“But you will.” She smiled. “It’s so going to happen.”
I rolled my eyes, wiggling my arms away. “You’re so extra.”
“I know.” She giggled.
I crawled out from under the blanket, slipping on my white Birkenstocks that were on the floor next to me, and I went over to where Jordan was sitting to give him a hug. “Thank you for everything. Tonight was amazing.”
“I’m glad you came over.”
As I stepped out of his hold, I glanced from him to Gavin, the brothers only a few feet apart. Football and hockey were literally towering over me, their bodies like brick, but their gazes so different as they looked at me.
I could feel Gavin’s penetrating my skin.
Did he have any idea what he was doing to me?
Could he see right through me?
“Are you ready?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yep.”
He man-hugged his brother and gave Maya a quick kiss on the cheek before he joined me in the back of the living room, and we walked to the elevator. Jordan’s setup was similar to Gavin’s condo, where the door opened directly inside his foyer.
“You don’t have to do this,” I whispered as he hit the button for the elevator.
“I know.”
Why was he standing so close?
Why did it feel like his hands were all over me even though they weren’t?
“I can still take an Uber home. Maya will never know.”
“You’re not taking a fucking Uber.” The blue of his eyes was more intense than ever. “I’m getting you home safely. End of story.” The door opened, and he put his hand on my lower back, leading me inside, the warmth from his fingers reaching well past my skin.
I moved to the far wall, away from his grip, and leaned my back against it. I then tucked my phone into the waist of my leggings so I could hold the thin-lipped railing with both hands.
Gavin pressed the lobby button and stayed toward the side, the door finally closing. Even though my focus was on the door, I could feel his eyes on me.
I could feel them moving down me.
I could feel the wetness they were causing.
How dare he have this effect on me. This control. This ability to trigger such a demanding need.
There was only one way to make it stop.
I finally looked at him, ignoring the chemistry exploding between our gazes and the scent of him in the air and the way my body was internally pounding, and said, “You never answered me. What’s your opinion on Mike?”
The muscle in his cheek contracted, telling me his jaws tightened. “That’s what you want to talk to me about? Now?”
If I thought my heart was pounding before, the speed had upped, and I could feel it all the way in my head. “Yes.”
He pointed his chin upward. “Fuck Mike.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because I don’t give a fuck about him.”
