6 #5
I grabbed his shirt and pulled him back to my mouth. His hands moved to my waist and lifted me from the chair so quickly I barely had time to gasp before he set me on the edge of the table between the books.
“Ryan.”
“The books can recover.”
“You would kill me if I did this to yours.”
“Depends on the book.”
His mouth covered mine again as my knees opened around his hips.
Ryan stepped between them until the heat of his body filled the space I had given him.
His hands stayed firm at my waist while mine slid slowly up his chest, feeling the tension gathering beneath my palms as the kiss deepened and everything beyond him started to blur.
I wanted more than kissing now. I wanted to know what happened if he didn’t pull away before either of us crossed the line he had drawn between wanting me and taking this further.
The thought tightened something nervous inside my chest, but it didn’t make me move back.
Realizing I still wanted to know made the fear sharper.
Ryan finally broke the kiss enough for both of us to breathe, keeping me close while he rested his forehead against mine.
His hands remained at my waist, and I could feel the restraint inside them, the same control I had started recognizing whenever we got close to something neither of us could casually walk back from.
“Tell me to slow down.”
I swallowed. “I don’t want you to.”
His jaw flexed. “That wasn’t the assignment.”
I smiled breathlessly. “You’re bossy.”
“You like it.”
“I haven’t decided.”
“Liar.”
His mouth moved to my throat, and I dug my nails into his shoulder. The heat between us built until I felt the careful tension return to his hands.
A strange disappointment tightened inside me. “Are you going to stop again?”
His mouth stilled against my neck before he lifted his head. The question sounded vulnerable now that it was outside me.
“Yeah, I am.”
My chest tightened, and he saw it.
“Hey, don’t go somewhere else.”
“I know why you’re stopping.”
“You know when you’re calm.” Ryan caught my chin and guided my face back toward his. “Mírame.”
I did.
“I’m stopping because if I keep going, I’m going to want everything.”
Heat flooded my face. “That isn’t exactly discouraging.”
“It isn’t supposed to be.” His eyes moved over me. “I’m trying to make sure you hear the rest.”
I swallowed while his thumb brushed my cheek.
“I’m not pulling away from you.”
The fear I hadn’t wanted to admit loosened slightly. “I’m working on remembering that.”
“Good.”
He kissed me again, softer this time. “Tonight, I’m taking you somewhere.”
I blinked. “What?”
“I was going to ask earlier, but we got distracted by poetry and your jealousy.”
“I wasn’t jealous.”
“You were absolutely jealous.”
“I was discussing Flint logistics.”
Ryan laughed. “I’m picking you up at seven.”
“Where are we going?”
“The fairgrounds.”
My eyes widened. “The end-of-summer carnival?”
“Yeah.”
I stared at him. “You’re taking me to the carnival?”
“That’s generally what ‘fairgrounds at seven’ implies.”
Something bright opened in my chest. “Like a date?”
Ryan’s smile turned slow. “You need me to call it one?”
The question made me nervous again, and he saw that too.
“We can call it whatever you want,” he said.
“What are you calling it?”
“I’m taking a woman I want to spend time with somewhere she told me three months ago she loves.”
I stared at him. “You remember that?”
“You were drunk on peach wine at the Bennett house and spent fifteen minutes explaining why carnival lights make everybody prettier.”
“That sounds humiliating but very truly me.”
“You also said funnel cake was proof humanity deserved another chance.”
I covered my face. “Oh my gosh.”
Ryan laughed and pulled my hands away. “Seven.”
“You planned this before today?”
“Yeah.”
My heart did something stupid. “Why?”
His expression softened. “Because I wanted to.”
The answer carried no assignment or obligation. Ryan simply wanted to take me somewhere.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
I smiled. “Seven.”
His dimple appeared. “Wear shoes you can walk in.”
“That instruction feels personally offensive.”
“I watched you wear heels to a bonfire.”
“They matched.”
“You sank four inches into the dirt.”
“The silhouette mattered.”
“You complained for three hours.”
“Fashion requires sacrifice.”
“Tonight, it requires sneakers.”
I narrowed my eyes. “We’ll negotiate.”
“We won’t.”
He kissed me once more, quick and firm, before stepping back. The loss of his body made the apartment feel cooler.
Ryan gathered the books we weren’t using and returned them to his canvas bag while I stared at the Spanish notebook.
Te extrano.
Vuelve.
Nobody else had a place between us, and tonight, he was taking me on a date we hadn’t quite called a date.
Ryan put his cap back on and caught me smiling. “What?”
“I’m thinking.”
“Too loud.”
I walked him toward the door. “Maybe I’m looking forward to tonight.”
His gaze dropped to my mouth. “That makes two of us.”
I opened the door, but Ryan stepped into the hallway and immediately turned back. His hand caught my waist before I could move, and his kiss came fast enough to steal my breath.
He released me just as quickly. “Seven, mi hada.”
I touched my mouth. “You already said that.”
“I’m making sure you remember.”
“I remember everything that stresses me out.”
Ryan’s expression softened as he reached back and brushed his knuckles across my cheek. “This doesn’t have to.”
I looked at him.
“I’m not going anywhere tonight,” he said.
The words settled through me.
Tomorrow still contained Flint, and two weeks from now might change the shape of whatever we were becoming. Tonight, Ryan stood in my doorway looking at me like there wasn’t another place he wanted to be.
For once, I let that be enough.