41. HOPE
CHAPTER 41
HOPE
“ Y as, girl!” Rose snaps her fingers as I walk by my two roomies in the living room. “ This is when you know it’s right.”
“You mean because I’m going on a date in leggings and a sweatshirt?” I ask, not even pretending to hide the grin slowly taking over my face. “He did say comfortable after all.”
From her arm chair, Audrey glances up from her iPad and says, “Wow, you almost make me want to try dating. Almost.”
“Right? Too bad the whole scene is a shitshow.” Rose shrugs from her spot in the middle of the couch, her arms thrown over the backrest as she faces me.
“Ya don’t say?” I mumble. They know my misadventures better than anyone, so I have no need to elaborate. Instead, I take my phone from the pocket of my leggings and check the screen. Some texts from Kelly await, but no news from a certain cowboy yet.
The three of us jump in our skins as the doorbell rings. My heart rate increases not because of the surprise but because I bet I know who’s behind the front door. I make for it.
“Wait!” Rose springs to her feet, fluffy socks making her skid on the hardwood floors as she rushes around the living room toward me. Her hands rest on my shoulders for a moment. “Let big sis handle it.”
“Big sis? You’re just a year older.” I scoff.
“Oh, good idea.” Audrey sets aside her device and also comes over to the door, rubbing her hands. That’s when I figure whatever they’re up to is no bueno.
Rose whips open the door and Cade’s head appears over theirs. His eyes set on them, then on me, a question making his eyebrow cock. All I can do is shrug in response.
“Hello, Cowboy,” Rose starts with an overly serious voice. “We hear you intend to date our precious little Hope.”
“Precious I’ll give you, but little?” I fold my arms.
All of them ignore me.
“That’s right, ma’am,” he responds back in kind.
“And is this with serious intentions or just for funsies?”
“Oh my word.” I grab the back of their shirts, trying to pull my roommates away from Cade, but this is when they both decide to become stronger than me. They plant their feet wide and hold their ground.
“And by the way,” Audrey says in a deceptively friendly way, “depending on your answer you may or not walk out alive.”
“Geez. What’s gotten into you, guys?”
Audrey bats my hand away. “We’re tired of seeing you suffer because of men. We want you to only be with a good one from now on.”
“And don’t you dream about lying.” Rose points at the much taller guy’s face. “Your answer has to be as true tonight as in the undetermined future.”
He lifts those killer blue eyes of his to me. “You have good friends, Hope.”
“I know, but they’re embarrassing me right now.” I huff and pretend like heat isn’t settling on my face right now.
“To answer your questions,” he says, redirecting his focus to the two wannabe murderesses. “Yes, my intentions with Hope are serious. Although I want both of us to have fun too. And I don’t know how to be ‘a good one’ but I’m more than willing to learn for her.”
Silence.
A little mewl like squeal ensues, and it can only come from Rose.
Audrey throws her hands in the air and whirls around. “Sorry, Hope. I’m defeated.”
Rose collapses against the door frame. “Listen, Starr. Any chance you have a clone hanging around?”
“Sorry, not that I know of.” He stuffs his hands in the pockets of his joggers and that’s when I realize he has chosen the exact same level of comfortable as me. Black joggers that cinch around his ankles and show off his powerful calves and thighs, a blue sports T-shirt that is going to retain most of my attention because it doesn’t really hide the shape of his body, and some sneakers that match both pieces like he actually put some thought to the outfit.
I press my lips tight not to squeal too.
“Bummer.” Rose drags her feet back to the living room, declaring, “All yours, Garcia.”
“Thank you.” I shake my head and quickly step out of the house, closing the door behind me because I’m sure the roomies will snoop. Before Cade can react, I grab his hand and pull him away. “Hurry, before they start taking pics paparazzi style.”
He snorts but falls into step easily, and for a second everything’s perfect until he shifts his hand, lacing his fingers with mine. His are so big that the way they stretch mine apart feels uncomfortable at first, and I stop to admire the phenomenon with my very eyes.
“What?” Cade asks.
I mutter, “I think this is the first time we hold hands.”
“Verdict?”
“Takes some used to. Your hand is huge.” I clear my throat when I remember the random women at a bar yesterday were talking about his hands, precisely.
“Hmm.” Cade lifts them up for an inspection, twisting my arm slightly as he observes my smaller hand. “How about this, then?” Slowly, almost like he really wants me to feel the friction between his calloused palm and mine, he changes the grip again so that my fingers are free and his hand is wrapped around mine. It strikes me as the couple version of a handshake, still close contact but way less…
Intimate.
Heat rises up my throat. I never would’ve guessed that just holding hands with a guy could get me going, but here we are.
Taking a deep breath, I stretch my hand open forcing him to loosen his hold, and turn it so I can lace my fingers through his again.
Yep, this is what I want with him. The intimate version. The gives-me-so-many-butterflies-I’m-at-risk-of-barfing version.
“Nah, this is better,” I say boldly, lowering our hands again.
