27. Chapter 27 #2
“I’ve never taken anyone here before,” I said, maybe a little too defensively, mostly because I didn’t want her to think I ever had a preconceived plan with women, or that she was part of a harem or routine.
“I used to escape to a local roller-skating place when I lived in Ohio. I was there so often that they offered me a job when I turned sixteen.”
She watched me over the rim of her cup, eyes assessing. “You lived in Ohio?”
I nodded. “I lived all over the state and some others before that.” Talking about my past was kind of like ripping a Band-Aid off a wound, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself around her, which was new for me.
“The last place I lived was Colombus, for three years until I aged out of my last foster parents’ home. Right before I went to college.”
Her gaze didn’t change, but it deepened as I peeled another layer back.
She made me want to carry on talking. “With the roller rink, it didn’t matter what house I was in, what school I was at, or who’d decided they were sick of me.
That place always smelled the same, sounded the same.
Same shitty pop songs, same sticky floors, same patterned carpet that probably hadn’t been changed since the nineties. ”
That got a smile out of her.
“It wasn’t much,” I said, shrugging one shoulder. “But when you don’t have a lot that belongs to you, you get kind of attached to the things that don’t move.”
She studied my face, but I never once felt like I needed to swallow my words.
Her fingers brushed against my skin, before squeezing reassuringly. “I appreciate you sharing that with me.”
“I’m not sure I’ve ever shared this much on a date before.” Or to any other woman, for that matter. But Seren listened intently, and I appreciated that more than she knew.
“So you’ve lived in California for how long now?”
“Around seven, nearly eight years. I didn’t finish college. Got scouted my second year.”
“Mr. Big Time,” she praised, and I laughed. “Do you like it here?”
“I love it here,” I admitted through a lump in my throat. “It’s mine, and I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
“Never wanted to go international?”
I shook my head. “I’m happy here.” But then I thought of her answer to that question; it very much applied to her too. “Do you want to go international?”
Her gaze immediately dropped. “Before I had Cai, I had Olympic dreams, but now it’s definitely out of reach.”
“They’d be lucky to have you.”
She shrugged that off. “I don’t want to compete to get residency opportunities or go international because I’ve got Cai to think about too. Dragging him around wouldn’t be as fun as I think.”
“I know I’m not a parent, but I’d imagine he’d be proud of you no matter what you choose to do. You’re an amazing mom, Seren. You also deserve to have dreams. Those two things shouldn’t cancel each other out.”
Her fingers twisted in her lap. “They do, unfortunately. He’s my priority in everything I do.”
I lifted my hand to wrap around her jaw and guide her gaze back to me. “That’s exactly how I know you’re amazing. You’d sacrifice everything for him.”
“In a heartbeat.”
The admiration I had for her doubled. Not only was she doing so much for him, but she had every intention of changing any and all plans for him, too. He was the luckiest kid I knew.
A few teens fell out of the photo booth opposite us, laughing and joking as they went, and I grinned as an idea popped into my head.
I nodded toward the booth. “Come on.”
She glanced back at me, eyebrows pulling together slightly. “What?”
“The photo booth,” I said, already pushing to my feet. “We can tell Cai and all our future kids where we first fell in love.”
She barked a laugh that was loud and free, but then her mouth opened and closed like she wasn’t sure which part to discuss first. “Future kids?”
“Yeah,” I said, waiting for her to stand, incredibly desperate to get her alone for a second. “A rugby team’s worth, just in case your next question was a follow-up.”
“Jake.” She snorted. “You can’t…We…Have we…I’m sorry, I think I need a reboot.”
I took her hand and tugged her upward. She came with me easily, like she wasn’t even thinking about it anymore, and I didn’t give either of us time to second guess it, sliding my arm around her waist and pulling her in against me, breathing in her air.
“Nothing for you to worry about,” I whispered, glancing down at her, my thumb brushing lightly against her side. “I’ve already planned the team lineup.”
She huffed out another laugh that dusted over my mouth, her head tipping forward as though she were going to kiss me. My entire body froze, waiting to see what she’d do next…then her head fell into my chest, and I exhaled, my heart beating like a fucking drum that I’m certain she could feel.
“That’s incredibly presumptuous,” she said, her voice still threaded with amusement as she looked back up at me through thick lashes that framed those eyes I dreamed about.
“I’m not apologizing,” I said, steering us toward the booth, keeping her tucked against me like it made sense to. “We can talk about it over the hundreds of breakfasts we’re going to have together.” I pulled back the curtain and gestured for her to go inside. “After you.”
She bit her lip as she passed me and stood in the corner awkwardly. “Uh, there’s not a lot of room in here.”
I ducked in after her, letting the curtain fall closed behind me, and the space shrank instantly, the noise from the rink dulling. I was surrounded by her. Sugary, sweet, vanilla—god, I was drowning and soaring all at once.
Our eyes locked, and the urge to pull her into my arms came fast and hard. A breath dragged through my lungs—useless when it was filled with nothing but her—before I dropped onto the small bench inside the booth.
She didn’t move until I patted my thigh and threw a wink her way. “Sit.”
Her body paused like she was deciding something, but the hesitation didn’t last. She stepped closer on her own, hovering her weight lightly over me, but not quite there. Definitely not enough.
My hand closed around her hip, guiding her down with more certainty, until she settled fully against me, my arm coming across her legs and around her waist, holding her where I wanted her.
Leaning in, close enough that my mouth brushed the shell of her ear, my voice dropped without effort.
“I don’t ever want you to hover when I ask you to sit, you got it, mama?”
A sea of pink and red swarmed up her neck, settling just below her ears and the tip of her nose as she nodded slowly in response. I held her gaze, watching as her pupils dilated.
The side of my mouth quirked as I reached forward to tap my card and press the ‘Go’ button, all while her eyes remained fixed on the side of my face. She wiggled in my grasp, awakening my over-eager dick, and a sharp breath dragged through my teeth before I could control it.
The screen came to life, mirroring us.
“You ready to immortalize our first date?” I asked, then looked back to her. Her eyes glazed as she stared right at me, hardly blinking.
“I’m ready,” she whispered, her words hitting my pulse point with a thud that vibrated down my neck and into my chest. And when she started leaning even closer, my willing body froze in place.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, unable to take my eyes away from her mouth. “I want to kiss you so badly.”
“Friends kiss sometimes, right?” she said breathily, catching me off guard.
My fingers flexed at her side. There was nothing friendly about the way I wanted her right now.
“Yeah, sure.” God, this was torture.
“Do you think you could handle one little kiss?” she murmured with a challenge in her tone.
My nose brushed hers before I pulled back slightly. “It’d probably be awful and we wouldn’t want to do it again anyway.”
One flash told me the first picture had been taken, but I couldn’t pay attention as the second countdown happened.
Seren leaned into me, her tongue darting out and grazing my lip, zinging electricity into my mouth.
My lips pulled up at the corners, my hand instinctively moving to cup her jaw as we stayed suspended with every shared breath.
My thumb traced along her soft skin, relishing the way she was right there, lips brushing against mine so softly I questioned whether they’d touched at all.
She leaned in a second time, closing that last fraction of space like she’d made up her mind, and this time, when her mouth found mine, I didn’t hold back.