“Fuck.” I should have a better reply, but I’m truly shocked. Our state is decent in size, but come on, there’s a ton more of them for her to explore. “All right. I don’t think my shock can get any higher, but I’ll give it a shot.” I take a moment to pick my next question in our game of twenty questions. “What is the smelliest thing you’ve ever smelled?”
Demi screws up her nose while contemplating a reply. We consumed our ice cream, talked more than we did at lunch earlier today, and have taken the longest route possible to her apartment building by foot just to force our date into the mandatory overtime every world’s best date demands, and now we’re on the final stretch. The sun is beginning to rise, and my eyelids are drooping with tiredness, yet the ache of my cheeks is by far the most obvious sign of how much fun I’ve had the past fifteen-plus hours. I haven’t smiled this wide in a long time, and my life is fucking awesome, so kudos to Demi. She not only blew my expectations on dating out of the water, one night with her made up for years of missed opportunities.
I hope she’s just as smitten, or I’m about to make an ass out of myself.
I stop summarizing the best way to guarantee a kiss after a first date when Demi answers my question. It doesn’t go in the direction I’m hoping but proves, without a doubt, her uncle is as shady as fuck. “There’s a room in the basement of my uncle’s warehouse. I’ve never been inside, and the smell that creeps underneath the door when I dash by ensures it will remainoffmy itinerary for eternity.”
Not even wearing the jacket I draped over her shoulders two hours ago weakens the brutal shiver jolting down her spine.
She’s quick to brush off her disgust, but I can still see the turmoil in her eyes when she locks them with mine. “You?”
“Uh…” I pretend like I need a few seconds to formulate a response. In reality, I’m drinking in all the gorgeous features of her face before it’s too late. We’re walking up the footpath of her apartment building. Our date is coming to an end. “It’s a tie between the locker room at Seacoast and Landon’s socks.”
Demi’s hand shoots up to cover her mouth when her laugh comes out with a snort. “From what I’ve heard, your gym socks aren’t much better.”
“Ohhh,so you not only eye-fuck me in the gym, you take sneaky whiffs of my socks as well.”
“What? No!” When she drops her hand from her mouth to my stomach, she steals some of my laughter with a playful two-finger jab to the bottom of my ribcage. “Hopeton is small. Rumors circulate.”
My teeth grit when jealousy flares through her impressive eyes. My ex-girlfriend, Harlow, always jokes that we’re not together because of my stinky gym socks. Truth be told, we were kickass friends, but we didn’t have the spark needed to make us a long-term couple. We ended things mutually, and we’re still friends to this day, although we may not be if she ruins my chance of a sunrise kiss.
Even though I’m only holding a pair of twos, I aim to end our game with a royal flush. “Same time tomorrow?”
“I’m working the lunch shift tomorrow,” Demi replies, assuming I’m referencing the meal we shared at lunch.
“I know.” I smirk at the shock on her face before hitting her with a playful wink. “But a guy has got to eat.”
I think I have her, my cockiness won’t allow another response to formulate in my head, so I try not to pout like a soft cock when she says, “Let me think about it.” My life stops circling the drain when she leans in to press a kiss to my cheek. Her lips aren’t where I want them, but the words she whispers in my ear makes up for their detour. “They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and the Petretti’s torte makes the need for sleep unnecessary.”
When she pulls back, I ask, “What time do they start serving that?”
Please say ‘now.’
Please say ‘now.’
My prayers don’t get answered, but considering the early hour, it’s pretty damn close. “Around ten.”
Demi’s eyes still expose her weariness.
It’s a pity for her I can’t see it past the hope.
“I guess I could swing by at ten to test its sleep deprivation reversal capabilities for myself.”
After dragging my index finger down her nose still crinkled with her earlier jealousy, I hit her with a frisky wink before I spin on my heels and walk away.
I only make it to the sidewalk before my naturally engrained cockiness kicks in.
When I turn to face Demi, I smile when the heat of her gaze is authenticated from it landing on my face. My ass was on fire a couple of seconds ago. “If I misread the whole brunch thing, please put me out of my misery. I’m already walking funny, so I doubt wedging a tail between my legs before rejoining you on the porch will make much difference.”
Her smile makes the sun irreverent. She’s as smitten as me. I’d put money on it.
“Good night, Maddox Walsh.”
“It was,” I agree, laughing when she rolls her eyes at my corniness. “Now scoot before I conjure up a way to make it even better.”
Her hesitation thickens my cock. It’s got nothing on the smile she flashes my way before she darts through the front entry door of her building, though. It’s the smile a man would go to the ends of the earth to see day in and day out. A smile I’d kill for to keep it on her face.
I’ve schmoozed thousands of people in my lifetime, gained the respect of almost just as many, but nothing compares to the number of times I made Demi smile tonight. There are billions of smiles in the world, but hers are the hardest to earn, and by far, my most favorite.
