Jake #2
My hand brushed hers where it clenched the cue, thumb gliding across her knuckles. She sucked in a breath, her body stiffening at the contact, and that flicker of shyness just about undid me.
“Don’t go shy on me now, sweetheart.”
She blinked at me, cue still locked in her hand, then words just.
..exploded. “This isn’t shy, it’s—” She waved the cue vaguely.
“God, you’re like a software update I didn’t agree to install.
Everything’s hotter, slower, and my buttons are in weird places.
I don’t even know how to function anymore.
I’ll probably start buffering mid-sentence soon.
” She snapped her mouth closed, staring wide-eyed at me.
“Please pretend I didn’t just say that.” Her cheeks went scarlet, and she muttered, “I think I might need an exorcism.”
I couldn’t hold back my grin. Amused as hell, turned on even more. “No fuckin’ way am I allowing an exorcism. I like you exactly how you are.”
Eyes still wide, she jabbed her hand in my direction. “See, that ...saying things like that, and using your voice like that, and existing like that...Every single neuron of mine has stopped adulting and started a girl band, writing songs like ‘Why Is He Looking At Me Like That?’”
She was absolutely fucking lethal. And I needed to shut this down.
I brought my mouth to her ear and growled, “Darlin’, if you knew the shit I’m thinking while I look at you, you’d stop worrying about girl bands and start worrying about how fast I could have you begging on this table.
” I pulled back just enough to catch her wild eyes and added, “Let’s get that drink before your mouth talks us both into trouble. ”
We grabbed burgers at the bar. Eden ordered hers with pineapple, extra cheese and pickles, coleslaw, hot sauce, and mayo.
She then added hot chips to it. Not just a few; she shoved half a fistful in there, gripping the bun firmly so it didn’t explode.
Then she took a blissed-out bite, eyes closed, chewing like she’d reached some higher plane of existence.
I just stared. Couldn’t not.
She opened her eyes and caught me watching. “What? Don’t look at me like that. Don’t you dare food-shame me, biker man. This is innovation. Maximum crunch-to-softness ratio, bonus spice, bonus pickle tang. It’s science.”
I bit back a grin and took a long pull from my beer, staying quiet—mostly because all I could think about was sliding her onto my lap.
She kept going, lecturing like she was giving a TED talk. “Honestly, I should be charging for this wisdom. People would thank me. I’d basically be a humanitarian for sharing this knowledge.”
I finally let my grin loose as I reached for her stool and pulled her closer. “You keep talkin’ like that and I’m gonna forget about food altogether. The only thing I’ll be hungry for is you.”
She was lost for words for at least three seconds, and then blurted, “Oh, wow. Okay. You can’t just say things like that without warning.”
I laughed. Then I ran my thumb gently over her cheek to wipe away the smear of tomato sauce she hadn’t realised was there.
Her eyes flashed with want and a silent promise that she wouldn’t stop me if I leaned in closer.
As much as I wanted to do that, I didn’t.
“Let’s move to safer territory for both of us.
Tell me about your brother. How many pool lessons did he actually give you? ”
Her lips parted in a mock gasp. “Did you just politely tell me I’m hopeless at pool?”
“Not hopeless. Just in desperate need of a better teacher.”
“Oh, right. Let me guess, that would be you?”
I smirked. “You’re catching on fast.”
“What makes you think you’re qualified?”
“I’ve just spent two hours proving it.”
“You mean you spent two hours watching me prove I’m a terrible student.”
“Or it was two hours of me enjoying the hell outta watching you try.”
She tried to fight a smile but lost the battle.
Then, fuck me, she leaned in while placing her hand on my thigh.
“How about you watch me some more after we finish eating. And if I manage to sink some balls, you tell me something about yourself that no one knows. If I sink none, I’ll tell you something about me. ”
“Or I could just ask.”
“You don’t wanna watch me some more?”
“Darlin’, I don’t want you to move your hand from my leg. So, how about we stay right here, and you tell me anything about yourself that you wanna share.”
She eased back a bit but kept her hand right where it was. “Okay, but you start. I feel like I know less about you than you know about me.”
I took a lazy sip of beer. “Something no one knows, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay,” I said, thinking about what I’d give her. “Here’s something—most people bore the hell outta me after ten minutes.”
“And yet, I’m still here?”
“You don’t bore me, Eden. You’re not afraid to say the shit you’re thinking. Half the time it comes out sideways, but it’s real. I’ll take that over fake bullshit any day.”
