Chapter 23
GRAYSON
I’ve done some dumb shit in my life, but this is the dumbest. Offering Alvarez a ride in my car? Stupid. So fucking stupid.
“Thanks,” she says.
When she shuts the door, the air shifts.
The bottom of her shorts ride up as she reaches over her shoulder for the seatbelt, revealing a pair of thick, toned thighs. Her golden-brown skin looks so soft and smooth.
When the seatbelt clicks, I swallow away the thoughts her close proximity bring to mind.
“All those cookies for you?” I ask because she’s unusually quiet.
“Oh,” her gaze drops down to the bundle in her lap. “No, I was saving them.”
Irritation crushes my lungs and I nearly choke on the strange sensation swirling in the pit of my stomach.
No part of me wants to know who she thinks of enough to bake cookies for.
Who’s so fucking important that she plans to hand deliver a batch of cookies to them? On second thought, I do want to know.
“Saving them for who?” I ask, needing a specific name to curse.
Cash? I grip the steering wheel.
Lucas? I shift the gears and step on the gas.
“Trevor—”
“Trevor?!” I growl. Lucky bastard. “You’re saving them for guy who shoved a dozen in his mouth earlier?”
Wait, she said she hid them from him. I need to calm the fuck down.
She giggles at my words and my limbs grow heavy, like I’m swimming in molasses. Like I’m stuck. Sinking. Unable to get anywhere.
“No, not Trevor.” She laughs again. The sound is light and airy, the kind of laugh people want to memorize and store away. She shakes her head, then I catch a glimpse of her licking her bottom lip. “I was going to say that Trevor ate so many there was only a few left. So ...”
“So?” I crack my neck to relieve the tension building.
“Well,” she shifts in the passenger seat. “You said the one from Roar Coffee was not bad, so I thought you might prefer some freshly baked ones.”
Fuck me.
She saved them. For me. Baked them fresh. For me. A different kind of tension rushes through my veins—nope.
It doesn’t mean anything. That’s simply who she is: nice, sweet, wants to be everyone’s friend.
“Did you?” I ask. “Why?”
I regret that second question almost as soon as I ask it, especially when I see the flash of hurt cross her face. Shit, I’m an asshole.
I cough to clear my throat.
“Can I try one?” is my next question but she shakes her head. This time she’s not smiling.
“It was silly.” She sighs. “You don’t have to—”
“I want to.” I should’ve said that from the beginning. Her eyes dart toward the door and it’s the first time since she’s been in my car that I can tell she doesn’t want to be in it.
“Selena.”
“You’re not supposed to—”
“Let me try one of the cookies you made.”
“Sure,” she relents. “Here.” She holds out the plastic container open for me to take one, but I shake my head.
“I’m driving. Need both hands for stick shift, you know?” I open my mouth, feeling like a jackass. First I question her motives and then expect her to feed me?
Students are out celebrating the basketball team’s win against our crosstown rivals. I slow down at the stop sign and wait until everyone clears the intersection before stepping on the gas.
Out of the corner of my eye I see her break off a piece of double chocolate chip cookie. They’re still warm. A gooey line of melted chocolate stretches between pieces. Her hand trembles as she brings one of those pieces close.
When I part my lips, she positions the small piece of cookie near my mouth. My heart is pounding in my chest as I lean forward. Taking the piece in my mouth, my lips brush her thumb and index finger. The brief contact makes her gasp and I nearly swerve hearing the sensual sound.
“Sorry,” she mumbles, taking her hand back so quickly, she elbows the passenger side door.
My heart is beating a mile a minute. I’ve been with more women than I can remember, had endless days of sex and orgasms with little sleep in between, but having this girl feed me a bite of double chocolate chip cookie, which she baked for me, might be the most intimate moment of my life.
I shouldn’t ask but I cannot resist. “That’s all I get?”
“Rhodes.”
She sounds nervous and it’s exactly what I need to regain my composure. I give her a shit eating grin. “Yes, Alvarez?”
“You said no eating in your car.”
“These are too good to pass up.” The same could be said about her.
That’s a notion I cannot indulge in—and I won’t—and yet something unexpected has become quite clear.
The more time I spend with her, the more I find her tolerable.
With that alarming thought bouncing around in my head, I know I have to get her out of my car and far, far away from me.
“You said the other side of campus?”
