The silence between us stretched, thick with sexual tension, until finally Jericho leaned in, his breath brushing hot against my ear, and whispered—
‘It’s Theo.’
I leaned in and kissed him, soft at first, testing the waters. He didn’t flinch, didn’t hesitate – if anything, he leaned in harder, like he’d been waiting for me to finally make the move. And oh my God, the second our mouths touched, it was like a light switch flipped –bam– fireworks. His lips were warm, moist, and, honestly, a little unfair in how good they felt. Then he deepened it, and suddenly my knees – even though I was sitting down, decided they no longer believed in supporting my body weight. Rude.
I let out a tiny gasp (in my head it was sexy, but in reality, it probably sounded like a baby sneeze), and of course he just stole it, swallowed it whole, his tongue sliding against mine in this ridiculously slow, teasing way that had my spine tingling almost erratically. Meanwhile, my body was full-on betrayingme – heart racing, legs wobbling, practically vibrating like a faulty washing machine. At one point I accidentally shifted too quickly and nearly knocked my forehead against his, but managed to style it out as a ‘passionate head tilt’ (very professional of me, thank you).
Inside my brain? Pure chaos:keep it casual, don’t moan, don’t drool, don’t let your leg cramp in this position, Bloody hell, is this what they mean by sexual tension?Outwardly though? Cool, calm, collected. OK, maybe not that cool. Definitely not calm. And collected? Eh. But hey, the kiss was good enough to make me forget all of that … at least until oxygen became an issue.
Just when I thought I might actually combust from the sheer intensity of it, a polite little ‘ahem’ floated up from the front seat – the Uber driver’s gentle reminder that, in fact, he hadnotsigned up to chauffeur a live-action soap opera. We both broke apart, laughing under our breath like guilty teenagers caught behind the bike shed.
As I glanced down, I noticed our little encounter had clearly gotten to him – he was hard. A rush of smug delight ran through me, a secret thrill that made me feel powerful, like I’d just unlocked some forbidden achievement.
‘Well—’ I began, brushing a stray smudge of lipstick off his mouth as I gathered my things ‘—this is my stop. I’ve had a wonderful evening with you,Theo. Message me on the app to let me know you got home safe, yeah?’
Jericho – or Theo, as he would officially be known from now on – let out a low, almost pained chuckle, his eyes flicking up to mine with something that felt like … longing. He tried to hide the evidence of his reaction, fumbling awkwardly, but failed spectacularly.
‘That’ll cost you,’ he said, eyes still glazing hungrily over mine. I made a show of getting out of the car – making sure to get out slowly so he could see the shape of my butt in allits glory in slow motion. I turned around and it had done the job; he couldn’t take his eyes off me.
‘Uhhuh. We’ll see about that. Oh, and thanks again for completing the game – I owe you,’ I said finally, with a smirk. And with that, I sauntered back into my building, hips swaying side to side, with a newfound confidence in my step. I turned around again to see he was still watching me leave from his side of the car.
He was going to be mine at some point. He just didn’t know it yet.
Chapter 11
‘The lunch has been bought. The tea is brewed, and I am ready to hear all about your night last night, my friend,’ I said as I crossed my legs and took a sip of coffee, waiting for Kofi to spill all. The last twenty-four hours had been wild; I’d woken up this morning feeling brand new, with a new pep in my step. I’d even managed to get through an awkward chat with Jeff in the hallway with ease before he headed off to perform surgery.
I’d taken an extra-long shower that morning, remembering the evening’s events. Although I didn’t quite get the answer I wanted fromTheoregarding dating outside of the app, progress in some form had been made. I’d woken up thinking about the kiss we’d shared the night before.
It was so tender, yet primal. Aggressive, yet passionate at the same time. There was something so inexplicable powerful about how that interaction took place, and I yearned to feel that way again. Theo had texted on the app that same evening to let me know that he’d gotten back safely. As I went to bed, I felt a quiet sense of triumph and confidence. To me, it had been the perfect date.
On the way to work, I’d received a very short and to-the-point text update from Sade:
Girl … THROUGH THE MATTRESS. xxx
Normally I would have been all up and in her business trying to get details, but seeing as the other party was someone I knew, it was way more than I needed to know at this point. Still, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t the least bit intrigued by what had happened.
It was lunchtime, and I was keen for all the gossip. I knew Kofi wouldn’t tell me everything, which was why I was planning to call Sade that evening for the full rundown.
Kofi had come into work that morning tired as ever, yet in a relatively jolly mood, which I took to be somewhat of a good sign. He swung his chair around to face me, with his lunch – a jacket potato with a mountain of cheese and tuna – in hand.
‘My dear, I’m waiting. I wanna know how it went! Where did you go? What did you talk about? And keep in mind that I will be calling Sade to hear her version of events at some point too. I’m VERY invested in this.’
Kofi took a bite of his jacket potato before starting.
‘Um, well. We had a good night, you know? It was great, actually.’ He gave a knowing smile.
‘You’re gonna have to give me more than that, mate,’ I whined. ‘I want details. D’you think you’ll see each other again, or? Given that I set you guys up, I deserve the deets, at least!’
‘OK, OK! Yeah, it was a great date actually! We went to this bar near my place and the first ten minutes were actually spent talking about your annoying ass.’ At this, Kofi laughed at my unintentional scowl.
‘Bonding over your favourite person, OK, noted,’ I said, gesticulating for him to continue. ‘And?’
‘Sade’s an amazing person, Cassie. We just talked all night about stuff and things, you know? Video games, music, TV, past relationships, that kinda thing.’
‘And then …?’ I replied, hoping that he was picking up what I was trying to put down.
‘And then what?’ he replied.