Cade’s expression is serious, intense, eyelids half mast like when we’re kissing. My tongue turns into lead just from this alone. And then he brings my hand up and presses his hot lips on my skin, eyes still fixed on mine.
I deserve an award for keeping upright after that.
Wordlessly, he tugs gently and we keep going. His truck is parked right by our curb and he recovers verbal ability before me. “So I have a suggestion regarding the door conundrum.”
“Door conundrum?” I sound sleepy already but not from boredom. All of this just feels like a beautiful dream I don’t want to wake up from.
“For you to open it, or for me to open it, therein lies the conundrum.” He turns slightly to lean his hip against the door behind the passenger’s, our joined arms extending like a hammock. “How about you open your own door and I wait right outside to make sure you go in safe?”
These damn butterflies in my belly are so annoying. I need them to let me think straight.
“Hmm, I’m not discarding this suggestion but I’m perfectly able to get into a car without banging my head.”
“Certainly, but hear me out. What if an alligator pops out behind you as you’re climbing into the car? Wouldn’t you rather it jump me instead?” He punctuates the question with a cheeky grin that shows all pearly whites.
I give him a deadpanned stare. “What are the odds of that?”
“Hey, this is Florida. Anything can happen.”
“Far be it for me to kill your chivalry, so I’ll accept your suggestion.” I try to free my right hand so I can open the door, but the lovable jerk doesn’t let me. I open the door with my left and the wide motion of the opening door finally frees my hand. I grab onto the handles to hoist myself into his Texas size truck, and he’s still smiling like a goof as he shuts the door for me.
The truth is that his smell in the truck completely shuts my brain off. I’m trying to figure out how to reproduce his scent into candles when he climbs into the driver’s seat.
“So, where are we going?” I ask in an attempt to keep my hormones under control.
After we buckle up, Cade starts the truck and grabs the steering wheel to pull out of the spot. “Don’t worry, I know for a fact that you like this place.”
“Oh?”
The first five minutes of the drive are anyone’s guess until I notice the obvious fact that I can still recognize the streets. We’re still in my neighborhood, in an area that the girls and I hang out at all the time, which means that yes, I’ll definitely like our destination.
I snort as the truth reveals itself while he’s pulling into a parking spot. “Yes, this date is starting really, really well already.”
Cade grins at me with so much joy it, strikes me as the very first time I’ve seen the phenomenon. “After you, ma’am.”
Shaking my head, I get out of the truck and meet him halfway at the front. He presents his right hand to me, giving me the option of taking it or not, but now that I know what that feels like, I have no intent to squander my opportunities for skin to skin contact. I slide my fingers between his and we walk into the yogurt ice cream shop together, the same one we met at almost two months ago when I was desperate to get dating advice.
He leads the way weaving through some empty tables and some busy ones, back to the same spot at the bar by the front window. Freeing his hand, he grabs me by the shoulders and gently pushes me to sit. Then his breath nears my face and he whispers in my ear.
“Wait for me right here.”
“Okay.” I’m embarrassed to admit that it comes out like a squeak.
Gosh, is this what dating’s really like? The teasing, the butterflies, the sweet and sexy mingling together? Or had I never really dated until Cade? And I don’t just mean about the dates stemming from apps—but also with my ex. We did hold hands and joked with each other, but it never felt like this. Like just one look is enough to melt me down. Like every gesture is intentional and clear.
Like maybe the problem in that relationship was never whether I was hot or not, but that I had no idea what I needed from my so-called boyfriend, and like he didn’t care to give it to me in the first place.
I mean, Dawson never asked if it was all right to open doors for me or not.
Watching Cade head to the counter, I have to tell my heart to take a chill pill. It’s way, way too early to be falling in love with the man already.
I stay stoic while releasing a little groan when he retraces his steps back to me, because I recognize the treats in his hands right away. “You’re something else,” I say when he places a cup, this time small, in front of me. It’s a swirl with strawberries, bananas, chocolate syrup, and he didn’t even forget the caramel.
He then sets down another small swirl cup only topped by chopped peanuts and takes his seat beside me. “What can I say, I have really good eyes and I use them to pay attention.”
“Huh. What else have you paid attention to?” I scoop a strawberry and place it on his cup. It makes his lips curl and my toes do the same.
“For example, I’ve noticed how you don’t freeze in front of me at all, compared to your other dates. Still trying to figure out if that’s a good thing or not.”
My mouth opens. We talked about that in precisely this same spot. Same chairs. Eating the same frozen treats. I guess that conversation made turns in his brain.
“It’s a good thing,” I say, expelling air. “A really good thing. It means I’m comfortable around you.” And honestly until this moment I hadn’t stopped to think about how important that is. It was the biggest missing piece in all those online dates, and in my one relationship in the past.
“Hmm?” Cade lets the spoon hang between his lips even as a smile blooms. “Truly an honor.”
“That’s right.”
He places his right hand on the table, palm up, and opens and closes his fingers. “My hand is cold without yours.”
“Pfff.” I slap my palm against his, but I certainly don’t mind.
By the time we climb back into his truck, I already know it’s the best date I’ve ever had, even when he declares that we’re only getting started.