Chapter Twenty-Three Taryn
I slid into the passenger seat of Danny’s Mustang and buckled myself in. When he sat there staring at me and not turning the engine over, I said, “What?”
“You were unusually quiet at dinner. And tense.”
I blinked at him.
“I’m serious, T. If you don’t want to go to this party, we can spend a quiet evening at my place or your place—whichever you want.” His voice was low, his expression serious.
“Danny. You came off the bench to shine on that field today. Everyone wants to congratulate you. I don’t want to deprive you of that.” I shrugged. “Besides, your friend Tarvi seems like a great guy, but I can’t leave Zoe alone like this. I mean, chances are she’s gonna run into people she knows at this bash, but what kind of friend would I be to ditch her because of some weird sense of déjà vu?”
“It’s probably selfish to want you to go to this party with me after the way I fucked up the last time I took you to a party. But how else can I prove I’ve grown up—that this thing between us is real?”
When his voice cracked a little on that last part, I had to do the right thing: force my insecurities aside to give him the chance he was asking for.
“You’re only a game or two away from winning the conference championship, and so far you haven’t partied once with your teammates because of me. Maybe it’s time for me to grow up too.” A chuckle escaped me. “With the way your friend Bax talked to that football groupie, it’s probably safe to say your teammates aren’t much like Derek Watson.”
Even in the low light in the front seat of his car, I saw Danny’s expression darken.
“Not one player on the Wildcats would tolerate that asshole for a second. Red jersey or not, someone on the defense would put his ass in the turf on the daily in practice, and to hell with the coaches who’d make that player do burpees for teaching Derek a lesson on how to be a decent human being.”
Sitting back in the bucket seat, I said, “Good to know.” Turning my head on the headrest, I smiled. “We should probably head over to the party before your friends think you ditched them again.”
Reaching over the console, he slid his hand beneath the hair on my neck, holding me as he leaned in and brushed a kiss over my mouth. A sigh ghosted out of me, and I sensed his grin against my lips before he kissed me again.
“I feel like I’ve waited my whole life to kiss you, T. And every time my lips touch yours, I’m reminded it was worth the wait.”
I didn’t realize my fingers were covering my lips until he smiled as he put the car in gear and pulled out of his parking space. “Absolutely, T. Hold that thought. As much as I want to show you off at this party, our time there will be pretty short. Especially if you keep looking at me like that.”
How was I looking at him? I mean besides as though he were the eighth Wonder of the World.
I’d ridden in his car so many times, yet tonight held an aura of firsts. First kiss, first party, first promise of something more. That last one terrified me because I wanted it so much with Danny, but what if I froze up the way I had with Aaron? He’d walk away too, and we’d probably never recover our friendship. Yet as we drove through the chilly autumn evening, I couldn’t deny I was already committed to taking the risk. I had to hope I was right about my subconscious doing a number on my body to just force me to wait for him.
Thumping hip-hop poured out the door as we walked up the sidewalk to Tarvarius’s house. Located down the street from the big Victorian Danny lived in, this house was even more impressive, with a third-story balcony along a row of two or three tall windows and a long second-story balcony with an iron railing, where several people were talking and drinking. The front door opened directly into a massive living room heaving with people dancing to the beat. In the corner opposite the front door, a DJ had set up his turntables and mixing board between two tall, skinny amps. Behind him a light bar fitted with a rainbow of colored lights and strobes switched on and off matching the rhythm of the music.
As we moved further into the room, Danny grinned and fist-bumped a big Black guy I recognized from the Coffee Kiosk. Tugging me close, he introduced me to Jeremiah Fitzgerald.
“We’ve met,” I shouted over the music.
Jeremiah smiled at me, his deep voice cutting through the noise in the room like a destroyer parting the sea. “Ah, so this guy is why you didn’t accept our party invites before.”
“This guy is the reason I’m here tonight,” I shouted back.
He lifted his fist for Danny to bump again. “Nice work, man. Keg’s in the kitchen.” He nodded toward a door to the left of the DJ’s setup.
With a salute, Danny tugged me through the heaving crowd toward the kitchen where it was marginally less busy. He introduced me to another massive man in charge of the keg.
“Dallas, this is my girlfriend, Taryn. Taryn, meet our star center, the true captain of the offense.”
With a broad smile, Dallas handed me a red cup filled with keg beer. “Nice to meet you. Thanks for talking Danny into coming to a party finally.”
“Um—”
Danny lifted his cup to mine, and we each tipped back a swig.
“Flip cup tournament is on the back porch. Cornhole in the back yard if the living room is too crowded for you.”
Right then Tarvi and Zoe walked into the kitchen from the back porch.
“Hey! You made it!” Zoe said with a grin. “Isn’t this party rad?”
“Rad?” I laughed. “Who says that anymore?”
A rather unladylike burp escaped her, and she grinned again. “Oops! It’s the keg beer. Gets me every time.”
Tarvarius gazed at her, a smitten smile on his face. I couldn’t blame him. My friend had that effect on people.
“Come on, you guys. Let’s dance,” she said as she took Tarvi by the hand and shimmied toward the living room.
“You heard the lady,” Danny said, laughter twinkling in his eyes. “Time to dance.”
The living room literally bounced beneath the feet of the forty or fifty people dancing in it. At some point Danny asked Tarvi if they’d hired a professional DJ. Tarvi explained that the guy attended MSC but was using the parties to practice for some competition that could catapult him to the big time. From the way he worked the crowd, I thought he was ready for the big time now.
