A light chuckle slips past my lips. “Yes, we do.”
Because if we stay here and he keeps looking at me likethat, I’m going to do something I might regret.
He groans, slowly rolling his eyes and head back. “Fiiiine.”
We make our way to the car, slowly but surely as Jensen crutches just behind me. I feel his stare on my body the entire way, making me feel like I’m actually catching on fire.
I still need to talk to him tonight about what I’ve been hiding. But it’s going to be hard to ignore the growing tension between us that I’m not ready to act on. At least for the next few hours, we’ll be surrounded by other people, which will help keep my feral side at bay.
“Come on, Limpy,” I call out behind me. “Hurry up.”
The closeness of his voice startles me, and a shiver runs down my spine. “I’m right here.”
I freeze in place just feet from the car as his finger brushes the satin on my hip, igniting embers deep in my core.
“Did you really just call me Limpy?”
“Yeah? And? What are you going to do about it?” I regret my words instantly as his fingers wrap around my hip, holding me firm and still, his lips pressing against the shell of my ear.
“Is this a moment you’re being playful or a moment you want to really, truly find out? I’m happy either way, baby, just tell me what you want.”
Oh fuck.
The sound of him offering the choice to me changes something fundamentally in my mind.
I murmur, a slight shake to my words, “We’re going to be late.”
“Then you’d better unlock the doors,” he whispers, pressing a tender kiss to my ear before crutching ahead of me toward the back passenger door.
I press unlock and stride past him. Without breathing. Without blinking. With my thoughts racing uncontrollably.
I’ve imagined what the turning point moment will be like between us countless times over the years, storing that fantasy in the depths of my mind.
What if I’ve imagined too much? What if I romanticized it so intensely that the reality will never compare? What if I’m not going to meet his expectations?
My insecurities take over as I slide into the driver’s seat and start the engine. I quickly play music before Jensen gets in, hoping we can avoid conversation during the short ten-minute drive to Alec and Laura’s place. There’ll be time for talking later, after dinner.
He immediately starts jamming out to the song when he gets in, and I pull out of his parking space with an ounce of relief coursing through me.
Jensen continues to sing and dance annoyingly attractively with his upper body as I follow the directions he gives me between his solo performances.
Honestly, his entertainment is just what I needed to relax into my skin. I turn into the gated community and give the barcode on Jensen’s phone, which Alec sent over, to the attendant. After scanning it, he lets us through, and we make a few short turns and arrive at the Kosteleckys’.
“Their house is beautiful,” I murmur as I put his car in park and kill the engine, admiring it with widened eyes.
“Do you want a house like this someday? Something in the suburbs?” he asks, studying me.
An image forms in my mind of Jensen and me living in a place like this, raising the baby growing inside me. But I force it away, not wanting to get my hopes up for a daydream that might never come true.
He wants me now, but is he going to want me, knowing I come with a little package? I don’t know, and that’s what terrifies me the most.
“Maybe,” I whisper, tossing my keys in my purse next to my AirPods and exiting the car without meeting his gaze, which has been lingering on me the entire time.
Running my hand through my slicked-back high ponytail, I take a shaky, deep breath, trying to calm my anxiety.
Part of me feels so incredibly guilty for giving him mixed signals, leaning into the flirting, but then shutting down without a warning. But we just have to get through this, and then I’ll tell him everything.
The front door opens, and a young boy rushes out, heading straight for Jensen. “Hey!”
