“Greta, do you not have a coat?” An accusatory tone entered.
“Couldn’t ruin the outfit.” I shivered again, his jacket going around me. “What’s this? Your jacket?”
“Yes. Keep it on until we get there.”
“How gentlemanly of you.” I smirked. He smacked my ass in reply. “Watch it, bud.”
“Or what?”
“I’ll bendyouover and have my way.” I joked with him, but his eyes widened. “Don’t get any kinky ideas yet. We have hours until then.”
“Yeah? I can’t wait.” He opened the passenger door, helping me inside for the sake of touching me. I relished it. He wasn’t assuming I wasn’t capable. I was. He knew it. He wanted to touch me, help me, and damn it, I loved it.
“Where’s it at tonight? I realized I never asked.”
“The swanky hotel off-campus. Not too far. I’ve heard about the place but never been. A lot of the alumni stay there when they come back to campus. Makes them feel cool, or whatever.”
“Ah, yes. I can’t wait to be cool and come back, strutting my stuff about how adulty I am and shit.”
“Adulty. Don’t think that’s a word, Gabs.”
“That’s okay. I’ll make it official when I have a big job and you’re playing baseball making the big bucks. You can endorse me.”
He laughed, his fingers coming back to rest on my knee. “Yeah? What else is going to happen when we’re adults and shit?”
“Hmm.” My heart clenched. The visions I’d always had about the future contained Aaron, but the thought of him being with someone else felt like a knife in the gut.Damn it.I pushed it down, way down, and focused on diffusing my inner turmoil. “Well, any time you’re in town, obviously, we’ll rent out an entire buffet so you can eat your body weight. I’ll probably have a dog. I’ll name him Hilly. Make him wear your jersey.”
“I like that.” His low throaty laugh had me clenching my legs together. “Will you, too, be wearing my jersey?”
“Aaron. That is about the stupidest question you’ve ever asked me. And you’ve asked me some pretty dumb questions.”
“Like what?”
I rolled my eyes, the playful banter making everything better. “One time, you asked me if I’ve ever used my bra as a slingshot. Or if I tried to eat dog poop. Or that one time you literally thought girls’ periods were preventable. Need I go on?”
“I see no need. You made your point.” He trailed my smooth skin right above my knee, the sensation feeling damn good. “How are my favorite piercings doing?”
“Take a look yourself.”
I pulled the light fabric to the side, made easy by the low neckline. We weren’t around any cars, it was almost night, and goddamn it, I loved getting him fired up. My piercings had been coming along nicely, the exposed tips of them hardening in the cool air. “Think they look healed?”
He glanced over at me, then did an immediate double-take. “Jesus Christ. Greta. We’re in a fucking car.”
“No one is around, Ron. Calm your balls. They’re all twisted up.” I laughed at myself, but his grip tightened again and his breathing came out harder. “You’re no fun.”
“No. I’m a jealous person. I don’t want anyone else seeing those. Now, are you going to behave tonight? You seem amped up.”
I sighed. “I’ll behave in front of your coach. But with you? Probably not.”
“I expect nothing less.”
* * * *
“Dance with me.” It was an hour or so later and Aaron spoke so low, his lips touched my ear an. “Come on, Gabs.”
I rolled my eyes, fighting the urge to run far, far away. Dinner had been amazing. The food was top-notch, and Aaron’s coach had introduced us to the bigwigs in the athletic world. I had no idea who the people were, but seeing Aaron’s face light up had been worth it. He smiled more that night than he had in a long, long time. He traced his finger right below my ear, making me shiver. “Greta? Give me your hand.”
“For a slow dance?” I bit my lip nervously. There were so many people. And I wasn’t the best at slow dancing. I preferred more of a free-style dance, where I could flail my long arms around in circles. I couldrockthat move.
