“I forgot my fake boyfriend was that much older than me.”
“I’m not that much older. You’re twenty-nine.”
“And a half. I feel like the half is very important.”
“Worried I’ll sound like a cradle-robber?”
“No. I’m worried thatI’llsound like a grave-robber.”
I wanted to kiss the smile off his mouth. I wanted to memorize the shape of it with mine so I could replay it in the dark later when I was alone.
“I have to get inside.” I opened the door, but at the last minute, I leaned across the seat and pressed a kiss to Perry’s cheek. “Thank you for a wonderful evening.”
I climbed out of the car before Perry could protest or before I could do something stupid like try to climb across the seat to get closer to him. I leaned down, looking in the door to bid Perry a final goodbye before closing the door of the car. And so what if I walked to my doorstep and then turned and stood there and watched him drive away. Only turning to go inside once he was out of sight.
Danish greeted me with his usual enthusiasm. His tiny legs turned into springs, and he bounced up and down while I toed my shoes off by the door and then carried them to my bedroom closet where they would be stored until I had another occasion to wear my shiny black loafers. Because of my job, I usually wore sneakers, but I wanted to look nice for Perry.
I flopped down on my bed, facing the ceiling and Danish used his little doggy staircase to join me. He tried to lick my face, but I pushed him away gently and chided him to behave. Instead, he laid next to me, his little tail thumping on the bed, holding a quick but steady rhythm like a fuzzy metronome.
If I’d had a tail, it would have been doing the same thing when Perry kissed me.
“Danish, I’m screwed, aren’t I?”
Danish let out a soft woof as if to agree with me. “That’s what I thought.”
SIXTEEN
PERRY
Rex kissedme on the cheek and then just vanished before I could say or do anything. It was like he made my brain go offline. I somehow managed to pull away from the curb without looking back longingly. Points for me curbing my obsession.
The kiss under the streetlight had sent sparks shooting up from my soul. Rex had looked at me like he wanted to devour me after that kiss, and in the car and then again when his lips brushed against my cheek. There was no denying he wanted me. At least, I thought he wanted me.
Up ahead was an intersection and going straight would take me out of his subdivision. Taking a right would let me loop around back to his house. Straight was the obvious answer. The one that made the most sense. Rex wasn’t supposed to like me, or want me, or kiss my cheek like a fucking gentleman. He was supposed to be just some guy I pretended to date so I could get a taste of what a real relationship was like.
Naturally, I turned right, and the next thing I knew I was pulling into Rex’s driveway, my car just barely fitting beside his.
He probably hadn’t noticed that I was here. I could still leave, and he’d never be the wiser. But I turned the engine off and undid my seatbelt anyway. I’d made some bad decisions in my life, and I was familiar with the sense of impending doom that would hang over me as I made a choice I knew was bad. I waited for that feeling to show up as I climbed out of the car and approached his front door… but it never did.
So either this wasn’t a bad idea, or I was too broken now to recognize one when I saw it. It didn’t matter. I lifted my hand and curled it into a fist and knocked on the door. Inside, I could make out the faint sound of a dog barking if I strained to listen. So I knocked again, louder this time. Fueled by urgency, I knocked faster.
The door swung open and Rex stood there, bathed in light. He hadn’t even gotten undressed or so much as undid a single button on his shirt.
“Perry?”
“You forgot something,” I said, taking a breath, giving myself one last moment to change my mind.
He patted his pockets, presumably checking for his wallet and his phone. His brow crinkled, his confusion evident.
This could go so unbearably wrong.
“What did I forget?” he asked.
I took a step forward, inviting myself into his house. Reaching for him, I grabbed the sides of his face, cradling his cheeks in my palms. My skin was hotter and tighter than it had any business being. I was a bomb about to go off if I didn’t kiss him soon.
“Me.” And that’s when I pulled him down to me. I stepped forward again, pushing us further into the house. Rex’s arms wrapped around me as we kissed. With my foot, I kicked back and shut the door, wincing when it slammed a little harder than I’d intended.
“Oops,” I said, breaking the kiss. Before I could say anything else, Rex was on me again. His mouth hot, his tongue licked past the seam of my lips as his fingers dug into my waist like he didn’t know yet if he wanted to pull me closer or push me away.
