15. Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Fifteen
MIA
A bunch of kids bolted past me, giggling. I wasn’t even sure why I was there. I felt so out of place with all the couples and kids mingling around. But it was the twins’ first birthday since Izzy and Logan had gotten together last summer. And if it was important to Izzy, it was important to me.
“Zack, Zack,” I heard a tiny voice call from behind me. “Come jump with us.”
I turned and squinted toward a large inflatable bounce house, and my jaw dropped open. Was he really climbing into one of those things? With how large he was?
I shook my head. Of course he was. It was Zack.
I found myself inching forward, wanting to get a glimpse.
Things had been quiet between us over the last week and a half.
He’d sent me a bunch of cat videos, and asked once if I needed another rage room session.
But I’d said no, making up some excuse or another to turn him down.
Besides those brief exchanges, we hadn’t really interacted or seen each other.
Surprisingly, I’d felt half nervous and half excited at the thought of seeing him again. Which was utterly ridiculous, because I shouldn’t feel any of those things. I should have no opinion on whether he would smile and flirt with me, or act like the other night didn’t happen.
Yet, I couldn’t stop the smile that made its way across my face. He sat in the middle of the bounce house as a bunch of six-year-olds jumped around him, causing him to flop around dramatically. And knowing Zack, he added a little extra flop and flail just to make them laugh even more.
“He’s going to be an amazing dad,” Nicole said, stepping up next to me. “Don’t you think?”
I glanced over at her before looking back at him. He would be a father one day. I knew that without a doubt. And that was exactly why I couldn’t give in to this attraction between us. He should be with someone who could give him the future he was destined for. And that wasn’t going to be me.
The kids climbed out of the inflatable and ran past us.
My mouth went dry as Zack folded himself out of the ridiculous thing.
The T-shirt he wore stretched taut across his muscular chest, his jeans hugging his thighs perfectly.
And as he turned and bent over slightly to adjust the screened opening, those jeans showing off his perfect ass, I think I forgot my name.
Every thought in my head was replaced with the sound of his voice calling me that stupid nickname, and the memory of his body pressed against mine as he explored my mouth.
I quickly pushed those thoughts away as he approached, a wide, playful grin on his stupidly handsome face. “You two wanna do a round of bumper cars?”
“Oh. Sounds fun.” Nicole beamed, clapping her hands.
I couldn’t stop the eye roll. God, she was ridiculous. But I realized as they both looked at me expectantly, she was perfect for Zack.
I shook my head. “I’m good.”
I didn’t miss the hint of disappointment that flashed across Zack’s face, but it disappeared just as quickly when Nicole looped her arm through his and pulled him away toward the bumper cars.
A weird feeling—that was absolutely not jealousy—spread through me, and I found myself following, stepping into line behind them. Nicole looked back with a raised brow.
I shrugged. “Changed my mind.”
Which surprised me probably more than it did them.
Zack spun and smiled, showing off both of those stupid dimples. “Couldn’t pass up the opportunity to run into me with a car?”
“Something like that,” I mumbled as Nicole laughed, grabbing him by the arm again and pulling him forward.
I really wanted to know what the hell was wrong with her.
Was she really that oblivious and I just never noticed?
Zack didn’t even let the innocent touches she kept initiating last very long, shifting his body so he could disentangle from her and put some space between them.
I was half tempted to pull her aside and tell her he just wasn’t into her, and she should take the hint.
I didn’t want to hurt my friend’s feelings, but eventually someone needed to clue her in. Before she wound up embarrassed and even more hurt.
Once everyone was buckled up in their cars, the buzzer rang, and we were moving. I turned and headed forward, quickly intercepting Nicole as she aimed to bump Zack. She smacked into me instead, sending me a glare.
“Oops,” I said with a grin.
She turned and headed toward Zack, and I followed right after her, ramming into her from behind and sending her into another car.
Zack passed me with a cocky-ass grin stamped on his face, and the urge to smack it off sent me barreling toward him, smashing into the back of his car.
He turned and quirked a brow. “Thought you were on my team?”
“I’m not really a team player,” I said with a smirk.
Nicole T-boned me, shooting me another dirty look, and I matched it with one of my own. Another minute of back and forth, and the cars stopped moving, the buzzer sounding again to let us know the round was over.
We exited and I turned away from Nicole, ready to head in the opposite direction. I needed to put some space between myself and whatever that was.
Zack halted my steps as he came up behind me—breathing just a touch heavy, like he’d hurried to intercept me—and draped his arm over my shoulder. “That was fun.”
Why was he like this? And what was he talking about? Nothing about that was particularly fun. I wasn’t even sure why I did it to begin with.
Nicole glanced over at us with an unreadable expression on her face. “I’m going to find Izzy.” Her voice sounded a little wobbly and she turned away quickly, and I got the feeling she was trying to hide how she really felt.
Great. The last thing I meant to do was upset her.
That’s exactly the opposite of what I wanted to do.
Right? I wasn’t even sure what came over me.
I’d like to say I was just trying to save my friend from continuing to embarrass herself.
But I couldn’t deny the other possible motive for my behavior.
Why did everything I do around him lately confuse the fuck out of me?
I shrugged Zack’s arm off me and frowned at him. Because he didn’t help the situation either. It wasn’t hard to see he avoided her touch but sought mine out.
And I was a horrible person, because a large part of me liked that.
I shouldn’t. Couldn’t. But I did. A lot.
A voice came over the loudspeaker announcing the next game for laser tag would be starting soon. Almost like magic, the twins appeared in front of us, bouncing on their feet. “Will you play laser tag with us now?”
