“Your woman?” I challenge.
“Yes. Mine.” For the first time, doubt flickers over his bullish features. “If you’ll still have me…”
Exhaustion overtakes me. This constant push and pull is too much for me to handle right now, especially with his impressive bulge still pressing against my aching center. I climb off his lap and crawl farther into my bed, wrapping myself up in my favorite soft blanket like a Russian babushka. The thick fleece is a shield against the onslaught of emotions I’m too tired to process.
Part of the reason I liked him in the first place was he didn’t bullshit me, but now it feels like he’s playing games like everyone else. He promised me no bullshit, and here he is, doing the epitome of bullshit.
“I…I’m really confused,” I admit in a small voice, gazing up at him from under my bright hood.
I can’t focus on anything while I’m trying to decode his intentions and untangle my own feelings. Before today, I would have trusted him at his word, but now I’m not sure, and that makes everything harder.
This is the part where people realize I’m not exactly normal. Normal girls don’t shut down when they get overstimulated. Normal girls don’t have to actively think to see beyond the surface of the words they’re being told.
I’m expecting Gage to realize that too and take off, but he doesn’t. He only watches me without a trace of judgment.
“What’s got you confused?”
The tenderness in his voice melts some of my icy armor.
“It’s barely been six hours since you made it clear at Cutter’s that you would never be with me, and it felt like you meant it. Now you’re here kissing me and telling me I’m yours, and you sound like you mean that too. So I’m not sure what to believe, or if I can even trust my read on you at all. What happened to no bullshit?”
His face twists as his whole body slumps in defeat.
“I fucked up. At the gym. At Cutter’s. Hell, probably even now. When you kissed me, all I could think about was how perfect you are, and how I’d ruin that if I let you get close to me. So I pushed you away, and I kept pushing. But then I saw that piece of shit flirting with you today and damn near lost my mind.”
I scoff and roll my eyes. “You did more than ‘nearly’ lose it.”
“Fair enough. I saw you with him and lost any rational sense. But even then, I wasn’t man enough to claim you. But that isn’tbecause I don’t have feelings for you. I like you, Kori. I’ve liked you for a while. It just took me a while to get my head out of my ass about it, and this is me trying to fix my mistakes before they become permanent. I don’t want to miss out on the chance to get to know you for real. If I’m already too late, I’ll go.”
My stomach drops as he starts to stand. I scramble out from under my protective cocoon and grab his hand before he can go anywhere.
“No. It’s not too late,” I tell him.
His lashes fall shut for a moment, and he takes a deep breath before threading his fingers through mine. Silence settles between us. It’s not necessarily uncomfortable, but awkward energy taints the air.
“So what happens now?” I ask.
“Now I ask you out.” The look in his eye is no less intense than it was when I opened my door. “Would you like to get dinner with me this Sunday?”
“I’d love to,” I tell him, and he gives me a glimpse of one of his rare full smiles.
“Good.” He runs his thumb over the back of my hand while he speaks. “As much as I would love to stay, you need sleep.”
A surge of panic washes through me. What if he leaves and decides this was a mistake too?
“Hey, what’s that face for?” He catches my chin in his hand and stares into my eyes.
“I’m scared,” I admit.
“Me too. I’ve never actually done this whole girlfriend thing before.”
Girlfriend?
That one word eases some of the anxiety, and I relax into his touch.
He kisses me again, more languid than before—quicker too. It’s over before things get a chance to heat back up again.
“You need sleep.” He runs his thumb over my petulant pout before he stands for real. “I’ll text you in the morning. Lock the door behind me.”
