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Rux’s kissis a soft press so different from that first showy thing a few weeks ago, I barely recognize the connection. While that kiss had been sudden, a press of body parts in an almost clinical way—this feels infinitely different.
Maybe it’s the way he looked at me, searching my eyes before moving in. Or the tender touch that set my nerve endings on edge. Or maybe it’s just that I could read in his eyes what he was going to do and after last week with that not-quite kiss I was the tiniest bit more curious than I should have been.
But instead of delivering a cold shock of surprise, this kiss warms me, sending tendrils of heat through my lips and across my skin. Sparking an awareness I’m not supposed to feel with my best friend, but that’s so good and nice and different from anything I’ve felt in years… I lean into it instead of pulling away.
One big hand sifts into the hair at the back of my neck and the other gently cups my jaw, holding me as he tastes my lips again. The contact lingers before breaking as his hand glides down the length of my neck to just below my collar bone, trailing more of that nerve-stirring warmth in its wake.
It feels good. Maybe a little too good.
My eyes lift slowly, becausewow.
Catching my hand in his, he threads our fingers together, holding them against his thigh like we’re—
“Total boyfriend move,” he murmurs, cocking his head toward mine. “Right?”
A soft sigh slips past my still-tingling lips and I touch the fingers of my free hand to them. “Definitely a boyfriend move.”
So much so that I can feel the wires starting to cross in my mind. The line that’s always been so clear I never had to even think about it before… smudging just a little.
And I see it.
Rux would be a really nice boyfriend for someone.
For the right girl. At the right time. If he ever decided that was what he wanted.
“Thought about going all in, doing the devouring-your-mouth-like-a-starving-man business.” He’s rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb while he talks—light strokes, soft circles. “But that’s more like heat-of-the-moment stuff. So I went understated instead.”
I nod, trying not to think about those little circles. The tingles spreading from that contained touch. The heat unfurling in my belly as Rux casually discusses his choice of kiss. I try not to think about what that other version might have been like.
“Seems like the right call. I’m impressed.” And while I don’t feel quite as casual about it as I make it sound, I really am.
He looks down at where our hands are locked together over his mountain of a thigh and then grins at me again. “This is nice. The hand-holding. Would it be weird if I wanted to do it all the time?”
I give him a squeeze. “Not at all.”
Vaughn and Nat slide into the seats across from us, and Vaughn raises a brow. “You two holding hands under the table?”
Rux nods. “We’re a couple. Totally into each other on a more than physical level.”
Natalie sits back in her chair with a delighted smile and asks, “Wow, so this is getting serious then, huh?”
“Hell, yeah, it is. Three-week anniversary tonight. Figured I’d bring her back to where it all started.”
I almost spit out my beer and, looking to the guy who makes me laugh like no one else, cock my head. “He’s so sentimental.”
“She’s got it bad for me. Thinking about those three little words.” He leans in toward our friends. “I’m ready to introduce her to my mom. It’s not too soon, is it, Sunshine?”
“I’ve met your mom. Twice.” She’s like a mellowed version of her son… but still totally over the top.
Rux rubs my hand against his thigh, angling his body toward me again. “Yeah, she loves you. Maybe we can Skype her one of these nights when Matty’s home.”
From across the table, Vaughn is shaking his head. “You guys are nuts.”
Maybe a little. My eyes cut to Rux. Maybe a lot. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Rux finally lets my hand go. We haven’t seen The Blip since before the quality-boyfriend-kiss incident, but Rux isn’t giving up the pretense. He drops a kiss on my hand before going up to grab another beer for Nat and me, and the minute he sits back down he pulls me into his side like he always does—except not quite like always. My back rests against his side, and where his arm would normally be hooked behind me, this time, it loops over my shoulder, so our hands are tucked together in the vicinity of my heart.
Nat and Vaughn give us shit about it, but the whole thing feels so natural, it’s all too easy to forget it isn’t real. That Rux doesn’t always hold my hand or play with my hair. That prior to this night, there existed an inch of space between us.