“Oh yeah, sorry.” She turns to look out the window, taking in the surrounding area. The restaurants and shops are slowly filling up with everyone who had been watching the game. “You can make a right on Grand and another right on National. I’m the blue building.”
I nod.
“So what happened to your hot date?” she asks, breaking off another piece.
“We’re not doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Talking.”
My reply makes her laugh. When I look at her, she’s still smiling. A strand of her long hair falls forward and I have to clench my hand to fight the ridiculous urge to tuck that errant strand behind her ear. Without even trying, she does something to my self-control.
“It’s okay if we’re friends, you know?”
She says it so innocently, so casually, like the words don’t carry any weight. But they do and she’s wrong. I don’t tell her this because I like the smile she’s giving me. Probably more than I should.
“You’re out of cookies already, Alvarez?”
I shift gears to remind her why I can’t get the cookie myself. She rolls her eyes playfully while a soft laugh fills the inside of my car. I drink in the sound.
If she’s still nervous to feed me another piece, she doesn’t show it. Her hand is steady the second time. I make sure not to brush my lips against her fingertips though.
“So what’s the rush getting home?” I ask after finishing the piece of cookie. So much for not talking.
She sighs. “I have to call my parents.”
“And you don’t want to?”
“No, I do,” she says, breaking off another piece to give me. “I like talking to them,” she admits almost absently, “but I wish we had actual conversations, you know?”
“I don’t,” I reply. There’s no situation I can fathom wanting to speak to my father.
“I guess sometimes I wish I had the type of relationship that Jess has with her mom. They’re friends first and mother-daughter second.
Mamá would never!” Alvarez looks out the window.
“She spends her time lecturing me…” After a second stop sign, green eyes find mine again.
“Sorry, you probably don’t want to listen to any of this. ”
“Have you mentioned this to them?” I ask.
Shaking her head, she scoffs, like it’s the most absurd thing I could’ve said. Without warning, her plush lips break out into a smile that nearly takes my breath away.
“Do you ever call your dad?” she asks.
“Not once.”
A blue building on the corner comes into view. The sign on the front reads Blue Lion Apartments. It has a fresh coat of paint, but still looks a bit rundown. Similar to the other buildings along this street.
When I pull over, she seems reluctant to leave.
“If you ever want to talk about it…”
My brows furrow on their own. “I won’t.”
She looks at me for a moment, curiosity dancing in her eyes. I realize she’s attempting to offer her hand in friendship, but I can’t take it. So we sit in my car, the silence stretching between us. Her cheeks change colors while her gaze lingers on my lips.
“Okay, um, thank you for the ride.”
Smiling in way I haven’t seen before, with a sensual edge, almost...flirtatious, she hands me the box of cookies. And yet, she’s the first to look away.
Even if I was tempted, which I’m not, I’m not in a position to encourage anything between us. Which is why I maintain an almost bored expression despite the urge to smile back.
“Have a good night, Alvarez.”
She licks her lips. That plump bottom lip glistens under the streetlight.
“Grayson,” she whispers and my mouth goes dry. My dick stirs in my pants and I know that whatever she says, I’ll do. Whatever she asks for, I’ll give it to her. Even things I shouldn’t.
She licks her lips again. I have no idea what she’s about to say, but I don’t get to find out. Her roommate bangs on the passenger side window, ruining the moment but saving us. Saving me.
“Selena, c’mon! Looks like rain!”
Outside the clouds have filed into place. Her friend is right, it’ll be raining soon.
“You should go,” I state, looking away from her up at the gray clouds. She needs to leave. Now. “You’ll get wet.”
“Maybe I want to get wet?”
Fuck me. She cannot be talking about what I think she’s talking about, but my dick still jumps to attention. Maybe I want to get wet? This cute little virgin is about to make me blush. I clear my throat.
“Your friend is waiting,” I remind her. Said friend opens the door and takes the greatest temptation I’ve ever known away from me. For that, I’m grateful.
“Good night, Rhodes! Thanks for the ride!” she calls behind her as her friend drags her away.
Once they make it up the stairs and disappear inside the blue building, raindrops hit my windshield. I speed away, distracted by whatever fragrance she was wearing. It lingers in my car and I can’t stand it.
Without a second thought, I open the windows to get rid of her scent. I don’t give a fuck if the falling rain ruins the leather interior so long as the sweet mixture of vanilla and coconut is gone.