sit on the other side of the table.”
“Maybe,” I whisper back. “But suggesting that isn’t the same as telling me to do it. Since we’re on a new truth kick, do you really want me to go sit there?”
Chastity considers me with her big blue eyes. She closes them and slowly shakes her head.
“Ah. I didn’t think so.” I lean in and kiss her neck again.
“What are you doing?” she asks in a husky voice.
“I’m kissing your neck. In case it’s not enough to say that I’m honestly very attracted to you, I’m totally willing to prove it. Or I can move to the other side of the table and stick to algebra. It’s really your call.”
Chastity inhales a shaky breath. “Talking about this is really hard for me.”
“Harder than problem thirty-two?” I ask for clarification.
“Actually, yes.” Her cheeks are suddenly bright pink. “I know it’s inconvenient. And you’re being really wonderful right now. And the whole week of silence is totally my fault. But I have reasons—a lifetime’s worth of being told what not to ever say.”
“Okay,” I say quickly. But the truth is that I never considered that talking about sex might be extra difficult for her. Talking about sex is probably my