Brax pulls in an audible breath as I sit here confused as hell. Where did this side of him come from? It is a little more aggressive than I’ve seen him before, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that a part of me likes it.
Lucas never made a point of letting anyone know I was his. Looking back on it now, I know it had less to do with me and more to do with him. He was still playing the field, while I thought we were in a committed relationship. He didn’t want anyone to know his dating status because he was always on the lookout for his next lay.
“You’re lucky I love you like a brother,” Brax tells David. “You did that shit on purpose.”
David slaps Brax’s shoulder playfully. “Maybe. I always like to see how you’ll react, and that reaction was very telling.”
“Asshole,” Brax mutters, to which David laughs again.
“Dessert?” David asks, ignoring Brax’s comment.
“I couldn’t,” I tell him. “Everything was so good. I should’ve stopped eating halfway through my meal.”
“I’ll have something wrapped up for you two to take with you. Good?” he asks Brax and not me.
“Yeah. You’re a good man, David, even if you still like to test my patience.”
“Give me a call sometime. Maybe we can double-date,” David tells Brax before the two of them shake hands.
“I’ll do that.”
“I hope to see you again,” David says to me with a spark in his eye.
“Maybe,” I tease, but I hope to see him again soon too.
Not because I’m interested in David, but I really like Brax. Even though his name sounds like a dinosaur, Braxasaurus-Rex has my belly flipping out of lust, not fear.
“Work your magic,” David says to Brax before wandering away.
“Maybe?” Brax asks with one eyebrow raised.
I laugh, liking his playfulness. “The night hasn’t ended yet. There could be some major disaster.”
“Like what?”
I stare at him across the table, wondering how much fire I want to play with. My body makes the decision before my mind has a chance to stop my mouth from opening. “Maybe you’re an awful kisser.”
I think he’s going to give me a light response or laugh, but again, my mind isn’t firing on all cylinders.
Brax leans forward, his upper body covering half the table. He brings his face close to me and stares me straight in the eyes, no hint of a smile on his lips.There’s a seriousness around him that makes the air heavy, and suddenly, it’s hard for me to breathe.
“Are you ready to find out?”
I gulp, almost swallowing my tongue. Do I want to find out? Heck yeah. My body’s been ready since the moment I walked into the restaurant. But my lips haven’t touched another’s in over a year. What if I’m the bad kisser in this situation?
“Um,” I mumble, at a loss for words.
“Cat got your tongue?” he says with a hint of a smirk.
Staring into his eyes, I feel my heart race uncontrollably as my stomach twists and turns in anticipation. “No.”
“No?” He leans closer, and the smirk from a moment ago is gone. “No, you don’t want to find out, or no, a cat doesn’t have your tongue?”
This is it. This is my chance to take the lead, something I’ve never really been good at with the opposite sex. I stand and turn my gaze toward him. “You comin’?” I ask, throwing him a more sinful smirk than he gave me a moment ago as I shrug on the coat that’s just been brought to me, along with our to-go desserts.
He rises from his chair immediately, grabs his jacket, and takes a step toward me. I instantly move, heading right for the door. I don’t look back as I slip outside, the cold air almost sizzling against my overheated skin.
I don’t make it two more steps before Brax grabs my arm and spins me around. Without saying a word, he pulls me flush against his body as his eyes search mine. Snow falls around us like something out of a fairy tale. The city noise dampens like we’re in a private bubble no other sound can penetrate besides our labored breathing.
