“Thanks for taking me out tonight, Jaxon. I had a lot of fun.” She shifts her weight between her feet, her hands nervously fidgeting in front of her. With a sigh, she turns and opens her door. “Goodnight.”
Then, she closes the door in my face.
Did I do something wrong? What the hell?
I stand there stunned for a moment. This isnothow I had hoped this night would end. No. There’s no way I’m leaving this here. Determined, I raise a fist and knock on the door.
It cracks open, her brown eyes the only visible thing between the small opening. “Can I come in for a second?” I can barely make out a nod before she steps back and allows me inside.
Purple is fucking everywhere, and my guess is that Polly is to blame. Again, I’m hit with a sense that I’ve been here before, in this room with all this purple.
Candi closes the door and leans her back against it while my eyes scan the room. “Did you need something?” Her voice is small and nervous.
“Yeah, actually. What happened out there?” I point to the hallway beyond her closed door, and she sighs.
“It’s embarrassing,” she admits.
Stepping closer to her, I put one hand on her waist and the other on her jaw. She looks so small and nervous standing in front of me that I want to comfort her. “I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think.”
She rolls those brown eyes at me before taking a deep breath. “I’ve never been kissed before, and you wanted to walk me up to my room and my brain went haywire.”
How has this girl never been kissed?
“Candi?” Her eyes slowly move from the floor between us up to mine.
'“Yeah?”
Leaning in for emphasis I ask, “Can I kiss you?” Those luscious lips part the slightest bit and I’m not sure what I’ll do if she says no. I’ll be devastated to have never tasted those lips.
“Yes.” Her voice is breathless, her chest heaving as her breathing grows quicker.
I’m going to make this the best damned first kiss anyone has ever had.
Taking my time, I brush the thumb of my hand on her jaw across her soft lips and I’m rewarded with a shiver that runs through her body. “I’ve been wanting to do this all night.” Her eyes are closed as she takes in the moment, but they snap open at my words.
Slowly, so slowly, I bring my lips to hers. She’s shy and timid andfucking perfect.Her lips are soft and tender—everything I knew they’d be. It takes a moment for her to respond, but whenher lips start to move with mine, I swear I’ve died and gone to heaven.
Her arms, once tense at her side, wind their way across my shoulders, her body no longer pressing against the door, but against mine. She fits perfectly in my arms and I want more—more dates, more kissing, more of her—but I know it’s too soon. So instead of deepening the kiss, I pull back, letting our foreheads rest together as we both catch our breaths.
“That was fucking perfect, Candi. Don’t be surprised if I do it again.”
Chapter Twelve
Candi
It’s been two days since our date, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Jaxon. Especially the part where he wrapped me in his arms and kissed me. For the first time. I’d be lying if I said that it was a kiss where the world stopped turning because my head was spinning the entire time.
Am I doing this right? What is he thinking? Does he like it? Is this what I’m supposed to do? I’m messing this up, he doesn’t like it.
Don’t get me wrong, I liked it. A lot. It’s just that I couldn’t get my brain to shut up long enough to have enjoyed it. But it did make me want more. I look forward to kissing him again as soon as I can.
Jaxon’s been gone all weekend on an away baseball game, so I haven’t seen him since that night, but he’s been texting me all weekend. Sweet things like ‘I’ve been thinking about you’ and ‘Hope you’re not having too much fun without me,’ but there’s also been ones that make my heart flutter. ‘I’ve been dreaming about those lips of yours’ and ‘You’re as sweet as your name.’ Okay, maybe that last one is a bit cheesy, but I can’t help the fact that it makes me blush whenever I read it.
Unfortunately, Polly’s date with Trevor didn’t end as well as mine had.
She’d been fuming when she finally made her way back to our room after having spent the majority of the night walking home.Not only had he been late to pick her up, but Trevor had also decided that Bottom’s Up, the local town bar, was the best place to take his date for the evening. The bar was hosting a pool night that Trevor was competing in. He’d gotten drunk and completely abandoned Polly, so she walked her way back to the dorm. When I’d told her that she could have called me she said, “Are you kidding? There was no way I was going to ruin your first date.”
After she’d calmed down, she practically begged me to tell her all the details about my date with Jaxon. I’d left out all the anxiety that was constantly swirling around in my stomach, but she loved that we decorated cookies and ate dinner in the square.
