AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER 25
Jimmy
“You really didn’t have to walk me home.”
“Yes, I did.” I could see that Bella was nervous as we walked along the canal. I couldn’t tell if those nerves were because we were, for all intents and purposes, alone. Or if it was because of the looks, whistles, and comments we’d received as we left the bar. Either way, I wanted to put her at ease. “I absolutely did have to walk you if I didn’t want my hide tanned by Mrs. B and her rolled-up newspaper.”
Her head fell back and she laughed. It was the first time I’d heard her laugh since she’d walked into the bar tonight, and I couldn’t believe how much I’d missed the sound. Being near her but not with her had been harder than when I’d had to lie perfectly still during a ninety-minute MRI after my four-wheel crash and had a hair tickling my nose. When I’d seen Knox take her back to play pool, my self-control snapped and giving her space was no longer an option. And when she told the girls that she was tired and was going to head out, I couldn’t resist offering my services as an escort.
As we walked along the path that I’d walked on hundreds if not thousands of times, I couldn’t help but feel like I was doing it for the first time. I had that feeling a lot around Bella. Everything with her felt like the first time. Even sex. Especially sex.
Nerves pinged through me even though there was a good two feet between us. I had to fist my hands at my side to stop myself from reaching out to her. I’d never had that impulse before. I’d hung out with my fair share of women, enjoyed their company, but I’d never felt compelled to be touching them at all times. I didn’t have the desire to wrap my arms around their waist, to hold their hands, to tug them closer to me.
My hands weren’t the only things I was having trouble keeping to myself. My eyes kept drifting in her direction. They sliced once more toward her and this time, I didn’t look away. I allowed myself to take in her profile. Some people had good sides, or looked better either face on or at an angle, but Bella wasn’t one of those people. I didn’t think she had a bad side. I couldn’t imagine any angle showcasing something that was less than perfect.
My eyes trailed the upturn of her nose to the pouty protrusion of her full lips. Her slender neck was perfectly framed by a defined jawline. The ethereal illumination of the moon shimmered off her glossy hair.
She must have noticed my attention because she turned her head to me. “What?” she asked as she ran her hand down her hair, smoothing it.
Compliments never really had the desired effect on her, so I tried to slip a subtle one in there. “You’re still glowing from your win.”
“I’ve always wanted to have my Mystic Pizza moment.”
“Your what?”
“In Mystic Pizza, Julia Roberts is a townie who plays pool against this prep school, yuppie guy and she annihilates him.”
“Okay. But wouldn’t you be the prep school yuppie in this scenario, and Knox the townie?”
“Well…yeah…I guess. But, still. I annihilated him.”
I had to laugh. Bella was so different than any person I’d ever met. Technically, I supposed she was being a very bad winner, but she was so damn adorable, it was endearing.
As much as I kept telling myself to just enjoy the time that she was here and keep things casual, every day that was harder and harder to do. I wondered if this would be the last day she’d be here. I wondered if we would ever talk once she left.
She’d made it clear that she wasn’t looking for a relationship. That she didn’t want anything serious. But that was before. That was before she’d gifted me with being the one to lose her virginity to. That was before we’d made love in a cave with a thunderstorm as the soundtrack. That was before I’d fallen in love with her.
Or maybe it wasn’t. I was beginning to think that I’d fallen in love with her the moment I saw her standing on the dock.
“Bella?”
“Yeah?”
“Can we talk?”
She stopped up short and turned to look up at me. “You don’t want to see me anymore?” Her voice was tiny, so quiet I had to read her lips when she spoke. Not that staring at her mouth was a hardship.
“No. Why would you say that?”
“Isn’t that usually what comes after someone saying they want to talk. The whole it’s-not-you-it’s-me thing?”
A couple of things struck me about her statement. First, she always referred to things in the abstract. It was never personal. I knew that her experience was limited, and she’d said that she’d been sheltered, but she was in her mid-twenties.
Also, she was very open about her thoughts. It was like she had no filter. It was refreshing. I could honestly say that I never knew what was going to come out of her mouth.
Most of the women I knew, and men for that matter, would never come out and say that, even if they thought that was where the conversation was headed. They’d either pretend they had no idea it was coming, or they would try to beat the person to the punch and say that they had actually been thinking that they needed to talk, too.
Bella was so honest, raw, and vulnerable. She didn’t play games. There was no agenda. Being with her was addicting. The more time I spent with her, the more time I wanted with her.
