It was strange. He always imagined her taller than she actually was. Anthony knew her height, had seen her plenty of times to know better, but she was an imposing girl. Now, seeing her here, he realized that she was the same girl he'd kissed those few times. He shouldn't have left her so long without a word from him. Even though he was dealing with the death of a friend.
It took a great deal of self control to keep him from kissing her. Even then, he still reached for her, as if he were going to touch the soft curve of her cheek--but his hand paused before dropping back to his side. He wasn't quite sure he had the right to, anymore. She didn't seem angry to see him, but Anthony wasn't the type to make assumptions regarding a woman's feelings.
The smile that flitted onto his lips was more sad than cocky. It was easy to play pretend, but not so much with her. Not tonight. He didn't want to play games, or make her believe something that wasn't true. If she shot him down, then at least he got to see her before he left. That was what he had wanted, anyway.
"I'm sorry. I wanted to see you...I knew you had a party last weekend, and didn't want to force you to make time for me." How wimpy did that sound? Damn. "I...Well. I have something important to tell you. I thought you deserved to know before it happened."