Chapter 26
She’s got one piece of hair that’s always slightly straighter than the rest of her curls. It sticks out and she’s always trying to tuck it back in amongst the chaos. It’s stubborn, just like she is.
I think about that piece of hair a lot.
Bex has locked herself in the bathroom and won’t let me see her until she’s completely ready. She’s had Taylor Swift blaring since she went in there over an hour ago, and every once in a while I can hear her singing with the music.
I’m sitting on the edge of the bed in my tux, and I’m an anxious mess. My knee is bouncing up and down as if I can work all of my energy out through my restless fidgeting.
You would think I would be exhausted after wringing three delicious orgasms out of Bex, but that just amped me up even more. I wipe a hand down my face. I really wish I didn’t feel the need to wait to have sex with Bex. As she was grinding down on me on the couch earlier, I almost flipped her over, pulled her panties to the side, and plunged into her.
But I want her to want me—all of me—before we take that step. Sex has never been a big deal to me, but with Bex it feels like everything. Like handing my heart to her on a silver platter and I don’t know what I would do if she crushed it. So I’m still holding back, but my dick is definitely not happy about it.
“Are you ready?” Bex asks from the other side of the bathroom door.
“I was born ready, baby,” I joke, because I can hear the nerves in her voice.
She opens the door and it feels like the time I accidentally fell off the edge of the stage when I was in high school. All of the breath in my lungs has been knocked out of me at the sight of Rebecca Bardot standing in front of me. I clutch my chest in admiration.
She’s gorgeous and I’m a lucky bastard.
Bex does a little twirl, preening under my attention.
Her dress is emerald green silk or satin or something, with a fitted top and little sleeves that fall off her shoulders. The skirt puffs out at the waist but has a large slit that goes all the way up to her mid-thigh. On her feet are dainty gold heels that she is definitely keeping on later. Her hair is half up, clipped with a sparkling gold barrette, allowing loose curls to fall down her back and frame her face. She has more makeup on than normal and her red lips look delectable.
She bounces up and down a few times before thrusting her hands into the ruffles of her skirt. “It has pockets!” she exclaims, girlish excitement taking over her face. “I was so worried it wouldn’t fit because you never know with those rental companies, but I love it! Do you like it?” she asks, almost timid now.
“First of all, it wouldn’t matter if I liked it, because you love it. But yes, I more than like it. You look absolutely stunning and I can’t wait to walk into that ballroom with you on my arm,” I say as I take her hand and push her to do a little spin for me.
I pull her into the bathroom so we can look at ourselves in the mirror. Me in my tux and Bex looking like a damn goddess in her floor length dress.
“Perfect,” I whisper. “And I love this color on you.”
“It’s the color of your eyes,” she whispers back.
Said eyes snap up to meet her reflection in the mirror and I see it now. “You just like to have my eyes on you, don’t you?”
She just gives a sheepish shrug.
I take out my phone for a picture. I always want to remember this moment.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
“I never look this good, I need to document it.”
I hold my phone up for a mirror selfie. We look so right together, me slightly behind her with my hand around her waist. At the last second, I lean down and kiss her cheek before snapping our picture.
I look at it and see Bex is grinning from ear to ear, leaning back against me with the dimple on her right cheek popping out. I immediately set it as my phone background.
“Oh I get to be your phone background, huh?” she teases. “Seems awfully serious for friends with benefits.”
I put my phone back in my pocket and pull her toward me, cupping her chin in my hand. “I want to be more than that, and you know it. What I’d really like is for you to be my girlfriend.” I peck her on the nose when she releases a surprised gasp.
“You don’t mean that,” she says on an exhale.
“I’ve never meant anything more in my entire life. You stir something in me, Bex. I didn’t realize how much I was just floating through life, how much I didn’t even realize I missed you, until you quite literally stumbled back into my life. We can keep doing this just friends thing as long as you want, but I would love to be more than that to you because you are more than that to me. You don’t have to give me an answer now. Just think about it, okay?”
She nods as much as she can with her chin in my grip, a look of awe still on her face, which just drives me crazy. Why does she think she doesn’t deserve more? She deserves everything.
“Can I kiss you or will that ruin these pretty red lips?” I ask.
“I want you to ruin my lipstick, Anders.” Damn, she’s the one who has ruined me.
I laugh and give her a quick peck. “You have to have patience tonight, you greedy woman.”
She lifts her hand to wipe the small smear of lipstick on my lips, but I grab her wrist to stop her. “Leave it. I want the world to know I’m yours.”
And with that, I take a stunned Bex by the hand and we head into the shark tank full of people from my past.
I hope she doesn’t run after tonight.
I hope she decides that I’m worth taking a chance on.