She breaks first, sinking her teeth into her lip and reaching for a soda can, and when she attempts to pop the top, the tab snaps off before the can opens.
"Here, let me have it." I reach for the can and pull out the chief. Flicking open the blade, I press it into the aluminum and open the can.
"The chief saves the day once again," she says, grabbing the can and taking a long, slow drink.
I want to change the topic. I don't want to talk about anyone else when I'm with her, but I need to speak my piece first. "Laney, I'll never tell you who you can and can't be friends with, but you should be careful. Noah doesn't care about a title. If he wants something, he thinks it is his for the taking. Guys like him don't take no for an answer, and because you're giving him the time of day, he's not going to let it go."
Laney sets her soda aside and reaches for the snack bag again. "I know," she says, her tone a bit too cheery, given the warning I just gave her as she digs through the bag. "But you still haven't told me about this bet you made." Her eyes swing to mine. "Maybe I'm just keeping my options open."
I tackle her onto the truck bed. "The hell you are, heartbreaker. You're mine. I made it so, and now you're stuck with me." I grab her knee and squeeze right above her kneecap, making her laugh and squeal. Her laughter is like music to my soul. It washes away all the ugly things that are collected from everyday life, taking with it the weight of the things we can't change. When I'mwith her, I'm happy, and the upward curve of her mouth as she laughs and struggles against my weight, trying her best to reach my hips and find her counterattack, tells me I make her happy too. When it's her and me, the world falls away.
"London, stop, it hurts…" She struggles to get the words out between laughs, and I release her knee, but my hand doesn't fall away.
Her laughter fades as my hand glides up her thigh, my eyes tracing its ascent as I watch her skin pebble beneath my touch. "When I saw you wearing my shirt at the party, I couldn't take my eyes off you. A million thoughts had already been running through my head, and then you showed up wearing that. I knew the second I saw you wearing it, I would find out why." My fingers reach the hem of her jean shorts, and my eyes finish the journey, finding hers. "I assumed you wanted my attention, and you had it."
Her pouty lips part slightly as her eyes explore the depths of mine. "Cooper Downs was going to try to talk to you, but Fisher stepped in and told him you were off limits because you already belonged to me."
"Why would Fish say that when it wasn't true?"
My hand aimlessly starts playing with the fringe of her shorts again as I find the courage to tell her everything. "Because he's my best friend, and he knew I'd only ever wanted one girl. I just didn't have the guts to own it. I was afraid shooting my shot would ruin our friendship, or worse, I'd ruin your happiness if that was what you had found. But the more I watched and listened to Cooper rattle on in the background, I knew I couldn't go one more day without telling you how I felt, so by the time he dared me to prove it, I had already decided I would pursue you. I didn't know what would happen when I walked downstairs. All I knew was I wasn't proving to Cooper that you were mine. I was proving to myself that I wasn't going to go another day without finding out if it was me that you wanted. When I came downstairs, you and Noah had alreadystarted walking down to the lake...and you know what happened after that."
I make a mental note that I still need to have a talk with Cooper. Noah could have only known about that conversation through him since they play baseball together.
"Maybe you didn't bet on me then, but on the field tonight…I bet on you."
"How so?" I ask as I lean on my arm beside her, making myself at home with her body tucked against mine.
"I've never been able to figure you out. There have been times when I thought I knew what you were thinking, what you wanted, but then you'd go and do something that said the opposite. All these years, I wanted you to see me the same way I saw you, and tonight on the field, I had to sift through all the times I thought you did, all the times that made zero sense, like when Riley Heron showed up on your front lawn."
"Hey, can we not?—"
Her finger presses against my lips. "I get it. I'm not trying to rehash what's done. I'm only saying I had to bet on the man I thought you were, the one who didn't always let me in."
My hand finds her hip. "I did let you in, and it scared the shit out of me every time. I'd be lying if I said it still doesn't."
She smiles softly. "Good, at least we're on a level playing field." Her hand reaches for the one I have on her hip, and she brings it to her chest. Placing it over her heart, she says, "This is what you do to me every time you look at me."
"It's racing," I say, my fingers splaying over her soft skin.
"It always does when you're around."
"I want to kiss you, Laney Hart."
A small smile turns her lips upward. "You're in luck because I want the same thing."
It's not our first kiss, but damn if it doesn't feel like it. I'm hooked, addicted, and still completely terrified—the same way I was the night in her room. I don't know if having her will ever shut out the fear. If anything, in a way, it makes it worse. Before, Ifeared her not wanting the same things. I feared never knowing what it was like to have her, and now I fear losing her. I can't lose her.
As our kiss deepens, her hands wander, and fuck if I don't love every inch they explore. My hands do the same, memorizing the curve of her hips, the softness of her stomach, and the heat between her legs when she throws her thigh over mine. Shit. A groan I can't contain rumbles from deep in my chest. She's too perfect, and I want everything. The soft fingers that were exploring my chest dip to my belt, and I release her mouth.
"Laney…" is all I manage as I close my eyes and try to temper my body's reaction to her.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"God, no, you could never do anything wrong."
"Then why did you stop?" Her hand suggestively slides along my waistband, and I grab it. "Oh." Her face drops.
"Don't do that. You have no idea how hard it is to say no to you."
