Page 32 of Mountain Dreams

“Avery said she’ll let us know if a vacancy comes up, but in the meantime, I should look for an apartment.”

“Right. Let’s go.” He forced himself to sound enthusiastic, even though he wasn’t. He hated the thought of her renting some tiny apartment when he had plenty of room in his cabin. The basement was partially finished and included a bedroom, bathroom, and small living area. He hadn’t mentioned that yet, but he kept the idea in his back pocket in case he needed to use it.

After donning their coats and shoes, they set off for Pigeon Forge.

“The other day, in between packing, I made a list of apartment complexes I’d like to see.”

“Of course you did,” he said, shooting her a smile.

“Are you making fun of me, Cody Sawyer?” she said, her eyes twinkling.

“I would never do that. I’ve always admired your organizational skills, especially in history class.”

She chuckled. “As I recall, you borrowed my notes quite often.”

“You always took such detailed ones. You even used different colored markers and sticky notes to highlight the important points.”

“Tease all you want, but it worked.”

“For you, it did. You aced that class, but I ended up with a B.”

“If you’d spent more time studying and less time chasing girls, you might have gotten a better grade.”

It sounded like she was teasing more than scolding, but he thought he detected a hint of something else. Could it be jealousy?

“Hey, the girls chased me too.”

“Oh, I know. You wouldn’t believe how many times they asked me about you.”

His brows raised. “Really? You never told me that.”

She shrugged. “I figured your ego was already healthy enough as it was.”

He chuckled, but she’d piqued his curiosity. “What kind of things did they ask you?”

“The most common question was: ‘How can you be just friends with him? He’s so hot!’”

He’d just pulled up to a red light, and he turned and looked at her. “What was your answer?” He held his breath and waited.

“It’s green,” she said, pointing to the traffic signal. The driver behind them honked his horn.

Cody took off and waited until he couldn’t take the suspense. “Well?”

“I told them I wasn’t your type.’”

Her words knocked him sideways, and while he struggled to come up with a response, she continued.

“You always went for the cheerleaders and party girls, and I was neither. My idea of a good time was curling up in cozy pajamas with a good book and chocolate. It still is.”

He smiled because he could envision her just like that, even more so now that he’d seen her in her pajamas. However, the picture she painted of him made him seem shallow, and he didn’t want her to think of him like that.

“I didn’t just go after cheerleaders and party girls.”

“My mistake. Just about any girl was fair game, except the super-organized bookworms.”

Once again, he thought he detected something behind the teasing. “Maybe the bookworms weren’t attracted to me. Did you ever think of that?”

She shook her head and glanced out her window. “Every girl was attracted to you.”