16. Liliana
Chapter 16
Liliana
As he stands from the table, I notice what he’s wearing for the first time. A black dress shirt stretches across his chest. The top few buttons are open, letting his light dusting of chest hair peek out. It’s tight enough to show off his muscles and make any woman drool. The gray dress pants fit the same, showing off how much time he spends in the gym.
I have a hard time pulling my gaze away from his body and meeting his eyes again.
“Come home with me, Lils,” Smithy murmurs only loud enough for me to hear him. I nibble on my bottom lip, trying to decide what to do. I feel like a jerk if I leave my date with Kevin to go home with Smithy, but that’s exactly what I want to do. “I need you, Sweets.”
Without glancing away from Smithy, I speak to Kevin. I can't stop staring at my best friend. My mind can't stop whirling. He stopped this date. He crashed it and made sure he was in the middle of everything.
“Kevin, is it alright with you if I go with Smithy? I’ve been promising I’d help him for days and haven’t had a chance to.” As the lie falls from my lips, Smithy’s smile gets wider and wider.
I'm waiting for him to pound his chest and let out a noise of victory. He knows he’s won, but he’s not being smug about it.
When our food came and he couldn’t keep his arm along the back of the booth anymore, he rested his hand on my thigh and I didn’t stop him. My breath hitched at the initial contact and he chuckled under his breath.
It was wrong, especially when I was on a date with someone else, but I didn’t want him to stop. Hell, I wanted to take his hand and run away from the restaurant with him.
“Oh, yeah, sure. That’s not a problem at all.” Kevin runs a hand through his hair, looking more than a little disappointed.
He’s a nice guy and I hope he finds someone perfect for him, but I'm not the girl for him. Maybe if Smithy was just a friend I would be, but as long as I'm in love with him, I won't give Kevin the attention he deserves.
“I had a great time. Thank you for asking me to go out for dinner.” I smile at him, but make no move to hug him.
“I did too. I’ll text you later.” He aims a genuine smile my way.
“Cici, do you want me to drop you off at home?” Smithy asks as he places a hand on my lower back.
“It’s fine. I’ll order a ride.” She tugs her phone out of her pocket.
“I can take you home,” Kevin offers. Him and Cici would be adorable together.
I wonder if the two of them will hit it off. I almost hope they do. I feel bad about Kevin. I kind of used him to get Smithy to make a move and as long as the night goes how I think it will, I won't be looking for a second date.
“That would be great. Smithy, I’ll be in touch with you about next week. Liliana, it was great to see you. We really need to get Macy and Charlie together for a girls’ night out.”
We all say goodbye and Smithy’s hand stays on the small of my back as he leads me out to his SUV. I smirk and shake my head when I think about how he was sitting outside of my apartment.
“What’s happening next week?” I peek up at him as he opens the passenger’s door and holds out a hand to help me in.
“I agreed to go to a charity dinner with Cici. As friends.” He carefully shuts my door then rushes around to his side of the car. As soon as his door is shut and he starts the engine, I smile sweetly at him.
“Is that how you convinced her to crash my date with you?”
“What?” He coughs, choking on his own spit.
“You heard me, Travis.” I arch a brow, daring him to argue with me.
“Yeah, I just wasn’t… expecting that.” He runs a rough hand through his hair, messing it up even more. I smile as I think about how much I prefer his look than Kevin’s polished one. “Listen, I want to discuss this, but I’d rather do it when my attention isn't split between you and the road.”
“We can sit here and talk.”
“We could, but I’d rather talk to you when I don’t have anything separating me from you. Can we talk when we get home?” His eyes are pleading with me to understand. To give him a chance.
“Ok,” I whisper. “Let’s go home.”
It doesn’t take us long to get to Smithy’s house. He pulls right up in front of the door and hops out. He comes around to my side and helps me out, but he doesn’t let go of my hand as we walk to the door or while he unlocks it.
He leads me straight into his bedroom and settles on his bed with his back against the plush headboard.
“C’mon, Sweets. Sit with me.”
I try to climb over him, but he stops me when I'm straddling his lap. My dress is bunched around my thighs, but he doesn’t seem to mind one bit.
“Yeah, I think you should stay just like this,” he murmurs, holding my waist in place.
“Travis,” I say with wide eyes.
“You can move if you really don’t like this, but I’d prefer to talk to you like this.”
I nod my head, unsure of what else to say. I'm not about to tell him I'm exactly where I want to be. I need to know what he’s going to say first.
His eyes slide shut and he takes a deep breath. It’s so weird to see him struggling. He’s normally so in control of himself, even if he’s faking it. To see him this raw and vulnerable, it’s… priceless.
“I agreed to the charity dinner with Cici as a thank you for helping me crash your date,” he says softly, refusing to open his eyes. His hands are resting on the bed next to my knees and his jaw is clenched tightly.
This is painful for him to be so honest with me. I realize what a privilege it is for him to be so real and raw.
“I saw you outside my apartment. I thought I was imagining your car.” I reach forward and toy with the collar of his shirt. I pretend I'm fixing it, but I'm really looking for a reason to touch him.
“Are you mad at me?” He finally opens his eyes and watches me carefully.
“I need you to answer one question before I decide.”
