Free You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This by Karenna Colcroft Page B

She made air quotes with her fingers. “I’m just more comfortable at home.”
    “So you’re uncomfortable with me?”
    “I didn’t say that,” she muttered. “Don’t put words in my mouth, okay? We’ve known each other a while as fellow dancers. The whole friends or more thing just happened, and I’m still getting used to it. I want to see where things go between us. Why rush?”
    He pulled his hand away. “I’m sorry if I seem pushy. I really like you, and I thought we were on the same page about our relationship.”
    “We will be if you give me a little more time.” She stood. “I guess I’m not staying. I don’t feel like arguing. Things were going well tonight until just now.”
    “So I ruined the mood.” He leaned back. “I’d apologize if I knew what I was apologizing for. Spending time with my girlfriend doesn’t seem like a bad thing. I guess it is. See you later.”
    Her heart sank. “See you.”
    She hesitated for a moment, not wanting to leave such tension between them and without any idea of what to say to change things. When Stefan didn’t speak either, she gave up, grabbed her purse from the kitchen island, and walked out the door.
    At her car, she paused, her hand on the door handle, and looked back at the door. She could still go back and try to patch things up with Stefan. Somewhere along the line their wires had crossed, and she didn’t know whether she’d said the wrong thing or he’d taken her words wrong. If she went back inside, maybe she’d be able to make him understand that she wanted to take things slowly because she didn’t want to screw up their relationship. That she was more comfortable with him than she’d ever been with anyone other than Scott and Merit, and she wanted that to last.
    The kitchen light went out and after a moment so did the one in the living room. Apparently Stefan was on his way to bed. Which meant there was no point in going back into the house.
    She entered her car and drove away, tears pricking her eyes. So much for their competition routine. At that point, she didn’t know whether Stefan would even speak to her again.
     
     
     
     
     
     

You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This
    Chapter Eight
     
    By the time she reached the corner, Erin’s tears flowed freely. She hadn’t meant to pick a fight with Stefan. His wanting to spend the night with her hadn’t been at all unreasonable. She just hadn’t been able to handle the idea.
    When she arrived home, she took a moment to breathe deeply, ending the tears. She shouldn’t have walked out on Stefan. On the other hand, if she’d stayed they might have had a more serious argument. Better she’d left before that happened. After she’d had time to clear her head, she would call him and apologize.
    She exited the car and went into her apartment, where she found Merit on the couch watching TV. The moment he looked at her, he dropped the remote and walked over to her. His arms encircled her and she snuggled against him. In all the time she’d known him, she’d never seen him lose his temper, never seen him become overly emotional about anything. Fortunately, he had the same effect on her. Hugging him calmed her so completely she almost forgot how upset she’d been.
    “What happened?” Merit led her to the couch and pulled her down to sit with his arm around her. “Did something go wrong at class or afterward?”
    “I don’t know how wrong anything went. Tonight just didn’t end well.” She took a breath. Since high school, she and Merit had told each other everything. Even so, she didn’t know whether she really wanted to talk to him about why she’d become angry with Stefan. “We didn’t agree about something to do with our relationship,” she hedged.
    “Like what?”
    She hedged. “For one thing, like whether we have a relationship. I mean, like an actual relationship, not just friendship or whatever.”
    “Which would certainly be a difficult conversation.” He studied her. “I