His eyes widen as I step forward and tip my head back. He reads me, his reaction time faster than ever as he meets me halfway. His lips don’t crash to mine; they caress them like he’s gone years imagining what this very moment would be like.
Pressing his lips against mine, he kisses me tenderly but firmly, unable to hide how badly he’s wanted to do this.
“Shay.”
His whimper nearly sends me over the edge, but my rumbling stomach pulls me back to the reality that we’re standing in the entryway of a restaurant and not in private.
Selfishly, I steal another kiss before stepping back and clearing my throat, my cheeks burning. I swallow hard, wetting my tingling lips. “D-dinner?”
Biting down on his bottom lip, he nods. “Dinner. After you.”
“Thank you.” I step forward, feeling lighter than I have in a long time.
The maître d’ grins at us before turning on his heel and leading the way toward a table with lit candles and fresh flowers, a beautiful setting like I have never seen before.
“I hope it’s to your specifications, Mr. MacArthur.” He gestures toward the table.
“This is perfect. Thank you guys so much.” He follows me to my chair, pulling it out for me. “My lady.”
“Yours … hmm?” I hum, sitting down and letting him push it in for me.
“Hopefully. I might croak over soon if I have to go much longer without you.” He bends down and kisses the top of my head. “Which is going to be even harder after you stole our first kiss. I had a plan, you know, little thief.”
A cackle slips past my lips as he walks around the table and sits down across from me.
“Oh, really? Please tell me what your grand scheme was before I ruined it with a kiss.”
He holds his hand up, scoffing. “Oh, Ineversaid it was ruined. Iverymuch enjoyed the derailment of my well-thought-out plan.”
“Hmm,” I hum, my lips missing the sensation of his kiss, desperately wanting to go in for round two. But I can’t jump the poor man like a rabid animal. I only just let him touch me for the first time.
“Now, let’s get down to the important discussion of the night.” He sits up taller, grabs the bottle of wine, and pours us each a glass. “Please tell me”—he smirks—“your favorite color since, apparently, I don’t know.”
I laugh at how ridiculous that question sounds after what we’ve been through together. But at least he’s making an effort to get to know the little things.
“Green and pink.”
“Pink surprises me. I don’t see you wear it much.” A simple statement, but one that holds such weight.
“And you know all of my outfits?” I challenge him with a raised brow.
He grabs his glass and swirls it. “I know on the first day we met, you were wearing a maroon suit, which has become a regular in your wardrobe. You gravitate toward vibrant colors during home games and neutrals during away games. But never pink.” He takes a sip. “I would’ve remembered.”
My jaw is practically on the ground by the time he finishes, in complete disbelief that he had all of that stored away in his brain, especially when I had no idea I even did that. The truth is, I’ve worn pink almost every one of those days.
“I wore pink with most of those outfits.” I reach out with my left hand, a pulse shooting through it and trying to distract me, but I ignore it. “You just couldn’t see it.”
His lips part, and he takes a quick breath. “Well, that’s a shame.”
My hand spasms and bumps the glass, clinking against the candle that shakes in place, teetering back and forth. Embarrassment floods me, and my eyes immediately start to burn. I can’t even have a nice, flirty moment without nearly burning the place to the ground.
God, I should’ve just used my right arm. Why the hell was I feeling so bold, putting lefty to the forefront? It’s been doing really well lately, and I guess I just needed a kind reminder that it’ll never be perfect.
Shivers run down my arms, my blood draining from my face, taking my smile with it. “Shit.”
Matt scoops my left hand into his, the pad of his thumb stroking back and forth across my knuckles. “Hey, look at me.”
Blinking away the wetness in my eyes, I bite the inside of my cheek and look up at him, a soft candle glow illuminating his kind eyes.
