Read Up by Five for Free Online

to the women Conner was used to spending time with.
    This was Conner. He was taking care of her. She didn’t do well with people coddling her, but she recognized that it was important to him to feel like he was doing something to make things better for her.
    “I’m starving,” she told him. It wasn’t entirely untrue. “Could you grab some crackers or something?”
    He looked like she’d just told him he had superpowers.
    “Yes, of course.”
    Conner was back in the truck in fifteen minutes. He tossed her the Carl-Mart sack. “Put those on, okay?”
    “Um.” She dug into the bag and pulled out a huge hot-pink T-shirt and an even bigger pair of turquoise sweatpants. He’d also added a travel-sized bottle of shampoo, a bar of soap in summer-floral scent, a box of crackers and a candy bar.
    And not a plain old chocolate bar, but a dark-chocolate truffle candy bar.
    Damn, the guy was good.
    Except…“These are huge.”
    He glanced over at the T-shirt she was holding up. “You think?”
    She laughed, realized he was serious, and frowned. “Hey, what size do you think I wear?”
    His gaze ran over her, then he shifted on his seat and started the truck. “I haven’t given it a lot of thought before,” he muttered.
    She knew that. Of course she knew that. But it stung a little.
    It was good , she insisted. Her efforts to stay off his girl radar had worked. But he thought she wore an XL T-shirt and sweats? Seriously?
    “Just put them on, okay?” he asked, pulling out onto the street.
    “I will as soon as I shower,” she told him, stuffing the clothes back into the sack.
    “Now would be better.” He pulled up at a stoplight.
    “What I’m wearing smells like smoke, my hair smells like smoke, I’ve got soot and dirt on me. I’m just going to ruin the new stuff.”
    “Gabby,” Conner said, his voice tight.
    “Yeah?”
    “Put the damned things on. Please.”
    She looked at him. It was clear he was clenching his jaw. “What’s with you?”
    “I just need you to be more covered.”
    “I’m wearing a blanket.”
    “But I’ve seen what’s under the blanket.” He pulled away from the light.
    “But—” Then his words sank in. He was thinking about what was under the blanket? And it was making him want her more covered. She felt herself grin. “What’s under the blanket is what’s going to be under the huge sweatpants, you know.”
    “Yeah, but those huge sweatpants are ugly. It will help.” He dropped his voice to a mutter. “Like the uniform has for the past two years apparently.”
    She glanced over. “You know I heard that, right?”
    He shook his head. “Sorry. I promise to be good.”
    “What’s that mean?”
    “It means I haven’t really noticed that…” He trailed off, looking a bit sheepish. “I haven’t appreciated…” He sighed. “You don’t have to worry about me hitting on you, Gabby. You can stay with me and we’re friends like always and that’s it. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable around me now that I’ve realized…”
    She didn’t wonder at why he’d trailed off—he’d noticed she was a girl.
    Fuck.
    This was exactly what she’d been avoiding all this time.
    “Are you kidding? My apartment just burned down, I look like hell and the thought of hitting on me has occurred to you now ?”
    He grimaced. “I know. I sound like a complete asshole who’s led around by his dick.”
    “Well…yeah, a little.”
    “In my defense, the thoughts started with your cock-sucking comment the other day.”
    Thank god he was driving. If he’d been looking at her he would have noticed that she had a hard time swallowing.
    She should have never said that. She’d said it to get a rise out of him, but she hadn’t thought through just how affected she would be by the exchange. Especially when he brought it up again. But she wasn’t used to carefully choosing her words around men. The men she hung out with were relatives or had known her since she was a kid. There was