Chapter 6 #2
“Sorry. Sorry, I—” Shit. I was breathless.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the guy freeze in his tracks.
I didn’t look over at him. I was pretending I hadn’t seen him at all.
Taking Micah by the shoulders, I spun him so his back was facing Hunter, and then I leaned in. “I need to kiss you.”
“This isn’t fucking cute, Vanya. I—”
“Is Hunter.”
Micah went completely still. He swallowed thickly, then turned his face up toward me. “What?” The word was a ragged whisper.
I leaned in further and murmured, “You call for Uber, yes?”
“Yeah.”
“Is not Uber. Is Hunter.”
Micah drew his lower lip into his mouth, then let it go. “How do you know?”
“I see him. He’s standing outside of his car, watching us. So kiss me.”
“Vanya…”
“He think we are lovers, yes? Boyfriends? So kiss me.”
Micah’s hands rose slowly, and he laid an agonizingly glorious touch to either side of my face. My eyes closed as his fingertips curled around the edges of my jaw, and then he pushed up on his toes as I leaned down to close the rest of the distance between us.
Just before our lips touched, the SUV door slammed, and we both froze. Micah’s breath rushed over my cheeks with his heavy exhale, and his hand moved into my hair.
He still wasn’t kissing me.
A rumble cascaded across the empty parking lot, and then came the sound of tires on gravel.
Hunter was leaving.
The moment the sound faded, Micah pulled back slowly and licked his lips. For a second, I swore disappointment flashed across his face, but it was gone before I could be sure. He was holding his boundary with me, and I respected him for it, but god, I wanted him even more now.
I exhaled slowly, then took a step back. “Come on. I give you a ride.”
“No.”
Groaning, I tipped my head back and looked up at the stars. God, save me from falling for this stubborn fucking man. “Micah—”
“I don’t need you to jump in and save me, Vanya,” he snapped.
I looked over at him. “You’re just angry because I flirt with your brother.” Micah jolted. “Yes, I know he told you. But it was not flirting. It was being nice. He doesn’t know difference, which is silly. He’s grown man. He shouldn’t assume.”
“Vanya,” Micah groaned. “You flirt with everyone.”
“No, I am nice to everyone. Maybe you don’t know difference either.
” Something inside me had pulled tight, and in that second, it snapped.
I was on him again, one hand against his neck, the other on his hip.
I leaned in and spoke right against his ear.
“When I tell you that you are sexiest man I have ever seen, that I think of kissing you all night. That I touch myself when I remember you on my lap in the car…writhing—”
“Vanya,” he breathed.
“Is too much? I am crossing a line?”
He swallowed heavily, then shook his head. “No. But I told you we can’t do this.”
“Yes. I remember. I just need you to understand difference, pretty little goalie. When I flirt, it is this. When I tell Caleb he is good at blacksmithing or that I like his apron, is just honest. And I am sorry that your family give you such pain you think someone being nice mean they wanting something from you.”
“You want something from me,” Micah said, voice rough.
“Yes.” I wasn’t going to lie to him. “I want a lot of things from you. But only if you want to give. And not because I am sorry for you or because I can tell you are lonely.”
“Fuck you. I’m not—”
“Yes.” I stopped his words before he could finish his sentence. I didn’t want him to lie to me, and if I had to save him from himself, I would. “Yes, you are. Is okay. Lonely happens. I am lonely all the time. But is not why I want you either.”
There was a long pause, and then Micah asked, “Why do you want me? You see what a hot fucking mess I am. Why…why me?”
“You want me to list all the reasons?” I asked with a tiny laugh.
Micah opened his mouth, then closed it and took a step back. Then another. Then another. My hands drifted from his body and fell back to my sides, and I watched him orient himself with the tip of his cane before turning back to face me.
“No. I…I don’t.”
He was lying again, but this time, I let him keep his deception.
“Let me give you ride home,” I said.
As the words left my mouth, a car pulled around the corner, this time with the Uber sign glowing in the window. My heart twisted in my chest, and I was a little crushed. It felt like this was a moment missed—like it was something that might have been, but I wasn’t strong enough to seize it.
“See you around,” Micah said quietly as he made his way toward the car.
“You will be safe, yes?” I called out.
Micah froze, then nodded. “I’ll be safe. But, uh…if I need you, can I call?”
My breath left me in a rush. “Yes, pretty little goalie. Anytime you need me, I will be there.”
He said nothing else as I watched him climb into the Uber, fold his cane, then lean his head against the window as it pulled away from the curb and left the lot.
It wasn’t everything. It wasn’t what I wanted.
But it was something, and that something, for now, would have to be enough.