I laughed and fell so goddamn hard for her. “I get it. He was awesome. I feel like I should be concerned you’ve had a thing for baseball players your whole life. I don’t like that.”
“I kind of have.” She shrugged. “You’re going to have to deal with it.”
My mouth dropped open. She just…damn. I closed my mouth. “You leave me no choice.”
“Don’t worry, though—none have made my stomach turn into a pile of goo like you do.”
“A pile of goo?”
“I’m a real romantic, can’t you see?”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, you make my stomach turn into a pile of goo, too.”
* * * *
Now shit got tricky. The date fucking rocked. Hands down one of the best times I’d had…ever. My past had made me behave all backward. I knew all about the sex part, not the dating part and yet, we held hands in the car and I heard every breath she took. The rustle of her pants when she moved her legs to a new position had my fists tightening. I traced her hand with one of my fingers and froze at the subtle, almost nonexistent moan.
I was fucking lost at what to do. I wanted to do everything and nothing. We pulled into her apartment complex and every word I wanted to say disappeared. I parked, let go of her hand and opened the car door for her. She thanked me, looking at the ground.Shit.I’d put the doubt there. I’d acted like a fucking weasel in the car ride home and she probably thought I’d had a terrible time. I grabbed her hand and kissed the back. I pulled her closer, resting my hand on the back of her head. “Callie?”
“Hmm?” Her eyes were closed, her mouth parting in anticipation of the kiss I craved to give her. I held off, though. Somehow, someway, I did.
“You know how I feel about your eyes being closed.” She opened them up, and I closed the distance between our mouths. If heaven had a taste, it was her. Her cherry-red lips drove me fucking crazy and I wanted to suck the red off them. It wasn’ther.
I pressed her into the car, trapped her wrists with my hands and she bucked into me. I couldn’t handle the chemistry between us and I released her mouth, only then to kiss the spot by her neck and shoulder. When I bit down and she moaned, I about came in my goddamn pants. “Your lips tonight. They were different.”
“Yeah. Lipstick,” she said, her chest heaving and confusion flooding her eyes at my sudden release of her mouth.
“They drove me fucking insane. The red is amazing, but I prefer these better.” I traced them with my fingers and her lips trembled.
“O-h, okay.” She let out another moan and stammered, “Sh-should we head upstairs?”
“Is that what you want? It’s entirely up to you, babe. This date already fucking rocked. No pressure.” I said the words, but prayed she saidyes. I wanted to taste her and frankly, I wasn’t ready to say goodnight.
“Yes.” Her eyes became fiery again. My favorite. “Let’s go before I remove my clothes out here.”
“We can’t fucking have that.” I picked her up without asking. She let out a squeal of shock. “This is quicker. Trust me.”
“I don’t think so, but I appreciate it all the same. I can suck your neck now.” She did. I almost dropped her.
“Shit, don’t touch me yet. I have to go upstairs.” I groaned when she ran her tongue down my neck. “Callie.”
“Now I think you understand how I’ve been feeling the whole damn night. Sucks, doesn’t it?” she whispered into my ear and I took the stairs two at time.
“Keys. Now,” I barked at her, setting her down as lightly as I could.
She pulled them from her pocket and dropped them. Twice. “Shit. My hands are shaking.”
I took the keys from her and opened the door. She went inside and I shut the door behind me. She spun around, her eyes filled with all sorts of secrets I wanted to explore. “Well…” She sucked her lip into her mouth. “Want to go explore my favorite base?”
“God, yes.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Callie
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
For the first time since Zade had barged into my life, my brain, heart and gut were all on the same team. It felt goddamn great to not have an internal battle going on.
