“I can see why.” Tilting my head to the side, I can see Hannah approaching out of the corner of my eye. “Make me a promise?”
“I don’t usually make promises with strange men.”
“Make an exception, and if you hate it, I’ll never make you do it again.”
“Who said I’m seein’ you after today?”
“Wishful thinking,” I say shamelessly as I lift a shoulder and let it drop.
“What’s the promise?”
“I want you to promise to have fun with me today.” She opens her mouth to speak but I shake my head. “Just promise me.”
She purses her lips but she can’t hold back her grin. “That’s it?”
I want to call her out—ask her when the last time was she actuallyhad fun—because I can see the tiredness in her eyes and wonder what kind of responsibilities she carries. It’s heavy, but it’s not for today.
“We’re just easing into it; no need to rush.”
“All right,” she says, standing a little taller. “I promise. But in exchange,” she adds with fire dancing in her eyes, “promise you won’t hold back.”
I lick my lips and she doesn’t miss it, her pupils dilating in response. Goddamn,this woman is a fantasy come to life.
“I promise,” I murmur, my voice sounding like gravel as Hannah stops at our side.
“Y’all are like adream.” She sighs and I squeeze Lana’s hand.
“See? Dream Girl.”
“That’s not what she said,” Lana replies with a touch of sass I already adore.
“Gah! You guys are disgustingly adorable. I can’t even stand it.” Hannah beams as I chuckle before swinging the hand Lana is holding. She looks down and then up at me and shakes her head.
“Let’s go before this one,”—she nods toward me—“starts skipping.”
“Okay, I want you to walk over there and then when you get into the field, Mason, you’re going to spin her and then dip her slowly, all right?”
“You got it.” Throwing Hannah a wink, I lead Lana toward the designated spot. “You promised to have fun. Skipping might be fun.”
“I will trade dipping and spinning for skipping,” she whispers, turning to look at me. Her mouth is so close and I want to press my lips to hers.
Soon.
Because it feels like I won’t survive if I don’t.
Each brush of her body against mine, every smile and laugh has me wound tighter than I thought possible.
It’s intoxicating.
“We’ll do a couple more by this tree,” Hannah says, but the coaching is merely a formality at this point as Lana pushes me back against the trunk and arches her body dangerously close to mine.
“Lana?” I breathe, our faces nearly touching as I cup her cheek, and she grips the neck of my shirt.
“Hmm?”
“I’m going to kiss you.”
“Yeah?” The single word is a tease—almost like a dare.
