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“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Seth muttered, pressing his forehead against mine. He kissed me again as though he thought at any minute I might realize my mistake and his chance would be gone.
“I . . . I can’t promise that I can do this, but I want to try.”
“If you’re not ready, I’ll wait, Em. I’ll wait forever if I need to.”
“No,” I said, lifting my hand to his face, my fingers tracing along the length of his jaw. “I want this, Seth. And Andy would want it too.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips against his. “And I mean that in the least creepy way possible,” I added, making a face.
Seth laughed. “Sure you do, creepy girl.”
I swatted his arm playfully. He sat down on the sofa, patting the seat next to him. I sat down and snuggled into his embrace.
That night, we did nothing more than kiss—though we did a lot of that. I wasn’t going to rush it. Things would progress when we were both ready.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Seth
The door opened and Em stood there, smiling at me. She stepped forward and kissed me. “Don’t you have a key or something?” she teased, raising an eyebrow.
I weaved my arm around her back and pushed her up against me. “No, I just know where you keep your spare. There’s a difference.”
“And the fact that you know that tells me what a true gentleman you are.” She laughed. “Come on in. How do you feel about sushi?”
“I don’t,” I replied, screwing up my nose.
She laughed again. “Okay, pizza it is, then.”
I shoved my hands in my pockets and watched her as she picked up the phone and ordered dinner. She looked fucking gorgeous in her gray silk blouse and charcoal skirt. She hung up the phone and I walked over to her.
“I would’ve eaten sushi for you,” I commented with a grin.
Her lips lifted into a smile as her long, dark lashes closed and then opened, revealing those beautiful green eyes. “I know. But it’s no fun if you’re just going to sit there and screw up your nose.” She dropped my hand and stepped toward the kitchen. “Do you want a drink?” she asked.
I nodded. “A beer would be nice.”
She opened the bottle and handed it to me.
While we waited for dinner, we watched TV—or rather, she watched TV and I watched her, because even after a week of being together it still felt so unreal, as if any moment I was going to wake up and realize that this had all been in my head.
I ran
my fingers over my pocket, trying to feel for the tiny charm I was hiding there. Still there. It was safe. I had no idea when the right time to give it to her was . . . or if there ever would be a right time. The last thing I wanted to do was make her sad. This had all seemed like such a great idea a couple of days ago.
The intercom buzzed. Em jumped up to answer it while I grabbed some plates from the kitchen. She came back into the living room carrying the pizza.
“We could’ve just used our hands.” She laughed, her cheeks glowing with color as she rolled her eyes at the plates in my hands.
“And end up with crumbs everywhere? No way. You know how I feel about mess.”
“Your mom hired you guys a maid in college because you were such slobs,” she exclaimed, her mouth dropping open.
“Hey, that was all Andy, not me,” I replied. “I was an innocent victim, forced to live in a health-hazard situation. Mom took pity on me.”
Em laughed and shook her head. Taking two slices out of the box, she set them on her plate and handed the box to me. Our eyes met as my fingers brushed past hers. Even a simple touch from her sent my body into a spin. It was crazy, but from the way she’d jumped, and the color spreading across her face, I knew she’d felt it too.
We ate in silence. How was I going to do this? What if she reacted badly? I spied the bracelet as it hung over her left wrist, the delicate little charms rolling loosely around the fine silver chain. Now. Just give it to her and get it over with.
Just as I opened my mouth, she stood up and gathered our empty plates.
