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But Carson never went easy on ers underme face him “Come on I’ll buy us dinner afterward,” he coaxed “All you need are shoes and a jacket,” he said, glancing down to my socked feet

When I didn’t budge, he added, “Please”

And there it was That saht in his kitchen, the one that told me he wanted to kiss me The one that told me maybe he and I could be more than enemies

I shoved down the ache in the back of naled for hi a pair of boots and a jacket from the coat closet in the hallway as quickly as possible I didn’t even bother to tellout because the chances of the were slim to none These days, when I wasn’t at school or with Ethan, I spent nearly all my time cooped up in my room

Once I popped back outside, I hurried down the sidehere Carson waited for iven me a Get Out of Jail Free card, and I intended to use it

CHAPTER TEN

I settled into Carson’s Jeep and surveyedin his car, and like his room, it smelled of hi was out of place, and it appeared that he took excellent care of it

After I buckled ine and twisted in his seat so he could back downht”

I shook et it,” I said Because I wanted to, desperately I tried to forget about the soft look in his eye Forget about the waret about hoe alht actually like me

He stared at ure ood luck, I wanted to say I barely knehat I was thinking,beca down into the surf once the seafoam dissolved and the water cleared I knee were, the lines were clearly drawn But lately, when I ith hi hazy, and I was tangled up in knots, unsure of ere anyer seemed to fit

We stayed silent on the drive to The Bean Once we arrived, it was a brief stop We gathered up the waiting presents people had bought and dropped off, along with a handful of snowflake tags that had gone unclaimed Then we headed for the Sweet Water Outlets to do our shopping

Carson pulled into the parking lot of the strip y in the silence It was clear ouldn’t discuss the party since I blew it off, but the arguing outside my house was another issue I had no clue whether to address it It felt a bit like the proverbial elephant in the roo with Carson and picking on hiht somehow help to ease this ever-present ache in my chest

I glanced over at hih his head as he stared out the windshield in the silence I half expected him to make a joke of it But he didn’t Instead, he turned to s we should get for the families”

I practically sighed in relief He wasn’t dwelling on , so why should I? “Really?”

“Yeah I think it’s great that we’re getting the kids clothes and stuff, but I think we need to make sure there are just as many toys I mean, the clothes are a necessity, but this is probably one of the only tis they need”