He mumbles under his breath and then glances up at me. I’m taken back by the glint behind his eyes.
“Something tells me you might be better at following directions than my sister is.”
“That’s debatable. I’m easily distracted,” I quip, looking back down at his thighs.
Chase’s hands both rise from the table and he holds up one finger on each. I can’t help but stare at the massive state of his hands and fingers. How can a hand look so muscular?
“You can see both my fingers right?” He wiggles his index fingers at me and my toes want to curl right into the floor.
I can only nod my head up and down in response.
“Pick one and follow it.”
He moves his fingers back and forth in front of me like he’s giving me some kind of eye test and I’m probably going to fail out of sheer mesmerization.
My eyes follow his left finger every which way it moves. He keeps it still and moves it in circles, then goes back and forth and up and down. I desperately feel like I need a sip of water or a shot of tequila. I can feel Chase’s eyes on me as I’m following his finger movements. A silly little exercise like this shouldn’t haveme feeling all out of sorts. I’m actually embarrassed that I’m so worked up over this.
“See?” He puts his hand down, clearing his throat and turning away from me. “You weren’t even paying attention to my right hand to notice I was drawing this smiley face. I think you can remain focused long enough to follow signs that saygym.”
I laugh nervously, feeling flushed and unsteady on my feet all of a sudden. What a risky little game he chose to play, knowing that a temptation like that would rile me up. He’s the one who said we can’t kiss again, not me. If anything,Ishould be the one temptinghim.
Shaking my head, I try to regain my composure and bring myself back to the present, rather than staying lost in the size of his hands in front of my face.
“The card is in that bowl on the counter. Really, just use it. I don’t usually workout down there, but I do use the sauna when I can. The whole place is usually empty, so have at it.”
“Thanks,” I say, finally finding my footing and grabbing my purse to leave. I hate leaving while CeCe is asleep, but if I don’t get out of this apartment immediately, who knows what I might say or do after that little finger ordeal.
The gym key card is neatly placed in the stack of other belongings in the bowl, almost daring me to just take it and put it in my purse. I cave to the pressure, shoving the card in the pocket of my purse and heading for the door.
It amazes me that he can make me feel hot and flustered and then irritated all at once. Maybe this is how I make him feel? But I can’t imagine I turn him on in the same way. Irritate him, though? No test needed for that.
“Is it your husband or your mother? No? Great, silence your phone, Abby! This is important.” Mia pulls a tank top over her sports bra as Abby and I both sit on her bed waiting for her to get ready for the game.
“Ah, sorry, sorry.” Abby presses the ignore button on her phone and pulls the pillow back to her chest. “Okay, you were saying…”
“Chase kissed me,” I repeat, bringing both hands to my cheeks and feeling the rush of the moment all over again. “I wanted to tell you both sooner. Like the second after it happened, but wanted it to be just us in person.”
“Oh my god! How was it? Perfect? Everything you ever thought it would be? Or underwhelming?” Mia asks.
“It was…unbelievable.”
“Was it rough and hungry? I mean he hasn’t kissed anyone in God knows how long, I would picture him just being so needy, so animalistic about it.” Mia sits down next to Abby and me.
“I mean at first it was really intense. We both just kind of let the adrenaline take us and it felt so consuming, but then it slowed and we just kind of sunk into the rhythm of it.”
“Oooo,” Mia moans and closes her eyes. “Okay, so where did it happen?”
“The night we had that storm. I was with CeCe and he got home later than expected. He was insisting I didn’t drive home because of the weather and we just hung out all night. Actually, it felt like that one night at the cabin trip we took years ago.” I gesture to Abby. “When Chase and I were the only two left up after everyone else fell asleep in the middle of that scary movie. We didn’t kiss then, obviously. But he’s so much less guardedwhen it’s just one on one. Like he lets himselfbehimself, I don’t know.” I shrug.
“I want all the details. I swear this pregnancy is making me feel so horny. Like where were his hands? Was it just the one kiss?” Mia holds my stare.
“In his kitchen… It started out against the counter, like he basically blocked me in, pushed me against it. But then he picked me up and put me on top of the counter.”
Another moan falls from Mia—causing Abby and I both to laugh.
“His hands held my thighs, and it felt so possessive and I… ugh, I loved it.”
“So you’re just kissing all the time now?” Abby playfully shoves my shoulder.
