Slowly, I reach for her hand and watch her face, as I remove both the outer and inner glove. Her eyes follow my actions, watching the gloves drop to the floor, then my thumb massaging her palm while I hold her small hand in mine. Her breaths grow shallow, a blush starts to spread across her chest, and I can feel her heartbeat skitter when I trace the pulse point on her wrist.
“Is this what you meant?” I murmur, my voice dropping to a low purr, while I place her free hand on my shoulder. Her skin is almost as hot as mine.
“Uhhhh…” she trails off, her answer lost as she watches me remove the gloves from her other hand.
The heat and the throbbing beat of the music make it feel like we’re trapped in this magnetic pull dragging us together. Shifting closer, I move both of her hands around my neck, causing her to press flush against me and rock to the tips of her toes. My heartbeat is a heavy thud in my ears, and my skin feels tight with the sensations of her exposed flesh pressed against mine.
Her face is raised toward me, eyes wide and pink lips parted, so invitingly close.
My hands glide down her arms, over her shoulders, and down her back-- my fingers digging into her soft flesh until they rest at the base of her spine.
I lean down until our faces are only inches apart, and I can feel her feather light breaths against my lips. My gaze shifts from her eyes to her mouth and back. “Like this?”
“Um… yes? Maybe? Is this okay with you?” she babbles, her pupils dilated to the point only slivers of silver outline the black depths.
I hum an approval, as I can practically feel her lips on mine and know the taste of her mouth.
“Should I expect two more for dinner, or do you have to head home like Kaleb did?” Nolan shouts from the door, and I fucking jump away from Callie like I’ve been zapped by lightning.
A knowing grin stretches across his face, and he hits a few buttons next to the door, turning the music off. “Callie, my parents wondered if you could stay. They’d like a chance to get to know you.”
She blinks several times, like the world just shifted out from under her. “Yeah, that should be fine.” She tucks some of her flyaway hair behind her ears. “But I have to ask my aunt first.”
“Already asked, and she said it was fine,” he sings, strolling over with his hands in his pockets. When he’s only a few feet away, he adds, “You know where the bathroom is. There’re toiletries and fresh towels in there if you want to get cleaned up-- not that I’m opposed to sweaty you.”
“There’s no way I’m meeting your parents for the first time sweaty and gross.” She laughs, and it comes out as a throaty purr-- a rich full sound that makes me think of things that are a really bad idea. Things not two seconds ago felt like a really good idea.Fuck.
“Callie love, why don’t you head up? I’ve got to talk to D about something,” Nolan smiles his charming ‘nothing to see here’ smile that usually means there’s a lot of something going on.
Her gaze darts between us, and I give her a subtle nod that it’s okay if she leaves.
“Okay,” she utters, her fingers twisting together. “I’ll see you later?”
“Tomorrow. I have to head home. Family dinner night,” I answer casually, like all that happened was a simple hug between us.
“See you tomorrow.” She gives an awkward wave, then nearly speed walks out of the room.
Nolan laughs once she’s gone. “Damn, man. She left like her hair was on fire. You’re losing your touch.”
“Shut up,” I growl, not wanting to talk about it.
He sighs, looking down at his feet. “I get it. She’s cute.”
“Nothing happened,” I mutter and kneel down to pick up the gloves off the floor.
“Yeah, I saw how close that nothing came to being a something,” he teases, then in a more somber tone, he continues, “I’m not saying don’t go for it. You want to and she wants to, I’m not going to judge. But Felix is in love with her. It’s written all over his face every time he looks at her.”
“Felix is dead,” I grind out, walking over to the counter to drop off the gloves and retrieve my phone.
I don’t know why I’m arguing. I’ve already decided Callie and I are wrong for each other. That I’d fucking ruin her.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Nolan scoffs, rolling his eyes. “Felixisdead, which means he’s going to eventually go through those pearly gates. All I’m saying is wait until he moves on before you move on her.”
Gripping my phone, I stuff both hands in my pockets, attempting to shift the fabric so my hard-on isn’t as noticeable. “Whatever you think happened, didn’t. I’m not going tomove onCallie. She’s not my type of girl. I go for quick and easy, you know that.”
He chokes on a laugh. “I wouldn’t go spreading that around. No dude wants to be known as ‘quick’. Easy is fine, though.”
“You know what I mean,” I reply with a glare. “I don’t do relationships.”
