“Sure?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” Warren nods to himself, and I shift closer to him on the couch, making my intentions clear. He raises an eyebrow and looks down at my mouth. I watch as the left side of his lip curls up. “Do we kiss on birthdays?” he asks, voice raspier than usual.
“We did on yours…”
“So are we kissing now?”
“Like right now? No.” I bite my cheek, hiding my grin.
“You know what I mean…” He’s smiling, but his eyes hold steady on my lips.
“Maybe…” Warren had told me to let him know when I was ready. Well, here I am. Ready. “What are you doing this Friday?” I ask.
“Putting the final touches together for our date onSaturday.” His mouth curves into a grin.
“Yeah?” My face glows, and I look away to hide it, feeling shy at how excited a date with him makes me, how active the butterflies in my stomach are.My first real date.
“Will Luke be okay babysitting?” I ask.
“Yeah, if you’re comfortable with that. I could ask Belle. Or—”
“No, Luke is great with her.” I pause, looking up to the loft briefly. “I won’t know what to do with myself.”
“First time away from Will… I promise to make it worth it.” He looks at my mouth as he speaks, far more intensely this time. His eyes focus, looking at me as if it’s almost impossible for him to hold himself back.
I swallow before I stand. Warren reaches out and grabs one of my hands, twirling me back around to face him.
“Yes?” I look down at him as I speak. His face is all wounded puppy; it’s impossible not to laugh.
“Where are you going?” Warren asks, sulking.
“To get us some water. Don’t worry.” I wink and pull my hand away.
Honestly, the water is to give me a minute to practice what I want to say.
Hey, so—no pressure, but I’m in love with you.
No biggie—but I’m in love with you.
I hope it’s not too early to say this, but I love you.
Shit, nothing feels right.As I carry the two glasses back to the couch, the words still don’t come.
“Thanks.” He takes the glass but immediately puts it on the coffee table, and I follow suit.
Warren places an arm over the back of the couch, his hand behind my shoulder. I place my hand on his forearm and rub my fingers over the knit of his sweater. I know that we’re going to kiss at some point this evening… but we should probably talk first, right? This was so much easier when we were acting impulsively. Now there’s a month’s worth of learned self-restraint to combat.
I take a deep inhale, attempting my best to appear casual as I speak. “So, there’s probably a better way of saying this but—”
“Hey, wait. Come here.” Warren uses the arm draped across the couch to hook my shoulder and bring me into his lap. I move willingly, placing my knees on either side of his thighs and sitting back, my ass resting above his knees. My hands wrap around his neck. Warren brings his hands to my hips, looping his thumbs through the belt loops of my jeans on either side.
“I kinda…”Focus, Chloe.“… find it hard to think like this.” My mind is fuzzy, straddling Warren. I’m in two places, physically being touched in this new way and position and somehow also in my bedroom—where I have pictured being on top of him time and time again.
I close my eyes to focus on what I’d like to say, but the distracting ache in me grows. I open them, but looking down at Warren is just as unhelpful.
His eyes are deep, hazy, and full of wanting.His jaw tenses as he looks down at where our laps meet. Then he looks back up to my face and tucks one strand of hair behind my back before lazily following the rest of it down to the curve of my ass.
