“Show ’em what you’ve got, sweet girl,” Jayce said, lowering his lips to meet mine once more. As if someone had snapped their fingers, suddenly, the rest of the world didn’t exist, and I stood tangled in Jayce’s arms, body pressing against his in desperation.
This wasn’t right. This wasn’t how friends did things.
“Hey, you two,” Candace called, grabbing a pole stick to bring it around to me. “Get a room.” With a silly wink at me, she handed over the cue stick, and I took it, not wanting to break away from Jayce but also knowing that at this point, it was inappropriate of us to be kissing. I was here for him as a friend, and I intended to be just that.
“Should I rack up?” Dalton asked, and I shrugged, examining the pool cue between my hands.
“Go for it.”
Once the balls were racked and ready to break, I stepped forward and lowered the cue, bending at the waist to properly line up my shot. I could feel Dalton and the others watching me. So was Jayce, though his eyes kept jumping back and forth between the cue stick and my ass, which I didn’t mind. I should have minded, but I didn’t.
“Here goes nothing,” I mumbled and took the shot.
The balls separated with a mighty crack, and three solid colors shot into each corner. When I straightened back up, pretending to blow on the end of the cue stick like a smoking gun, I found Jayce, Dalton, and everyone else on our side of the room staring at me. Even Kurt’s mouth was part way open and dropping to the floor.
“You haven’t played since you were twelve?” Dalton asked, tilting his head to the side curiously. I handed the cue to Jayce and shook my head.
“Ilearnedto play when I was twelve.”
“Jesus,” Kurt muttered, signaling the server for another round. He looked at Jayce. “Why did you go for someone cooler than you, bro?”
“I didn’t know she was this cool when I met her,” Jayce teased. He stepped up beside me with a small whisper. “Wanna get out of here?”
“God, yes,” I murmured. Jayce turned and waved at the guys, hand securing my own.
“It was nice to meet everybody,” I called, returning the hug that Candace laid on me. “Hopefully, I’ll see you around.”
After Jayce paid for our drinks and gathered our jackets, helping me into mine, we left the bar, stepping out into the cool, salty air of Colorado. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, savoring the coolness against my skin.
“What a beautiful night,” I whispered as Jayce put his arm around my waist so we could begin to walk.
“It’s beautiful because you’re with me,” he said, and a silly schoolgirl giggle slipped from between my lips before I could stop it.
“I imagine you say that to all your dates,” I said with a teasing smile, but Jayce didn’t return the good-natured grin. He frowned instead, arm tightening around me. For a moment, we walked together in silence back towards campus, where my car was still parked. I rested my head on Jayce’s shoulder, inhaling the subtle, sexy scent of aftershave. I felt so safe in his arms, like nothing in all the world could touch me or harm me just so long as Jayce was around.
“Macey,” he said after a moment, pulling me to a stop in the middle of the dark sidewalk. The sky was beautiful, inky black dotted with fiery stars, lighting up our very own romantic stroll.
“Jayce,” I said with a grin, but his expression was serious.
“I don’t want to be friends,” he said, shaking his head.
“Why?” I asked. “We make good friends. In fact, I might say we make excellent friends.”
“No,” he said. “This isn’t how friends act, and I think we both know that. So, I want to make this official.”
“Official?”
“Yes, official. Will you be my girlfriend?”
I stared at Jayce, dumbstruck, certain that somehow and some way, I’d misheard him.
“Will I be yourwhatnow?”
“My girlfriend,” said Jayce. “It’s when two people become a couple. One of them is a woman, and one of them is a man. Well, to be fair, couples can also be two men or two women, but you know, I...” Jayce trailed off, looking like he knew he was digging himself into a hole he might not be able to get out of.
“Jayce,” I said softly. “We’ve already determined that maybe being friends is the best thing we can do right now. You’re busy, and I’m busy, and I kind of feel like we just lead different lives. Don’t you feel that way, too?”
“No,” he said, planting his hands on either side of my upper arms. “No, Macey, I don’t feel that way. I haven’t looked at you as a friend since the moment I met you. And I know that seems scary, and maybe kind of creepy because it’s so soon, but I really don’t give a shit. If I don’t date you, then someone else will, and vice versa. Is that what we want?”
