Page 117

I stared at the carousel as the first suitcase rolled past me. It absolutely did not belong to me. Damn it.

“Come on,” I muttered, my impatience getting the better of me. The conveyor belt kept turning at a painfully slow pace, and I had never hated luggage more in my life.

My bag bumped against my leg as I made my way through the automatic door and looked around for him. It took me all of five seconds to find him.

Rhodes stood a little way down the curb, leaning casually against a black convertible nicer than any I’d seen. Navy-and-white striped shorts sat low on his hips, paired with a navy short-sleeved linen dress shirt that looked criminally good against his tanned skin. He wore sandals—something I never thought I’d see him in—and sunglasses hid his eyes as he watched the crowd leaving the terminal.

For a second, I just stood there and stared like an idiot as every reasonable greeting disappeared from my head. The man standing there was almost unrecognizable, relaxed in a way I wasn’t used to with him. It was in the slouch of his shoulders and the easy way he leaned back against the car. There was no tension in his jaw or crease between his brows.

His gaze found mine as he pushed the sunglasses atop his head, and his entire face lit up with a smile that was nothing short of heartstopping. Fuck. My heart practically fell out of my chest. I’d seen Rhodes smile hundreds of times, but never once had he smiled at me like that. It made my knees weak, and my mind went blank.

My legs worked on autopilot, taking me straight to him. As soon as I was within reach, he peeled away from the car. One arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer. His mouth landed on mine as his hand slid down to the small of my back. There was no hesitation. No looking around to see if anyone was watching. We’d talked about us not being a secret forever, but we had been for almost a year. I was used to that—to sneaking around and hiding.

But his mouth moved against mine with an ease that made my heart soar. My hands slid up over his shoulders and tangled in his hair. I matched his enthusiasm in a kiss that was maybe too scandalous for the general public, but I didn’t care.

“Hi,” Rhodes whispered when he finally broke the kiss. His eyes crinkled slightly at the corners as he smiled.

“Florida is stupid hot,” I blurted out, saying the first thing that came to mind. Was it possible the man had kissed me stupid? It certainly felt that way. At least it made him laugh.

“You’re not dressed for Florida, Theo,” he replied. He stepped back, and I instantly missed the press of his body against mine. “Tell me you have something lighter in that bag.”

“Nope.” I shook my head. “I didn’t think that one through.”

“I’ll take you shopping,” he said, leaning down to pick up my luggage. He even held out his hand for me to hand him my laptop bag.

“You don’t have to do that…” The words died on my lips. The look he gave me told me not to argue with him. I handed it over and shoved my hands into my pockets a little helplessly as he loaded my stuff into the trunk of his car. “That’s a nice car.”

“Thanks,” Rhodes replied. “Since I don’t own my house, I figured I’d put that money in a nice car.”

“You don’t own your home?” I thought he did.

“It’s a long story—one I’ll explain to you tonight at some point after everything,” Rhodes told me, though that did nothing to satiate my curiosity.

“What does everything include?” I asked. I honestly had no idea what we were doing. I knew his best friend was getting married on a yacht, but that was about it. I was in the dark about everything else we were doing or what was expected of me. Not that I minded. I was just excited to spend real time with Rhodes that wasn’t being stuck in his house or driving an hour outside of Everdale. Activities were just a perk.

“Well, I’m going to take you shopping to start,” he began. The car jostled slightly as he closed the trunk. He circled around the side and opened the door for me. He made a tiny gesture, ushering me inside. My stomach did a little flip at the idea of him holding open the door just for me. I waited for him to climb in. Some guy behind us honked because apparently we were taking too long to pull away from the pickup lane—I guess I couldn’t exactly blame him for that one. I was too busy absorbing my time with him to pay attention to anyone else. Rhodes flipped him off over his shoulder before driving away. “You need clothes for the wedding.”

“I brought clothes for the wedding,” I interjected.

“I’m sure you did,” he replied. As he drove, he reached over, and his hand landed on my thigh. His touch was instantly scathing, burning right through my jeans and making my dick thicken slightly. My hand covered his, and he turned his palm over, his fingers slipping through mine. “But new clothes are always required for a wedding.”

“What if you have a lot of friends getting married?”

“Then you buy a brand new outfit every time.”

“Why can’t you wear the same clothes every time?” I frowned because this was news to me.

“Wearing new clothes to a wedding is supposed to bring good luck to the couple getting married,” Rhodes explained. “Or something like that. We’re getting new clothes.”

That definitely wasn’t a thing. The grin on his face told me he was bullshitting me.

“You just like going shopping, don’t you?” I countered.

“There’s nothing wrong with liking new clothes,” he retorted. It was unexpected, but a lot about Rhodes like this felt a little unexpected. It was as if all his big walls had come down—the ones that kept me from seeing the parts he was afraid of sharing with his family. There were still about a million little walls behind them. I wasn’t an idiot about that fact. But it was nice to see a little more of the him he kept carefully tucked away. “After that, we’ve got reservations at my favorite restaurant. It’s a steak-and-seafood place right on the beach. The owner is a former quarterback for the Grizzlies.”

“The Chicago Grizzlies?” I interrupted quickly.

“Yeah.” He nodded slowly. “Vic Thompson can be a little… well, he’s a little much, but he’s looking forward to meeting you.”