“So, I’m basically your favourite open-source disaster. My inability to filter is what you find hot. Not my eyes or my legs.” She was trying not to smile, but I saw it in her eyes.
“I’m all about your legs. But I want a whole lot more of that broken brain-to-mouth filter.”
Her smile grew. All over her face. And her eyes softened. “I don’t think you know what you’re signing up for.”
“You let me worry about that while you just keep being yourself.”
She lifted her hand from my thigh. I was so attuned to it there that I had my hand to hers immediately and was putting it right back. Holding her gaze, I said, “That hand’s mine now, sweetheart, and I’m not finished with it yet.”
Her brows arched. “Do you come with a user manual for this kind of bossiness?”
“The only manual you’ll get is hands-on training. Tonight’s lesson is touch me, keep touchin’ me, and don’t fuckin’ stop touchin’ me.”
She didn’t move her hand, and she didn’t stop smiling. What she did do was continue giving me her special brand of sass that I couldn’t get enough of. “Got it. But do you think it’d be okay if I used my hand to finish eating my burger? Like, is this how I file requests?”
“You file requests with your mouth, darlin’. And you’ll wanna be real convincing when you do.”
Her smile turned scorching. It said she knew exactly how to get her way.
Then she leaned in, slow enough to tease, brushing her mouth over mine in the barest kiss before deepening it, lips parting, tongue tasting. Hot as hell. Convincing as sin.
When she pulled back, her smile was pure trouble. “Was that convincing enough?”
I had my hand in her hair within a second and was tugging her back in close where I wanted her. “I was convinced the second you touched me. Now I’m just impatient.”
Then I kissed her. Hard. None of the teasing shit this time, just heat, tongue, and the kind of hunger I’d been holding back all night. She made a sound in her throat that went straight to my cock, and when her fingers dug into my thigh, I tightened my grip in her hair, keeping her right there.
The kiss turned heavy fast, every damn thing about her addictive. She was everywhere—taste, heat, scent flooding me until I was losing myself in her. Forcing myself to stop, I ended the kiss, breathing uneven, restraint stretched too damn thin.
Eden was just as affected, and when she removed her hand from my leg this time, I let her.
“Okay, back to safe territory,” I said, pulling air into my lungs and locking my filthy imagination into a cage it didn’t wanna stay in. “Your turn to tell me something no one knows about you.”
“Bold of you to assume I have the ability to think right now.” She gave me a look that was equal parts dazed and turned on. It said she didn’t know if she wanted to sass me or climb into my lap. And fuck, I loved that she wasn’t hiding a damn bit of it.
“Then don’t think. Just tell me the first thing that comes to mind.”
She reached for a chip and ate it before saying, “I own four houseplants. They’re all fake because I kill the real ones in less than a week.”
“That sounds like something other people would already know. Give me something better.”
She made wide eyes at me. “I just told you my brain can’t brain right now.”
I grinned around a mouthful of chips. “That’s bullshit. Your brain never switches off.”
“Trust me, it does.”
“Tell me something else.”
“I don’t remember consenting to this bossy mode of yours.”
“You’re stalling.”
She rolled her eyes, but it was half-assed at best. “Fine.” She ate another chip while thinking. “I’m basically a hoarder of hoodies. If I steal one of yours, you’re never seeing it again.”
“If you take my hoodie, you’re taking the man that comes with it too.” I said it easy and watched her eyes flick up at me. The soft smile she gave me settled deep in my gut.
Reaching for her drink, she said, “Deal.”
We sat in silence for a beat. No pressure, no push. I couldn’t remember any date ever feeling this effortless. With Eden, everything clicked.
“You gonna finish that burger, Miss Humanitarian, or should I do you a solid and take over?”
She swatted my hand away. “Don’t even think about it. Just because you bought me food doesn’t mean you get to eat it too. That’s not how dates work.”
I chuckled and leaned back against my stool while watching her eat. We settled into an easy conversation after that. I let Eden take the lead when she started it by asking me what kind of music I liked. We traded our favourites. Songs, bands, movies, takeout, ice-cream flavours.
Then she hit me with a question about the weirdest food combo I’ve ever tried.
When I came up with nothing, she looked at me like I’d failed a test before launching into her own personal freak-show menu.
Peanut butter and pickles, pizza with honey drizzle, and hot chips dipped in melted chocolate and sprinkles among other things.
She listed them like proud achievements while I sat there wondering what the fuck went wrong in her childhood kitchen.