“Almost sounded like you said you love me.”
My face heated. I was close to loving him. Too close, but I wasn’t ready. That meant fully trusting he’d never hurt me again. And I didn’t think he would, but it was still too fast, too soon. “I’ll say it when it’s the right time.”
“I know, baby. I’m teasing you. I know how you feel about me, and I don’t want you saying a damn thing until you’re ready.” He groaned as he glanced down the road. “Can we run to your place? This no-touching situation might kill me.”
I chuckled. “I can’t run, but I can walk fast?”
“Then walk fast, Ivy Lee. I’m a desperate man.”
24
CALLUM
We won our game last night, and while that feeling was good, I had a new thing driving me. My future with Ivy. I’d already been on the fence about football, not quite sure that was what I needed. But moving across the country, away from her? Only seeing her a few times a month during the season? Nah. That sounded fucking terrible.
The guys at the house all had plans today with their girls, since it was the only day off during the whole season. Dean wanted a team dinner that night, but that meant I had the entire day to spend with Ivy.
We could go to the shelter, but that wasn’t new. She’d enjoy it, but I wanted her to love it.
Her comment about visiting our hometown had stuck with me all weekend, so I made plans. I was taking her back to our hometown, where no one else from Central State would be. She and I were always seen together there, so it wasn’t news.
That way, I could take her on this date and show her how much I loved her. Cause my dumbass said it too early, and she didn’t say it back. It was fine.
Liar.
You want to hear the words.
You’re a greedy, selfish bastard. You want her to return the words.
Of course, I do. I’m not a robot. But she’s not ready.
Which is your fault cause you ghosted her, and she’s scared of that happening again.
How are you so unhelpful?
I’d read about how some people had the voice of reason in their mind. I had the opposite. The voice of utter chaos. There was no rationalizing with it, and I knew better than to try. Sure, yeah, who wanted to admit their love and not have it repeated? No one. It sucked. But I knew her heart. She’d say it when she was ready.
“What are we doing today?” Ivy dressed in cut off denim shorts, a black crop top, her high-top chucks, and her signature black bow in her hair. Her toned stomach and sexy legs would kill me. She was so beautiful and utterly perfect, and my pea brain couldn’t fathom how I didn’t realize how I felt about her in high school.
“I have a surprise, but you look incredible.” I wiped my hands on my jeans and placed them on her bare waist. “You’re fucking gorgeous.” Then I kissed her. I tugged her ponytail to tilt her head back and sucked her bottom lip. “I love this mouth, how you taste, and all the attitude you give me. It turns me on.”
“The attitude?”
“Oh yeah.” I smiled and pulled her against me in a hug. I wanted to breathe her in. Yank her close. It was like I was so afraid she’d slip away that I wanted her as close to me as possible. “We’re gonna take a little drive, but I bet you can figure out where we’re going.”
Her green eyes sparkled. “Mysterious. I like it. I’ve always wondered what it’d feel like to have someone plan a surprise date for me. That’s what this is, right? A surprise date?”
If it wasn’t before, it would be now. She scrunched her nose so her glasses slipped, but she looked so hopeful and cute I nodded. “Damn straight it’s a surprise date.”
“Ah! How romantic. I love this side of you.” She grabbed my wrist and squeezed it. It egged me on when she said shit like that because I wanted the whole thing. “I really like learning this version of you, Callum. This is so different than just hanging out or eating pizza or driving in corn fields.”
“I still like doing those things with you baby, but yeah, I like doting on you. We’ll be out of town, so I can touch you all I want. I can dip my fingers in your waistband or do this.” I kissed the shell of her ear and waited for goose bumps to explode all down her arms. “I fuckinglovethat that works every single time.”
“You’re too sexy for your own good, Callum.” She dug her fingers into my chest and pulled me closer. “You smell so good I want to lick you.”
“Open invite for that, baby. Seriously. You can lick me anywhere, any time.”
She laughed like I wanted her to, and I guided us from her apartment to my car. I opened her door for her, shut it, then hopped in the driver’s side. “Now, a part of me wants to blindfold you for this, but I figured that could be like year two of us together. We could explore some kinkier things.”
