“I don’t recall it being horrible.”
He leaned back and braced himself, one hand on the metal truck bed behind her back. Not making contact, but totally claiming her space. Which was super funny, given that she was Sadie and it’s not like she got claimed often.
She wasn’t a stunner like her sisters.
Sadie was just…well…Sadie.
“You’re correct. Not horrible. Totally awful is a better word choice,” Roman said.
“The party wasn’t either of those things.” She flicked her brown hair over her shoulder so her view of him wouldn’t be blocked by her annoyingly long hair. She’d been considering a short, smart bob cut for law school. Something that might make her look a little older. She had a baby face that she’d never fully outgrown.
Roman scratched at the top of his ear. “As I recall, there was a brawl between my brother and me.”
“That was actually pretty fun to watch.” This was not a lie. The two brothers were so evenly matched that the fact that Jase was younger than Roman had no real bearing on the outcome of the fight—a draw according to their mother who lost her utter shit when the boys took out the catered buffet—chicken skewers and shrimp satay flew through the air to bounce off the guests and land in the swimming pool.
That part was pretty funny.
“Good times.” Roman grinned a grin that made Sadie hope. Really hope.
Hope for what?
Well, that part was debatable.
“Now look at us,” Roman continued. “Grown up, but still going to desert parties to drink beer from a keg.” He jerked his chin toward her oh-so-warm beer.
“Where would you rather be?” she asked.
He caught her gaze then. Despite the chill in the air, she heated like she’d just slipped into a hot bath after a long trip.
Which made no sense.
And all the sense in the world.
“Nowhere else I’d rather be, Sadie.”
Do it, Sadie. Oh yes, just do it.Perhaps a distraction was in order, after all. She’d never had a one-night stand before. Never wanted one until now.
“Do you want to get out of here?” She glanced up at him.
The intensity of his gaze sparked with interest at the implied meaning of her suggestion.
“That depends.” His chest rose and fell softly with each breath he took. “Where are we going?”
“There’s a movie playing that I’ve been wanting to see.”
“Is that right?” Roman asked, angling his body so they faced each other. So their individual spaces became one. Not his, not hers, but theirs.
Sadie traced a fingertip over the curves of his knuckles. “Or we could go to my place.”
A breath of a moment passed. The kind of moment when a girl had to pause to see if she was going to have a freaking fantastic night or if rejection would be her friend as she watched a hot movie star race cars on the big screen instead.
This was that moment.
And, goodness gracious, it was stretching into what felt like forever.
“Let’s go to your place.” Roman followed the line of her bottom lip with the edge of his thumb.
Sadie grinned, holding his gaze. Yes, distraction with Roman was going to be oh so very fun. She nodded.
