Chapter 10
TEN
She handed me the list as if she was sealing her fate.
I read through the list that I’d had burned into my brain since the first time I read it, and my dick responded accordingly, instantly getting hard in my pants.
I fought the urge to stroke it, as my imagination went wild with all the ways we could check these items off.
I knew she was freaking out—even if I didn’t know her, the rambling show she just put on would’ve given her away—and I always wanted her to know that she was safe with me, no matter what. I handed the list back to her.
“Pick one thing you want to check off.”
Her eyes bulged. “Right now?”
I barely suppressed my chuckle.
I needed to find a way to get her out of her head and moving us forward. She wanted to be brave, but she needed to be pushed. So I stood up and walked over to her.
“What are you doing?” she asked, but she didn’t move away from me, and her body almost leaned toward me the closer I got.
“Breaking the ice,” I murmured, right before I sealed my lips over hers.
Stars exploded behind my eyes. Kissing her was more than I’d ever imagined.
Her lips were soft, almost velvety, like rubbing a rose petal over your lips.
Her body fit perfectly against mine, her soft curves nestled against my hard muscles.
She moaned against me, the sound vibrating against my lips and making my dick turn to steel in my jeans.
She melted against me as I deepened the kiss, sliding my tongue along the seam of her lips until they parted on a gasp and let me in.
Her arms wrapped around my neck, while mine slid around her hips to her back, holding her tight against me as our tongues danced together like we’d done this a million times.
Fuck, she was perfect.
Her mouth was heaven.
I didn’t want to stop, but if I didn’t pull away now, I’d be lost to her forever. So I gently slowed our kiss and pulled away, watching her face.
Her eyes were still closed, her mouth slightly parted, her cheeks flushed rosy, and her lips slightly red and swollen.
I did that.
I made her look like that.
And a fierce, possessive pride filled me.
She slowly blinked her eyes open, and with a breathy whisper said, “Wow.”
“It’s just you and me here,” I said. “I’m not going to laugh or think anything silly.
Your exes have all been douchebags. I’m not.
I’m here for you, Ava. Pick one thing you want, literally anything on that list, and we can do it right now.
Or we can put on a movie and snuggle for a while so you get used to me holding you and touching you. ”
“Shouldn’t this feel weird?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Why should it?”
She stared at me like I was an enigma. “Because you’re you. You’re Drew’s best friend, and you’ve been in my life for literally as long as I can remember. Aren’t I supposed to look at you like a brother or something?”
“Is that how you want to look at me?” I asked, my stomach knotting at the thought of her stopping this when it was just getting started. I was already desperate to kiss her again.
“No,” she admitted, and the tension I didn’t even realize I was carrying in my shoulders loosened.
“And even if I wanted to, I couldn’t after that kiss,” she continued.
I couldn’t help the grin. “That good, huh?”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, you know you’re a good kisser. I’m not going to stroke your ego.”
“I can think of something else you could stroke if you want to check something off your list.”
She gently swatted my chest, but she also nibbled her lip like she was considering it. Fuck, those lips. Now I couldn’t stop picturing my cock sliding between her plush pink lips.
“I’ve got an idea,” I said.
I grabbed the notebook out of her hand, ripped the list from the notebook, and then grabbed the scissors on her desk and started cutting each line into thin strips, making sure one item from her list was on each strip.
I folded them and dumped out her pen jar and tossed them in there.
Then I put my hand over the top and shook it around a little before holding it out to her.
“Pick one.”
She grabbed a slip of paper and opened it.