Every time I brought my head down to take a bite, a piece of my hair fell into my face. I let out a huff and pushed it behind my ear, only for it to fall back into my face. Now I was regretting taking my hair out of its ponytail before coming in here.
I loved my thick hair, but moments like this made me want to chop it off.
“Here.” Mateo nudged my arm. I glanced over to see him tugging off a black hair tie from his wrist.Did he have that this whole time?
“You have a hair tie?” I looked from his head to the tie held between his fingers.
With a shrug, he said, “You always lose or forget yours.”
I sat there frozen, eyes wide and mouth opened. He got hair ties for…me?He said it so nonchalantly, like he didn’t go out of his way to do something I offhandedly mentioned days ago. Where the hell did this man come from?
“You’re going to catch flies with your mouth open like that,” Mateo teased, dangling the elastic band in front of me. I took it, unable to form words. This man made me speechless every time I saw him.
A million emotions fluttered through me. It wasn’t anything extravagant, yet it was the most thoughtful thing anyone had ever done for me. How was it that a man I’d only known for two weeks made me feel more wanted than I ever had before?
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I gathered my thick hair at the back of my head and wrapped the hair tie around it. Since I couldn’t lean over and kiss Mateo—not really the place to kiss him for the first time—I gently nudged his arm.
“Thank you.”
When he looked at me, eyes more blue than the Mediterranean, and smiled, I knew I was a goner. “Anytime.”
We ateand talked for well over an hour before we eventually made our way outside. Erin was deep in conversation with Jake, Perry right behind them. Pretty sure I was suddenly nonexistent to my best friend, especially with two attractive men by her side giving her their undivided attention.
I knew I probably should head home and shower, but I wasn’t quite ready to leave Mateo. He was going to be busy this next week with practice and games, so I wasn’t sure the next time I’d see him again.
“Can I steal you away for a bit longer?” Mateo suddenly asked. It was as if he read my mind. “Unless you have other plans?”
Even if I did, I would have gladly canceled them to hang out with him longer.
“I’m free for the rest of the day,” I answered, curbing my enthusiasm that he wanted to do something.
“Drive with me?” That boyish look and charm was going to be my undoing.
“Let me give my keys to Erin.” I felt Mateo’s eyes on my ass as I walked over to her. I knew my ass looked good and had a good pump from our workout class, so he could gladly look all he wanted.
Conversation stopped as I neared my best friend. I sent her a sheepish smile, hoping I hadn’t interrupted something.
“I’m going to get a ride with Mateo. Are you okay takingmy car back to the apartment?” I extended my keys and dangled them in front of her.
A sly smile took over her face. “I’m definitely okay with that.” Her eyes flickered over my shoulder to Mateo and back to me. “You go and have fun. Text me when you’re heading home.”
The tilt of her head and the widening of her eyes told me I should stay clear of the apartment for the next few hours. I stole a quick glance at Jake and Perry before turning back to her with raised eyebrows.
“I will.” I turned to Jake and Perry, offering a smile. “It was nice meeting you two.”
“I want to say it was fun, but I’ll never go to a Pilates class with you again,” Perry joked.
“You say that now, but you’ll be back.” I grinned. Pilates was hard, but for some reason, you kept coming back each time.
“It was nice to get to know the girl who has our boy in knots.” Jake sent me a wide smile. “Keep him on his toes for us,” Jake lowered his voice, and I laughed.
“Always.” I took a step back and shot the three of them a mischievous grin. “Have fun you three.” With a wink, I turned and walked back to Mateo. He looked over my head at his friends and then at me.
“Do I want to know what’s going on over there?”
“Probably not,” I chuckled. “What do you want to do?”
“I have an idea in mind.”
