“Hey, she’syoursister…”
“I did not! It just took me by surprise. It’s impressive.”
“Nerds, dorks, dweebs…” Hunter mocks, turning his hand into a talking puppet.
“Okay, sit, so there’s time to snuggle before you have to leave.” Chase motions toward the couch.
Hunter shows me the template, re-explaining what the problem was and how to place the photos next to my sketches where I wanted them. I quickly insert my photos, and they watch as I create the page spreads in the presentation software. “All you’ll have left is uploading the menu, and then you should be good to send it off,” Hunter explains. He grabs the keyboard and mouse and disappears upstairs.
Closing the cover of my tablet, Chase slides it on the coffee table and turns to me. “Oh, hey, baby. When did you get here?” he teases, taking his tech persona off and slipping back into boyfriend mode.
“So youdoremember me? I thought I’d lost you there for a second…”
He pulls me in close, nuzzling my nose with his. “Never gonna happen.” His kiss is soft and slow, like he’s savoring every bit of it, committing the feeling of my lips to his memory. Tingles surge through my core, making me shiver as he pulls away. He flips on the TV, landing on the new detective show I’ve been wanting to see. I snuggle into him, and he slides my legs across his lap, rubbing his hand over my thigh. Apparently, the TV was just a front, because in no time, we’re making out like it’s the only activity that makes sense.
“What about the show?” I ask on a breath.
“I’ve already seen it,” he says distractedly, lips continuing to occupy mine.
“But it’s new…”
“Then I’ll stream it later.” His voice comes out muffled as his lips move down my chin.
“Okay…but what if…I…wanted to watch it?” I mean for it to come out in a teasing manner, but the way my body is reacting tohis touch makes my breath hitch enough times that the message is lost.
“Then watch it,” he says with a chuckle, leaving a trail of kisses down the column of my neck and back up. “I’m not stopping you.”
“You’re…distracting me though…” A giggle slips out of me as his breath tickles my ear.
“Sounds like a personal problem,” he whispers as his eyes meet mine. Leaning back in, he wiggles his eyebrows playfully.
I bite my lip and shake my head.
“Okay, fine,” he concedes. “We can watch this, but I get to make up for lost time during commercial breaks. Deal?”
I give in to one last steam filled kiss, running my hands through his hair and trailing fingers down his jawline, pulling away once I’m convinced he’ll be aching for more. Simple payback for making me miss the beginning of the show. “Deal.”
A groan rumbles in his chest as he nuzzles my nose with his. “You’re gonna be the death of me, Kayla,” he whispers.
“Maybe. But not until the next commercial break,” I tease, giving a wink.
“You win.” He props his chin on my shoulder as we try to catch up on whatever we missed on the show so far. We stay like this—whispering in between scenes, kissing during commercials—until it’s time for me to go. I make a brief stop next door to find Artie, just like I promised I would, and then Chase walks me out to my car.
When we get outside, he presses me against the passenger side door for one last goodnight kiss, accidentally kicking the tire as he comes in close. He pulls away suddenly and drops to look at something. I tuck my satchel closer to my body so it doesn’t hit him in the head.
“Uh, everything okay?” I ask, confused why I was just deprived of one of my favorite things. I don’t care if we just spent an entire evening making out, I want my goodnight kiss.
“You have a flat tire,” he says with anamused voice. I bend to look, and sure enough, my tire is squished all the way to the ground.
“Great.” I sigh, hitting the trunk button on my car remote and walking to the back. He moves right along with me, and before I can stop him, he reaches into the trunk. “What are you doing?” There’s a slight edge to my voice, the same irritation creeping in from the conversation at the diner earlier.
“Changing your tire…” He digs around the trunk, looking for the jack and spare.
“No, I got it.” I lift the jack out of the back and lay it against the curb.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m right here. Just let me do it.”
“I’m not the one being ridiculous. I told you this morning I can change my own tire.”
