Page 57 of Yours, Unexpectedly

I pause, spinning around so fast she crashes right into me. I lightly grasp her throat before sliding my hand up her neck and into her silky curls. “Patience, baby. We’ll get to that, but I want to take you somewhere first.” I lightly nip her earlobe and my chest automatically puffs up when I hear her breath catch.

“O-Okay… I guess that’s okay.”

“Good.” I smirk, placing a kiss right below her earlobe.

I hail a cab and we hop in the back, looking slightly ridiculous dressed to the nines inside a taxi.

“76th and Madison,” I tell the driver, sliding on the seat until my body is pressed up against Bex’s.

“Have I told you how gorgeous you look tonight?” I ask, twirling a curl around my finger. I know that question is cheesy, but damn, she makes it hard to breathe when I look at her.

She giggles in response, which is rare for her but seems to be coming out more and more. She relaxes into me, her face growing serious. “I’ve been thinking about what we talked about earlier tonight.”

My heart feels like a caged bird doing its damnedest to get out of my chest. I am confident about dating Bex. I know that I want her and I’ve tried to make that clear from the start—she’s it for me. But I haven’t wanted to push her, and I don’t know what I’ll do if she tells me that’s not what she wants.

“What have you been thinking?” I breathe, trying to keep my voice level even though I’m freaking out.

“I’m not sure if this just friends thing is working out.”

“Yeah, fuck friends,” I joke.

“Like fuck being friends? Or you want to be fuck friends?” She smirks.

“Either. Both. Everything.” I take a deep breath, bringing her hand up to my lips. “I want to be everything with you. Do you—Is that something you want, too?”

She nods. “I think I do…” Her whisper is tentative.

“You think or you know? I can keep waiting for you, Bex. If that’s what you needed, I’d wait for you.”

“I know,” she replies with more surety. “I know what we have feels different than anything I’ve ever felt before. I’m scared. I—I am honestly terrified of losing you. You’ve become someone so important to me, and it feels wrong to just be your friend. I want more than that. I want to be your girlfriend”—she scrunches up her nose—“even though that word doesn’t feel quite right either.”

I pull her legs up over my lap, gently massaging her calves as her head falls to my shoulder. “I know what you mean… Boyfriend doesn’t encompass what I want to be to you. But it’s a good place to start.” I turn my head and plant a kiss on her temple. “And I’m not going anywhere. Can you trust me on that? I want this. I want you. We can work out all the kinks when we get home, but for now, I just want to enjoy tonight. I want to enjoy you being mine.”

She looks up at me through full lashes, caramel eyes soft and gooey. “I am yours.”

“Fucking finally,” I say before crushing my mouth to hers.

Her mouth opens on a gasp as I slide my hand up her exposed thigh. I run my tongue across hers, reveling in the warmth of her mouth on mine. She sucks and nips, and I have to stop her before I take her right here in the back of this cab. “Baby, you’re killing me.”

“I’m killing you?! Why do you think I call you killer? You kill me every time you look at me with those lust filled eyes! I’m going to combust from sexual frustration!”

“Okay, okay. Cool your jets, Baby Bardot.” I chuckle even as she rolls her eyes. “I have one place I want to go and then we can go back to the hotel room, and you can have your naughty way with me, got it?”

She huffs and slouches back against the seat, blowing the hair out of her face with a frustrated breath.

“Fine, but I don’t need you to be all romantic! You already have me.”

I nuzzle into her neck. “Yes, I do. And I plan on showing you just how grateful I am for that for as long as you’ll let me.”

We pull up outside of the Carlyle and I pay the cab fare before sliding out and offering my hand to Bex.

She looks up at the building quizzically. “You brought me to… another hotel?”

I laugh lightly. She makes me feel light. “Yes, but unfortunately we don’t have a room here. Come on, I want to show you something.”

We walk in through the lobby toward a bar tucked in the back. We are more than slightly overdressed for our destination, but I don’t care one bit. The maître d' greets us with a small wave. “Mr. Olsson! Thank you for joining us tonight. We have a small table over here for you.”

Did I use the Olsson name to get us into a few special places tonight? Potentially. Do I regret it? Absolutely not.

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