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Denver dragged me to him and hugged my guts out. And then we went and got chocolate chip pancakes.
Chapter 34 – Denver
“What do you think Makayla meant by ‘everything makes sense now’?” Sadie asked, looking over at me.
We were on my couch, the very same one we’d once fallen asleep on, only this time Sadie was consciously choosing to be snuggly with me, or at least her legs were. She had them draped across my lap with her head against the arm of the couch.
“What she said yesterday?”
“Yeah.”
I lightly rubbed her calves, fascinated with the idea that I could do it and not get kicked. Yesterday, I’d dropped her off at her door at midnight, kissed her forehead, and ran off before I’d been tempted to do otherwise. But today, I was ready to push on the boundaries a little, and I had an inkling Sadie wanted me to. Her legs were smooth except for one little spot where she’d missed shaving. I liked knowing that.
“Denver?”
“What?” Right. Makayla’s comment. “I think she was referring to the night we both showed up with Mangos takeout and waited for her to leave. But she, uh,” I looked over at Sadie. “She called me a few nights after that to see if I wanted to go to a movie.”
“Of course, she did. You did insinuate you’d get another chance with her later.”
“I didn’t take her up on it. And I said that to make you mad, not because I ever planned to get back together with her. She thinks you got in the way of that. And while you were quite the distraction, missy, I was already over her.”
“So much for being casual. She caught feelings for you, Denver.”
“I don’t think so. I think she’s just not used to hearing no. But either way, casual relationships are stupid.”
“They are.”
I met Sadie’s eyes, and we both froze. Sadie’s throat bobbed. I hadn’t kissed her yet. It was the elephant in the room, in the kitchen earlier when we’d cut up a watermelon and ate half of it, in my laundry room yesterday when I almost kissed her while she was sitting on top of my dryer, in her bank, in the grocery store, at the dry cleaners.
Well, what about now? I had been waiting for the right time, and once again, I wondered if it was now. Stinton wasn’t home. We were alone. But we’d just been talking about Makayla, and that seemed like a bad segue into can I press you into this couch and kiss you thoroughly like I’ve been dreaming about? I leaned over, testing the waters, and immediately Sadie pulled her legs back and sat up. “I need a drink of water. I’ll be right back.” She bolted from the room.
Okay then. The moment was definitely not now.
A few minutes later, she came back in and stood in front of me clutching her water glass.
“Better?” I asked.
“Yeah. I was really thirsty.”
“I’ll bet. All that watermelon can make a person thirsty.”
She gave an embarrassed grin. “Shut up.”
“I’m just kidding. Can I have some?”
“Sure.” She handed me the glass, but she didn’t sit down, she just watched me drink a few sips, and then she took it back and drained the rest. “Sorry. Can I be blunt?”
“Please.”
She stared up at the ceiling before looking back down at me. “I’m rusty. And I’m nervous. I don’t think putting this off is helping. So, let’s get it over with. Go ahead and kiss me, and I won’t run this time.” She sat down on the edge of the coffee table so our knees were touching and slowly leaned forward. She was still holding the empty glass like a life line.
I pulled it from her grasp and set it down next to her before taking her face in my hands, running my thumbs across her cheekbones. Her eyes fluttered closed, and I was so tempted to do as she bid. Instead, I whispered, “Sadie, if I kiss you, it won’t be a let’s-get-this-over-with moment. So, the answer is no.”
Her eyes opened and she blinked at me. “No?”
“No. Let’s not do this yet.” I stared her down, but I didn’t retreat, because this was not a rejection. This was letting her know I was serious about doing things right. She wouldn’t make me rush this. Except I was losing my resolve because Sadie had lost her nervousness now that this was a showdown. The fire in her eyes was drawing me in.
“Still a no?” she whispered, closing the distance until her lips were millimeters away from mine. Teasing, but not quite touching. My hands slid from her face into her hair, but still, I resisted. This was not the way this was supposed to go, with Sadie asking me to kiss her because it was some task she felt we needed to check off our list.
