Chase
What You Want by The Back Alley
The moment I snapped out of my post-orgasmic haze in the Uber, reality punched me in the face.
Tonight was happening, and I suddenly had some very serious prep work to do.
After our alone time in the private office this afternoon, I quickly realized how much I need to practice taking more than a finger.
What I wasn’t planning on was Ryan walking in right as I was about to complete…my, uh…mission.
“Are we going to talk about what I saw?” he asks, leaning on my doorframe as I finish packing my overnight bag.
“Nah. I’m on a little bit of a short timeframe. Sorry, buddy,” I rush past him on the way to the bathroom, grabbing my deodorant and toothbrush.
My stomach flips at the thought of waking up tomorrow morning beside Jeremiah in his bed.
I bet he has silk sheets.
“Dude, the image of you spread out like that is now burned into my mind.” Ryan follows me. “And I can’t figure out why you were doing that to his LinkedIn page,” he cringes.
“Jere doesn’t have a lot of social media…” I shrug, walking back into my bedroom.
As though he knew I was thinking about him, my phone screen buzzes on my bed. I pick up my phone and read his message.
Jere : Be there in 10
I can feel the anticipation building from my toes all the way up to the goofy smile I’m holding back on my face.
Fuck, I’m really into this guy.
Which is terrifying. And thrilling. And kind of makes me want to throw up and scream into a pillow at the same time.
“You’re so fucking in love. This is insane,” Ryan chuckles at my doorframe, leaning with his arms crossed over his chest as he observes.
“Get out of here. I’ve gotta focus,” I huff, jumping into a pair of grey slacks. Oh my god, I’m running behind. I throw tomorrow’s clothes into my duffel bag, then stare at it. Maybe I should pack gym clothes too.
Dear lord. He's going to think I'm trying to move in.
“Ou, what do we have here?” Ryan says, trudging over to look through my bag as I look for a shirt to wear.
“Bag of Ferrero Rocher's. Random,” he says, picking it up and admiring the chocolate. He keeps digging. “Magnums.” His eyes widen as he looks at me, impressed. “Safe sex. I like it.” I roll my eyes. “Ou, and what’s this for?” He takes out the small, black, round silicone bottle that I was lucky enough to find at the store the other day.
A deep laugh slips out of my lips as I see him examine it curiously. “It’s a perfume bottle. Go ahead, sniff it.”
He nods his head, giving it a couple of pumps with it over his nose.
This makes me pretty much topple over. Oh, this is too good.
I have to tell him through tears in my eyes. “It’s a douche, you tool.”
His eyes widen as he immediately zeros in on the tag hanging off the side. “Oh, you fucking asshole,” he barks, whipping it at me.
I dodge the hit as I wipe the tears from my eyes. That one's brand spanking new, but still, I cannot wait to tell Jeremiah about this later. I laugh, heading back into my closet.
Thankfully, with 5 minutes to spare, I find my light, button-necked, loose pullover. “Thank fucking God,” I mutter to myself, sliding it on.
I spend my last few minutes fixing my hair, making sure it’s perfectly messy, and quickly spraying on some cologne.
“Take it easy on that thing. You don’t want to blow him away,” Ryan says, scrunching up his nose.
I lay my hand on his shoulder while I move my duffel bag to the other. “That’s where you’re wrong, Ry. I really, really do.” I wink.
“Oh wow.” He rests his hand over his heart. “Never thought I’d see the day you’d actually get sappy,” he says, following me to the door.
I shake my head, laughing, as I slide on my shoes.
Suddenly, there’s a knock at the door. My eyes almost pop out of my head as I freeze in place.
“O-M-G, he’s here!” Ryan mouths, fanning himself dramatically.
“Be cool,” I bite through pursed lips.
I open the door, and my breath catches in my throat. Seeing his magnificent face will never get old. And now I get to kiss that face, and that just blows my mind.
“You look…” He sucks in a breath and exhales slowly as his eyes scan me from head to toe. “Fucking perfect.” His mouth tilts to a smile.
Psychotic. Obsessed. Whatever this is, I am that.
I drop my duffel bag to the ground and pull him in by his collar, crushing his lips to mine. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I lay a long, slow kiss on him, making sure to bite at his lower lip so I can hear my favorite rumbling groan from his chest.
“Okay, okay,” Ryan interrupts. “You two in or are you out? Honey wants to escape, so you’ve got to decide now or never.”
We break apart, taking a moment to catch our breath. I wipe my bottom lip off with the back of my hand as he closes the door behind him.
“We can pick up Honey on our way after dinner.” He crouches down, giving my purring gal some love behind her ears.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” He glances at the duffel bag at my feet and then flashes that devilishly charming smile at me. The one that’s only for me. “She’ll want to see you when she wakes up.” He shrugs, giving me a soft smile.
My heart warms. Staying the night.
“Yeah, you’re right.” I turn to Ryan. “You’re good to watch her for a few hours?”
“Yeah, yeah. What’s new?” He waves us off. “You kids just have fun tonight.”
Jeremiah picks up my bag and gives Ryan a quick wave before heading to the door.
“Okay, Ry, you have a fun night tonight,” I say, waving behind me. “See you tomorrow.”
As I follow the beautiful man down the hallway, and he turns to give me a knee-buckling smile, I’m hit with the biggest reality check ever.
I’m going on a date with Jeremiah Blackwood.
The Jeremiah Blackwood.
Back in high school, he was so untouchable. So out of reach. Close enough to look at, never close enough to have.
And now he’s here, carrying my overnight bag over his shoulder like it’s nothing.
Someone fucking pinch me.