Not knowing many people at this bash allowed me to relax and have fun. Zoe’s goofy antics as she danced around Tarvi cracked me up. I had no idea how long we’d been dancing for when she pulled me in close.
“You going to be okay without me?” Her comical over-the-top brow waggle left me laughing.
“Tarvi has no idea what he’s signing up for, does he?” I grinned.
“Lucky, lucky man.” She stepped into the circle of his arm. “Talk to you tomorrow.”
As the two of them disappeared into the crowd, Danny asked, “Are you having too much fun, or are you ready to head out, too?”
I was having a great time, but right as I turned to tell him so, I caught him stifling a yawn. “This party is great, but I’m ready to go.”
As we walked hand in hand down the street to his house, he playfully bumped my shoulder. “You had fun, huh?”
“Bax was right. Your college teammates throw good parties.”
“That mean you’ll go to another one with me?”
This time I bumped his shoulder. “Maybe.” I drew the word out and he shot me a mocking glare.
As we came to his place, he pulled me into his arms, his warm breath tickling my ear as he leaned in to ask, “You want to come in for a minute, or do you want to go home?”
I shivered, but not from the cold November air.
“Nothing happens that you don’t want, T. Ever.”
Nodding, I whispered, “I’m not ready to go home yet, but I’m opening the shop tomorrow morning.”
He blew out a breath and ushered me to his car.
When we arrived at my place, I said, “You can come in for a minute—if you want.”
A second later he was standing beside the passenger door waiting for me to exit his ride. In silence we climbed the stairs to the second-story balcony leading to my apartment. I keyed us inside and flipped on the lamp on the table beside the door.
“Would you like—?”
Danny pressed his finger to my lips. Then he pulled me into his arms, lowered his head, and brushed his mouth over mine—once, twice—before adding delicious pressure. My eyes fluttered shut as I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave myself over to his kisses.
When I opened for him, he slid his tongue along mine—an erotic dance that flooded my core with heat. The music of his groans filled my ears as I flattened my chest to his. Our bodies responded to each other as though the only way we could exist was joined together, knees to lips. I could have stood in the middle of my cracker box of an apartment for the rest of my life if it meant Danny Chambers would hold me in his arms and kiss me like this—like he couldn’t survive without my air.
But somehow we moved the three steps to my couch where he gently guided me down. Having nowhere else to go, he lay on top of me, his big body pushing me into the cushions. As he kissed me harder, more urgently, I decided breath was overrated. My hands found their way to the warm, smooth skin of his back beneath his hoodie while my clit discovered his hard length behind the fly of his jeans. Of their own volition, my hips began to move as I sought the delicious friction of rubbing along his body.
“Fuck, T!” he swore as he tore his lips from mine.
Sitting up on his knees, he tugged his hoodie over his head and dropped it on the floor while I lay panting beneath him. Then he was back, kissing me to within an inch of my sanity. Nothing in the world felt so good as Danny’s body pressed to mine as he kissed his way along my jaw and down my neck, little nibbles and long sucks. Vaguely, I registered he was marking me, but all I could care about was how incredible his lips and teeth and tongue felt on my skin.
After a while, I clued in that the keening sounds echoing off the walls of my apartment were coming from my throat as pleasure radiated from where our bodies ground together at the apex of our thighs. Danny’s movements became erratic, and then he buried his face in my neck and let go with a growl like a wounded animal.
A muffled chuckle followed. “Shit! God dammit, T.” He lay still in the V of my legs. “How the fuck did that happen?” He pushed up on his elbows and stared down at me. “Please tell me you came too.”
“Mmm, came too? You mean you—?”
A self-deprecating laugh huffed out of him. “That’s never happened before.”
Giving him a shy smile, I admitted, “To me either.”
I sensed his body relax against mine as a genuine smile stretched his perfectly sculpted lips. “If this is what we do to each other when we’re still dressed, imagine what it’s going to be like when we’re not.”
Involuntarily, I stiffened at his words. Pulling a breath in through my nose, I concentrated on relaxing, but it was too late. He noticed my tension, and his brow furrowed in concern.
“Hey, what is it?”
Trying to hide from his questions—and the answers that would probably drive him away—I closed my eyes.
“Taryn.”
Going with the easy thing, I whispered, “I’m not very experienced.” Pulling my lips between my teeth, I gave myself a second, then I added, “I don’t want to disappoint you.”
With a shake of his head, he gave me a gentle smile. “For the first time in my life, I just came in my jeans from dry-humping a girl.” Lowering his head, he pecked a hard kiss on my mouth. “You did that to me. You, Taryn. When we get naked with each other, I might actually go off like a bomb.” He tangled his fingers in my hair. “One thing I know for a fact won’t happen is you disappointing me.”
He sat back on his knees and moved my legs so we could sit on my couch. With a shake of his head, he stared down at a small dark circle on his crotch. “Can’t believe I lost control like that,” he said to himself. Silver-gray eyes found mine. “Maybe this shouldn’t surprise me so much.”
Tilting my head, I asked, “Why?”
“I feel like I’ve waited for you forever. Now I know I have a chance with you, I got overexcited.” He ran a hand through his hair, which after two and a half months was now down to his shoulders. “Kinda like the first time Coach Ellis put me in a game when I totally overshot my route. Patty has a cannon for an arm, but even he can’t pass an accurate ball fifty yards.”
He chuckled.
Turning serious, Danny slid his arm across my shoulders and pulled me in close to his side. “Now that we’re together we have all the time in the world. I promise to be patient, T. I’ve already waited five years, so I’m good at it.” He pressed a kiss to my temple. “And you are so worth the wait.”
Oh, Danny. I hope you’re not wrong.