Zack shot me a smirk. “Only if Mia joins us too.”
I started to shake my head, but the girls aimed their wide smiles at me, and a resigned sigh left my lips. Zack’s stupid dimples cemented my fate. “Fine.”
We headed over to where all the equipment was, and it didn’t take long for the small group gathered in the room to start to suit up. I stood there for a minute, not quite sure what I was supposed to do. I’d never played laser tag before. And again, I wasn’t even sure why I said yes.
Zack grabbed a vest and turned to me, dropping it over my head.
His fingers brushed my sides as he latched the clips and tightened them.
A shiver tore through me, and the heat in his gaze that followed told me he felt it.
His touch lingered, skating farther down and trailing along the small, exposed strip of skin that separated my shirt and jeans.
He cleared his throat and stepped back, turning quickly to the rack that held the gear and donning his own.
After a brief explanation of rules from the attendant, we were let loose inside the darkened room. Zack went left with Logan, Izzy, the twins, and two other kids I didn’t recognize. I followed Adam and Lyla and the other flashing red vests that signaled my teammates.
Did Zack not realize he’d put us on opposite teams? Or was it intentional? I wasn’t sure which of those options I preferred.
I stayed behind Lyla, mimicking her movements and shooting at blue-lighted vests until we got ambushed. Glancing over my shoulder for an escape, I walked backwards down a dark hallway, stepping into an alcove out of sight.
Just when I thought I was safe, the lights on my vest went out and it made the sound indicating I was hit. But how? I looked around, not seeing anyone.
“Got you,” a familiar husky voice said close to my ear, startling me.
With a gasp, I spun, taking a step back. But Zack quickly closed the space I’d created and reached out, snaking a hand behind my back. He pressed me up against the wall and braced his other hand next to my head.
“Shh. You don’t want to draw attention to us, now, do you?”
I swallowed and shook my head. But it had nothing to do with the stupid game. I wanted to feel his touch. His lips. I sucked in a breath as his fingers traced along my stomach.
“I can’t seem to stay away from you.” He leaned down and brushed his lips along the shell of my ear, eliciting a whimper deep within me. “It was so much easier when you hated me.”
“I still hate you.” I expected the words to come out clipped, derisive, but they dripped with desire instead. Jesus, why did this frustrating man do these things to me?
“No, you don’t.” He pulled back enough that we were almost nose to nose, his lips only inches from mine. “You want me as much as I want you, and we both know it.”
I narrowed my eyes, but there was no use denying he was right. “Doesn’t mean I like you.”
He chuckled, low and husky. So freaking sexy it made me want to throttle him.
“Oh, Raven.” His warm breath ghosted across my lips. “You might be able to lie to yourself, but I’m not buying it. And even though I’ve told you I have no interest in her, I think Nicole made you jealous earlier.”
I scoffed. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
“So, you wouldn’t care if I went out with her then?”
The idea sank heavy in my gut. But that didn’t matter. I could totally call his bluff, because, like he’d just said, he had no interest in her.
I shrugged. “Wouldn’t bother me.”
He pushed off the wall and stepped back. “I must have read things all wrong then. You really don’t want me to kiss you.”
Fuck me. I definitely shouldn’t, and I hated the fact that I did. And he knew it. I could just barely make out a slight smirk on his face before he turned and disappeared into the hallway.
I let my head fall back against the wall. What the fuck was going on with me? I couldn’t remember the last guy I was this into. And I didn’t even like Zack all that much. He made me so angry sometimes. Not to mention I found him quite annoying, especially when he called me Raven.
A memory flashed through my mind at warped speed, and I gasped.
The name means intelligence and mystery. Tough, but wise. Survives storms and brings help in the biblical sense… It’s the things I see when I look at you.
How did he see those things when all I showed him was animosity?
Could I put my frustration with life in general aside for a minute to admit I found him intriguing? Almost like a breath of fresh air. Maybe that was a step too far? Or an admission I wasn’t ready to make.
Whatever it was, I stepped out of the darkness and found myself seeking him out. And being disappointed I didn’t find him before the buzzer sounded telling us the game was done.
It was probably for the best, though. I needed to get my boundaries straight again, and seeing him at that moment would do the complete opposite.
Quickly discarding my vest, I exited the game, hoping to remove myself from the chaos to get my shit together. Luckily, I found a small table away from the activities to chill at and avoid Zack like the plague.
But fate had a sense of humor, apparently, because the moms sitting at a nearby table caught my attention when they said his name.
“I gave him my number the other day,” the young blonde said.
My hands fisted into tight balls. Did he like blondes? Was that his usual type?
“Zack, the firefighter?” one of the other moms said.
The blonde nodded. “Yeah. He said he would give me a call sometime this week, so we’ll see.”
Hot blood rose to my face. But I wasn’t allowed to be mad. I’d told him there couldn’t be anything between us. He was allowed to date other people. I, however, didn’t have to sit there and listen to any more of this conversation.
Confirming Zack was otherwise occupied, this time playing tag with a group of kids, I made my way to the party room, hoping to see how much longer before we could do cake and sing. And then I could make my exit and head home. Alone.
I found Izzy getting things ready. Thank God. “Need help?” I asked.
She smiled widely. “Sure. The pizzas just got here and the kids should be running in here any minute. They’re about to make the announcement. Can you help set the plates and napkins out?”
It took us less than five minutes to get set up, and the kids started piling into the small room as I set the last juice box in place. I didn’t even have to look to know Zack had stepped into the space. The fact that I could sense him freaked me out. I glanced over my shoulder and met his gaze.
And I sucked in a sharp breath as a blazing fire stared back at me.