Free Bound Together by Eliza Jane Page B

I’d never talk of him of this. “So, theoretically, if you were going to go away to college, what would you want to major in?”
    He thought for a minute. “Creative writing.”
    Hm. This boy confused me, sometimes he seemed like so much more than a small town jock, but then other times, like when he said he planned to stay in South Lake, I didn’t know what to think.
    Our pizza came and we dug in, happy for the distraction.
    “So, you really think you’ll be happy staying in South Lake?” I asked.
    He nodded. “That’s why I wanted to come on this trip, to get to see some the world while I still have the chance.”
    He talked like he was chained to our town. Only, I was pretty sure it was self-imposed. We finished our food and decided to walk back to the hotel rather than continue to wander aimlessly around the city. 
    We passed by a little girl that reminded me of Cora, and I stopped momentarily to watch her push a miniature baby stroller in jagged lines, then stop to check on her baby doll every few paces. Her brown hair flipped crazily around her face, just like Cora’s did in the morning before I wetted it down and slicked it back into a braid.
    “She looks like your sister, right?” Matt said, noticing.
    I nodded and felt a lump rise in my throat. I couldn’t worry about the kids right now. I had no control over the situation. Besides, I would be home in a few days, so I might as well enjoy my time here. We sat down on the bench across from where the girl played and both Matt and I watched her until she was too far from view.
    “I liked it when you wore your hair down last night,” his voice sounded soft, bringing me back to the moment. We were sitting close on the park bench and he was looking over at me. He moved his hands carefully up to my hair and I turned to face him. I felt him work my hair free from the black elastic ponytail holder I wore every day. My hair fell down around my shoulders. He put my rubber band around his wrist. It was stretched out from overuse, but it seemed to fit perfectly around his wrist. I combed my fingers through my hair, trying to understand what had just happened.
    It felt like something had changed between Matt and I , but I didn’t understand what. We walked back to the hotel in silence. And when we got back, we went to Matt’s room, since I was pretty sure Amanda would be camped out in mine working on her homework.  I sat down at the desk and Matt sat on his bed. Even though I’d been in here when I’d helped him through his migraine, it felt a little strange to be in the small room with him. I felt clumsier than usual, more unsure of myself than I was used to. That hair comment he made completely baffled me. Last night, Stephanie was throwing herself at him and he barely noticed, but he seemed to pay attention to the smallest things about me. I needed to test this theory to see if I was completely losing it.
    I stretched my arms over my head, exposing a strip of bare skin at the waistband of my jeans. I had no game when it came to seduction. I wanted to do something that made his man pa rts bigger. I lingered there with my arms above my head like a clumsy fool . His expression was more are you okay than you have my full attention . Great. Just what I needed. I dropped my arms down to my sides.  

 
     
    Chapter Fourteen
    Matt
     
    Zoey was acting kind of strange. She sat down at the desk in my room, and flipp ed through my travel guide while chewing on the end of a pen. T he way her open mouth worked around the pen put me in a trance. Damn, why was she so orally fixated and was it causing my sex drive to kick into action?  I reached over and took the pen from her mouth. 
    “Can you stop that? It’s a little distracting.”
    “Hmm?” She looked up at me and pierced me with her blue eyes.
    I grabbed a book off the side table and covered my lap.
    “What the fuck is that?” Zoey asked, pointing at my lap.
    Shit. I was busted . I pressed the book closer to