Chapter 19 #3
“My favorite part was when you knocked the ring from his hands and it went skidding along the bleachers.” His chest shakes from repressing his laughter. “And everyone chased after it.”
I sniff. “I really hate you, Charlie.”
“I know you do.” He leans back in his chair and crooks a finger at me. “Come here.”
My head tells me to resist him, but too many of my other body parts disagree. I still make a show of rolling my eyes and huffing over to him. I don’t want him getting complacent.
He tugs me into his lap, pulling me close. “The guy is clearly an idiot.”
I sigh and, to my disgust, find myself snuggling into him. “Despite evidence to the contrary, I swear to god I was clear. He just didn’t get the message.”
He tilts my chin and peers into my eyes. “Jessica, you understand that doesn’t matter, right?”
My heart quickens, like I’ve inadvertently revealed something I didn’t mean to. “Of course. I’m merely explaining I didn’t lead him on. That I told him our relationship was casual.”
He tightens his fingers on my jaw so I can’t look away. “I don’t give a fuck if you begged him to marry you the day before, you didn’t owe him a yes.”
The forced vulnerability stirs my near-insatiable desire. Throat tight, I can feel my chin quiver, but I manage to nod.
He releases my jaw before tucking me in close. “You still feel bad.”
“Not about him,” I squeak, burying my face in the crook of his neck. “He disregarded my feelings, but I’m the bad guy for saying no and breaking his heart. I paid the price, not him. In the end, everyone blamed me. Even my family blamed me.”
He frowns. “Did you ask them specifically, or are you assuming?”
Muffled against his warm skin, I say, “I was lazy and apathetic about ending our relationship.”
“Even so, it’s not your fault.” He rubs my back in slow, steady circles, and when my muscles start to unclench, he says, “He manipulated you.”
This catches my attention. “What do you mean?”
“Anyone who knows the slightest thing about you would never plan a jumbotron proposal. That’s ridiculous. He probably saw you slipping away and decided to shoot his shot in a way that made it hard for you to say no.”
“I…I hadn’t thought about it like that before.” My heart takes a precarious leap. This has to wear off, right? This weird, giddy, soft, tinkling happiness.
He gives me a little squeeze. “Another indicator he didn’t know shit about you.”
I trail a path down his forearm, tracing the veins. “How do you know so much about me? Most of our time has been spent having sex.”
His gaze darkens on me. “Is that true?”
I swallow hard. “Isn’t it?”
“I think the hours I’ve talked to you have far exceeded the hours I’ve spent inside you.” His fingers are lazy on my back, lulling me into softness. “You’re just conveniently forgetting about that because you’re not sure how you feel about me understanding you.”
My hand falls to his chest, and his muscles tense in response. I test my power over him by scraping my nails lightly across his skin. “I don’t hate it.”
He takes my hand and puts it by my side. “No?”
“No.” I return it to his chest, and this time, I trace his nipple.
A sharp intake of breath escapes before he grips my fingers and yanks my wrist to my side. “This is why I keep having to restrain you.”
I laugh. “Don’t you owe me a story?”
He releases me before rubbing my thighs with the tips of his fingers.
“Funny enough, the story’s not that different from yours, minus the proposal.
I’d been regularly hooking up with a pediatrician named Felicia a couple towns over for about a year, and even though I told her I wasn’t a relationship guy, on her birthday, she confessed she wanted a future. ”
“Oh no.”
“Yeah, but I’m not a monster, so I waited a month before I broke it off.” He continues to paint circles over my skin. “Which is where I’d come from the night I ran into you.”
I move, sitting straighter and turning more fully toward him. “That’s how I ended up in that bar too. I’d had another run-in with Travis.”
“That explains the mood.”
“Maybe I was a bit prickly.” I shift, straddling him.
He settles his hands on my hips, gripping me tightly before relaxing. “Definitely prickly.”
I trail a path down the center of his chest, giving him a sly smile. “When did you know you had me?”
He shrugs. “Couple minutes.”
The laughter spurts from my lips, and I shake my head. “You did not.”
“As soon as you told me you were going to do whatever you wanted, I knew I’d be proving you wrong.”
“Your ego is ridiculous. What about all your talk about not trying to fuck me?”
“I didn’t need to try. You talked yourself into it without my help. I was merely the lucky recipient.” He gives me a boyish grin that somehow manages to make him even hotter. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Staring into his midnight eyes, I’m completely lost. “What wasn’t?”
“You told me a story, and I told you one.” He slides his palms beneath his shirt to where I’m naked underneath. He urges me closer. “We survived.”
“It wasn’t that terrible, I guess.”
“We can figure out how to do this.”
I’m close enough we’re breathing the same breath. “Do what?”
“Us.”