I stared at her, at this girl who somehow always knew exactly what to say, who saw through my bullshit to the scared kid underneath.
“I don't know how to do this,” I admitted. “The whole... caring about someone thing. I'm probably going to fuck it up.”
“Good thing I don't know how to do it either.” She smiled. “We can fuck it up together.”
“That's the worst pep talk I've ever heard.”
“I'm a dancer, not a motivational speaker.” She leaned her head on my shoulder. “But I mean it. I'd rather fuck this up with you than do it perfectly with someone else.”
I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, breathing in her vanilla scent. “Same, Rosebud. Same.”
“Shall we try the other length?” Rosie motioned from goal to goal, steering the conversation away from the heavy subject. “I can time you or be your cheerleader. Go Dex, go Dex, go go go Dex!” she chanted as she did a couple of cheerleading moves, making me laugh.
The panic that was squeezing my heart eased, and all I could think about was how amazing she was. Of course, I knew that already. I witnessed her dedication to Pilates and ballet. I saw how she took on Daisy as her best friend and helped her heal after her toxic relationship. She was a ray of sunshine in everyone's life, but her own. When it came to herself, she walked around with a storm cloud brewing over her, waiting to pour down any moment.
“Let's do it together,” I offered instead of selfishly focusingon my own fear and trying to get over it; it all became a fun way to pass the time.
If you were a masochist, at least.
“Okay,” she shrugged as we walked towards one of the goals. The damp grass squeaked under our shoes, but I wasn't scared of slipping and twisting my knee this time. “But you need to give me a bit of a head start.”
“To teeeen?” I teased her. “Maybe three.”
“Five,” she bargained.
“Done,” I nodded with a wide grin as we made it to the goal. “I'll count to five.”
“Okay,” Rosie nodded, and instead of running towards the other side, she grabbed my shoulders and placed a kiss on my cheek. Her hot breath tickled me, and I flushed like a teenager as I blinked in confusion.
By the time I returned to reality, where her soft lips were no longer pressed to my skin, I realized what she's done as I caught her running across the field.
Guess that was one way to gain some time instead of making me count. My feet once again moved, before my brain had time to register what I was doing, and by the time it caught up, I was running against the cool wind chasing after Rosie.
I caught her just as easily as the first time, wrapping my arms once again around her slender waist and pulling her all the way against me. Her tight little ass rubbed over my crotch as she wiggled against me, trying to escape my hold. Her laughter echoed in the empty stadium, and my foot slipped on the dampness as I tried to maintain my balance.
Unsuccessfully, I fell on my back, and Rosie landed on top of me, her head missing my face by an inch.
“Foul,” she laughed at me as she rolled off to look at me. “You okay?”
“I'll take it back,” I muttered as I gasped for air. “Dancers are athletes.”
Rose laughed. “Athletes, with balance.”
“Touché,” I groaned, staring at her beautiful face. Her cheeks were all rosy from the wind and the running, and she looked so comfortable lying against me. We both did despite our intimate position. “Nice trick.”
“What trick?” she grinned innocently, and as I glared at her, another giggle escaped her. “Didn't think a little kiss on the cheeks would get you so flustered. Maybe you're the one who needs more practice.”
“Oh, so are we flirting now?” I asked with wiggling eyebrows and enjoyed it as she blushed. I was definitely off my game, but unlike the other girls I flirted with, I cared about Rosie. We had a deeper connection; we were friends. And this was us playing off-side.
“I was just joking,” she dropped her eyes and shook her head as she moved to stand.
My arms wrapped around her tighter, and I pulled her even closer before I reached up to tug a loose piece of hair behind her ears. “Remember what I told you... Confidence is key. And eye contact.” My fingers reached under her chin, and I nudged her to look at me.
I was met with sparkling blue eyes, wide with desire. Guess we were both affected by our harmless game.
My palm spread over her heated cheeks, and she leaned into my touch, her eyes fluttering closed, her lips parted. It would have been so easy to kiss her. To taste those pink lips that have been teasing me these past weeks.
But before I could decide if I wanted to cross that line, my whole body started vibrating from the phone tucked into Rosie's pocket.
