I was pushing my luck, but he hadn’t pushed me away entirely at the mall. Malcolm needed to know I wouldn’t give up on him that easily. I stepped closer into his personal space, placing a hand on his shoulder and leaning in close to his ear.
“Gorgeous, I only want to be wherever you are.”
He shivered against me, and I turned to place a soft kiss against his cheek. The skin heated beneath my lips, and he uttered a small whimper.
“David, that’s playing dirty.”
“Is it?”
Another laugh. “You don’t give up, do you?”
“Not when I know exactly what I want.”
Malcolm pulled away then. He scanned my face, his brow creased, as if doubting my words.
“You don’t—”
I couldn’t let him finish. There was no reason for him to think anything different. I pressed my lips to his, and Malcolm’s arms looped around my neck. There was no fighting me, just the simplicity of the two of us melting into each other for the first time in weeks.
We only broke apart when another blast of icy wind made us both shiver and remember that we were standing on a pier.
“Should we head back?” I asked, resting my forehead against his.
Malcolm bit his bottom lip, but nodded. “That’s probably a good idea. I’d hate for you to die of frostbite from this stupid lake.”
Chapter 19
Malcolm
The house was suspiciously quiet when we got back.
“Mom? Dad?” I called out as we pulled off our jackets and made our way into the kitchen. There was a plate with some cookies on it and a note next to it.
Thought we’d go see a movie. Enjoy your evening.
Why did it feel like my parents were meddling again? Probably because they were. I crumpled up the note and tossed it into the trash can before picking up a cookie. They were still warm, so they hadn’t been gone for very long. It meant we had the house to ourselves for a few hours at least.
Chocolate exploded across my tongue as I took a bite. As much as I teased my mother, if this was another one of her social media video recipes, I was a huge fan. She’d always been a skilled cook, but with having an empty home, she’d just sort of gone nuts with it. Dad had packed on a few pounds, and she’d taken to feeding a few of the neighbors as well.
“Mmmm.” I closed my eyes and listened to David groan around his mouthful of cookie. “This is amazing. What did she put in these?”
I chuckled, taking another bite for myself. “I think they’re just chocolate chip, but they’re the smoothest and creamiest cookies I’ve ever had.” Was that the proper way to describe it? Who the hell cared?
We wandered back into the living room, and I collapsed onto the couch. David sank into the cushions next to me, way closer than was normal. Then again, after that display at the ice cream shop, maybe I should stop fighting it. Would it be so bad if I gave in and had fun? Just a little?
Although, having fun had landed me in this mess in the first place.
“David?” God, my voice shook so damn bad and that jittery feeling was back. Sort of like I’d had too much caffeine and my limbs vibrated with the need to move, but no matter what I did, nothing would settle that sensation.
His warm hand rested on my knee, and little zings of electricity bounced through my body, adding to my already over-sensitized condition. “Is something wrong, Malcolm?”
Was there? Nah. Other than feeling like a silly teenager back in high school, sitting on my parents’ couch next to my crush. I felt as if a huge part of me was missing. When I’d had these experiences the first time, I’d experienced them right alongside my brother.
Without meaning to, I thought back to one night in particular.
“She’s cute? Right?”
I huffed a laugh as Marcus ushered the two girls through the front door. If Mom and Dad knew that we’d had them over, they’d lose their shit. Marcus had been flirting with them all day, and I had to admit that Natalie was really pretty.
