“Wait. Are you…are you crying?” Stevie leans back, locking eyes with me.
“What? No.” I grab the empty bowl of popcorn and head to the kitchen, discreetly wiping my eyes.
“You are!” Stevie follows me, hopping onto the counter next to the sink. “You loved it, didn’t you?”
“Okay, fine.” I set my hands on my hips. “What’s not to love? The poor bastard is so in love he doesn’t know what to do about it and almost loses her.”
Something I can very easily relate to.
Stevie claps her hands together, holding them over her heart. “And that confession? It gets me every time. Darcy is the perfect man.”
“Oh, he is, is he?”
Grabbing her knees, I push them apart and close the distance between the two of us.
“I mean, it’s the truth.”
I give her a devious smile. “I mean, he kind of is. He knows exactly what to say to make Elizabeth come back to him.”
Stevie links her hands behind my neck and pulls me in for a kiss. Slow. Sweet. Languid.
I’m addicted to her kisses.
“I mean, you’re also pretty great.”
“I’m no Darcy…”
“Eh, not everyone can be.”
I give her one last kiss before putting the popcorn bowl and glasses in the sink. Darkness has swallowed us. The only light is the soft glow of the living room lights, casting long shadows.
“Hey. Would you have any interest in bringing Caleb to the game next weekend? I figure an afternoon game won’t throw off his schedule,” I ask, changing the subject. I don’t need to keep thinking about Darcy and his love confessions.
That’s a problem for future Bode.
“Really?”
I sweep Stevie’s long blonde hair behind her shoulder. “Yeah. I want you to come see me play again, and I want Caleb to be there too.”
“Even though he won’t be able to remember any of it?”
I drop my hand onto the elegant column of her neck, rubbing my thumb along the vein there. “I will. I want my son at the game.”
Stevie’s smile is hesitant. “I mean, if you’re sure.”
I capture her lips in an easy kiss. “Yes. I want you there. Both of you.”
“We’ll be there.” Stevie hops off the counter and walks backward toward the stairs. “Now, care to join me upstairs?”
I nod. “Be there in a minute.”
I watch her go, eating up the view of her disappearing up the stairs. I am in over my head with this woman. I don’t know how I fell so hard, but I did.
I need to grow a pair of balls. Be like Darcy and confess to Stevie how I feel.
I mean, the guy made it look easy.
How hard can it be?
