He moved in closer.
I leaned backward, my back brushing against the front door. Briggs’s arms lifted as he leaned, all signs pointing to him about to ravish me.
My mouth opened wide in a fish-floundering kind of stance as I tried to think of what I could say to redirect his attention, which he definitely mistook for some sort of signal.
His arms were almost around my waist when I pressed my hand against his chest and neighed out, “Whooaa, boy.”
Like I was calming a skittish horse.
Briggs froze, his hands on my back, before he stopped abruptly.
Like Cinderella’s dress at the stroke of midnight, whatever magic Tessa’s clothes and my silky hair had given me for the evening began disintegrating at a rapid rate.
And then all hell broke loose.
He took a step back. Not wanting things to seem weird, I instinctively slugged my date on the arm like we had just won a baseball game.
“Thanks for the ice cream. I had so much fun!” I exclaimed at volume level ten. And then I gave him a friendly push, reminiscent of my days on the basketball court.
His eyes widened.
My eyes widened.
I covered my mouth with my hands, unable to speak.
Thankfully, he did. Stepping back, he raised his hands in the air. “Sorry, I was just going in for a hug.”
I blinked before rewinding the past ten seconds in my head. With a bit more clarity, it did seem like a friendly hug could have been his objective.
“Oh,” I said, feeling pained and oddly relieved at the same time.
Kindly, he raised his hand for a high five, seeming to understand that was the way of goodbyes for my people.
I tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear shyly and gave him a high five.
“Sorry,” I said, fumbling. “I’m not good at—it’s been a crazy day.”
If crazy day meant sleeping in until nine and going for a light jog before bingeing all theSportsCentersI’d missed the past few days, then yes, extremely crazy.
Briggs smiled. “Just so you know, I wouldn’t have kissed you on our second date. I’d definitely save that for the third, or maybe the fourth.”
Before I could muster a reply, he added, “Since you’ll be a welcome sight at the dude ranch this summer, maybe we could shoot some hoops sometime? They have a little basketball court. Maybe I’ll even let you teach me a thing or two.”
He was being kind to me, trying to ease the awkward moment. I knew that. And I couldn’t help but feel grateful, especially after my flop of a goodnight.
“Sounds good.”
“When are you moving to the ranch?” he asked as I blinked and forced my mind back to the present.
“Two days.”
“Makes me wish I was living there too. Logan never told me it was an option.”
I was very glad he wasn’t living there. I’d already be seeing him enough with him and Logan building more cabins there this summer. Briggs seemed easy to like, but I needed my space.
“And will you be needing models for all the pictures you’re taking for the ranch?” He leaned forward and flexed his muscles, laughing so easily at himself that I smiled.
“As far as I know, just activities and scenery shots,” I stated.