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The abruptness of her subject change made him laugh. “So did you.”
“I was reacting to you,” she said.
“We sing pretty well together though, huh?” he asked her. Weird how he was enjoying sitting here with her, the drumbeat of the rain overhead punctuating their conversation.
“Yeah, we do.” She nodded. “Marley said we might have our first gig soon.”
“You feeling ready for it?” he asked her.
“Is anybody ever ready for it?” She tipped her head to the side. She really was pretty. “But yeah, I think it’ll be fine.”
“We need to be more than fine,” he said. “We need to be good. Great, even.”
Her eyes met his. “Then I think we’ll be great.”
“Yeah. I think we will.” He knew it. He’d never sounded so good as when he sang with her. The sweetness of her voice brought out the roughness in his. Their harmonies were already out of this world.
“Delilah will be worried about you,” Cassie said. “You should go.”
“She’s fine. My mom’s fine. Everybody’s fine… except you.”
“But I’m not your problem. Delilah is.”
“You’re my problem when you’re shaking with what looks like fear in my parents’ driveway,” he pointed out. “And you did a nice thing for me the other night. I’m not going to leave you now.”
“The kiss?” She looked surprised. And yeah, that made him smile again.
“Finding Delilah’s giraffe,” he corrected her, his lips still curled. “But yeah, the kiss was nice too.”
“I’m sorry about it,” she whispered. Her apology made him frown.
“Are you?”
“Aren’t you?” She looked up at him again.
He pushed his hair out of his face again. “Yes and no.”
“What does that mean?” she asked him, her brows knitted.
“It means yes, I’m sorry because I shouldn’t have kissed you like that. It was inappropriate, and I took advantage.” His voice was thick.
“You didn’t take advantage. I did.”
“I was the one grinding against you,” he pointed out.
Cassie blinked. “I was the one who wanted you to.”
And fuck if that didn’t make him want to do it all over again.
Pres let out a long breath. This conversation wasn’t going the way he’d meant for it to. It was supposed to divert her, but he was the one getting diverted. Wanting things he shouldn’t.
“It won’t happen again,” he promised her. “I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize the band. It’s too important.” To Marley, and therefore to him.
She looked over at him. “I just don’t want this to be awkward.”
“It’s only awkward if we let it be.” He offered her a smile and miracle of miracles, she smiled back at him. If he was being truly honest, part of him hated that she took his rebuff so easily.
But they were grownups, and this was how being an adult was supposed to be. You talked things out; you worked through them.