“Am I allowed to change my answer if I don’t like your answer?”
“Nope. So, you better think long and hard before you respond.” I smile, thinking about how adorable his smirk was when he walked over to the table tonight.
“Ok,” he sighs. “Hit me with your question.” He motions for me to continue.
“Why were you stalking me and crashing my date?”
“Sweets,” he groans.
“That’s not an answer, Trav.” I place my hands on his shoulders and scoot closer to him. I can feel how hard he is under me and I try my hardest to ignore it. I need him to answer this question, then we can move forward… or I’ll go home. I guess it depends on how he answers.
“I didn’t want you going on a date with him,” he confesses as his hands land on my waist.
“What’s wrong with Kevin?”
“He’s not me.”
“What do you mean?” I ask slowly. I know what he’s saying, but I want to hear him say it. When he doesn’t respond, I push. “I need the words, Travis.”
“I don’t want you going on a date with anyone except me, Sweets. I want you. I’ve wanted you for as long as I can remember, but I'm too chickenshit to do anything about it. I know you’re too good for me. I know you could do a million times better than me, but every time I think about you with someone else, I end up punching things.”
“That probably isn't smart.” I frown at him.
“Are you fucking kidding me? That’s what you focused on out of everything I said?” He lets his head fall back until he’s staring up at the ceiling and lets out a growl of frustration.
“Hey,” I whisper, working the buttons on his shirt, I begin unbuttoning one at a time.
“Hmmm?” He makes a noise, refusing to look at me.
“I'm not mad at you.”
“You’re not?” He only drops his chin enough to meet my gaze.
“Nah, I’ve liked you for as long as I can remember. I'm chickenshit too.”
“Oh, thank fuck!” Smithy tightens his grip on my waist and tugs my chest flush against his. I let out a little yelp of surprise, but it doesn’t stop him.
His lips are crashing into mine before I can even process what’s going on. He wraps an arm around my waist and places his other hand on my thigh. He tilts his head to the side and deepens the kiss. When I give him the opportunity, he slips his tongue past my lips and plays with mine.
I don’t hesitate to run my hands over his chest and shoulders. I’ve touched him countless times, but never like this. Never while his lips were on mine.
“Holy crap,” I whisper as he pulls away. Both of our chests are heaving and our lips are swollen. But that was the best kiss of my life.
“You’re mine now, you realize that, right?”
“I’ve always been yours, you just didn’t realize it.”
“This dress though… Was Winnie trying to kill me?” He toys with the hem, letting his fingers brush over my upper thighs.
“She was convinced you’d stop my date or crash it.” I grin when he scowls at me.
“She wouldn’t tell me where you were going with Kevin. That’s why I had to sit outside of your apartment like a stalker.”
“If it were anyone else, I might be creeped out.”
“What were you thinking when I didn’t stop you from going?” He asks after a few moments of silence.
“I assumed you didn’t want me. It hurt. I was so sure something had changed recently.” I lift my shoulder in a shrug. What else am I supposed to say?
“I was so close to confessing how I felt so many times. I’d stop myself at the last second, then kick myself for stopping. I just didn’t know how to go from friends to more.”
“Stalking is always a good option.” I smirk.
“That’s it!” He flips us so my back is on the mattress and he’s hovering over me. “You shouldn’t tease your new boyfriend.” He tickles me, his own chuckle filling the air.
“Who’s my new boyfriend?” I shriek as he tickles me harder.
“I'm your boyfriend, baby. The only man you’re ever going to kiss again.”
“Ok! You’re my boyfriend!” I squeal, trying to get away from him.
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, he stops and leans down for a kiss. I could get lost in his kisses, but I want to make something clear first. I push gently on his chest and when he breaks our kiss, he looks down at me in confusion.
“I don’t want you to call me baby. We’ve talked about this.”
“Can I tell you a secret?” He murmurs as he presses a soft kiss to my neck.
“Hmm?” I hum, unable to find my voice.
“I never called anyone babe or baby.”
“But you-”
“I slipped up and called you baby one time in college. You got spooked and I didn’t want to lose you, so I’ve called every woman babe or baby since. I only did it to make you think I wasn’t in love with you. I wanted you to think you were like every other woman in my life. Looking back, I was an idiot. I should’ve owned it and begged you to give me a shot then.”
“Travis,” I whisper as tears fill my eyes.
I think back to that first time he called me baby. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t think he was serious, so I asked him what he said. I was hoping he wanted more than friendship with me, but I wasn’t going to make the first move. Not when our relationship meant that much to me.
I think back to how he used to almost go out of his way to call other girls babe or baby. It always seemed weird, but I didn’t question it at all.
“No, don’t cry, baby… Do you want me to call you something else?”
“No. I just wish I had known back then…” I let my words trail off. He knows what I mean. I wish I had known how he felt when we were in college. Things would’ve been so different.
“So many times I’ve kicked myself for not asking you out, but I have to believe there was a reason we didn’t figure things out until now. Maybe we wouldn’t have worked out then.” He shrugs.
“And we will now?”
“I’ll stop at nothing to make you my wife, baby.” He slips his hands under the hem of my dress and slowly drags it up my body. “I’ve been waiting forever for this. I’ll never jeopardize our relationship. I promise that.”