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She was desperate to break the tension, and as much as I should have said no and taken her home…
“All right. We’ll even sneak out the back here, but you have to take me to a decent place.”
“As long as you promise to follow directions this time.”
“Psst. It wasn’t my fault.”
Chapter Fourteen – Jamie
We both sat on my front doorstep, illuminated by the hallway light thanks to the front door being open. I’d discarded my shoes in the car after we’d bought pizza, and Dex had undone his shirt another button and untucked it.
With the pizza between us, we ate in silence. I didn’t know what he was thinking. I’d been all kinds of tipsy before we’d gone outside and he’d tucked my hair behind my ear.
All night.
It’d taken him all night to realize that was what was different about me. Did that mean he’d been looking at me all night to figure it out? Or had he had a lightbulb ping over the top of his head?
Why did it matter? Why did I care?
Oh, because it’d felt damn good when he’d tucked it behind my ear. When he’d forced me to take it off my face, to stop hiding. When he’d run his fingers right through my hair to the tips as he’d looked at me and…
I shoved some of the stuffed crust into my mouth.
I’d known this was a bad idea, and this was why. I knew I’d see him as something more—or that alcohol would do that.
Him touching me had sobered me up in seconds. Pizza had been the best way to disguise that fact.
“So. Your family is crazy.”
Dex peered over at me, licking his fingers. “That’s one word to describe them.”
“No, seriously. I thought my family was insane, and then I met yours.”
“Your family sounds perfectly normal as far as I know. Your best friend…” He put out his hand and waved it side to side. “She’s a little sketchy.”
Well, he wasn’t wrong.
“Well, I mean,” I paused, putting a bit of stringy cheese into my mouth before swallowing it and continuing. “My parents broke up when I was eight, then my dad remarried, then divorced her last year. My parents got married the week after.”
Dex choked on his pizza. “Wait, what?”
“My parents broke up. Then my dad got married again, except she was golddigging whore with one hell of a shovel in her ass pocket.” I uncapped my bottle of water and sipped, motioning for him to give me a minute. “Long story short, she spent money we didn’t have, and that’s why my dad had to sell the garage. He divorced her, but it wasn’t enough. My parents stayed really good friends, and I guess they fell back in love again.”
“Wow. That is crazy.” Dex put his half-eaten slice back in the box and licked his fingers again, this time wiping them on his jeans.
I did the same on my clutch.
Hey—a little cheese grease was nothing compared to what we dealt with every day.
“Are you done?” he asked, motioning to the box.
I nodded, cradling my water bottle.
He moved it the box away to the side and rested his elbows on his knees, leaning right forward. “Well, thank you. Tonight was fun. More than I thought it would be.”
I propped my elbow on my knee and rested my cheek on my hand. “Me, too. Thank you.”
He stood up and held his hands out. I put mine in his, and he wrapped his strong, rough fingers around mine and pulled me up. I staggered a little, but steadied myself with a giggle.
“Thanks. So, I’ll see you on Monday?” I tugged my hands, but he tightened his grip on them.
“Monday. Bright and early. It’s a busy day.”
“Perfect.”
We shared a smile, and I finally managed to get my hands out of his grip.
He half-turned, then stopped. “Jamie?”
With my fingers through the straps of my shoes, I straightened. “Yeah?”
Dex took a step toward me. “I have something I forgot to tell you.”
“Oh?” I looked up with interest. “What’s that?”
For the second time tonight, he reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear. I drew in a deep breath, my face tilting into his touch.
“You looked beautiful tonight.”
I smiled, laughing softly. “You didn’t look too bad yourself. Shit—did I say that out loud?”
Laughing much louder than I had, Dex dropped his hand and stepped back. “You sure did, darlin’.” He grabbed the pizza box and backed toward his truck. “Good thing you did. If you hadn’t, I’d be kissing you right now.”
My lips parted.
His words had sucked the air out of me, and I didn’t move, except to breathe, as he got in his truck with a cocky grin. He dumped the pizza on the passenger side seat.
With that grin still in place, he started the engine and reversed down my driveway.
