Page 86 of Promise Me

“Are you okay?” I ask.

God, now that I know what that lip tastes like, it’s all I crave. I almost slipped that night, too, but I forced myself to back off.

I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to last if she keeps looking at me like that, though.

She nods.

“O-kay.” I step toward her, and she backs up.

She holds the grocery bags in front of her as if they are a shield at the same time I hold up my phone. “I just got off the phone with Wind Valley’s hockey coach.”

“Oh.” She sets the groceries down on the counter and snaps her fingers. “I hope it’s okay that I gave him your number. I meant to tell you after I did it.”

“It’s fine.”

“Good. What did he want?”

“He wants me to come coach tomorrow.”

“Seriously?” She claps. “That’s great news.”

I nod.

“Are you not going to do it?”

I shrug and then scratch the back of my neck. “I want to do it.”

“Are you still nervous?”

“I haven’t skated since that day,” I admit. “I just?—”

“What if I went with you?”

“I can’t have you with me every time, Sadie.”

“No, but I want to go. At least this time.”

“Maybe,” I say, although I’ll tell her yes later. I don’t want to be too eager.

“Look, I know this is your apartment and you can do anything you want, but do you want to go put some clothes on?” she asks, changing the subject quickly.

I glance down at my attire and chuckle. I’m still wearing nothing but a towel. Now her flushed neck and cheeks after she walked in make sense.

I smile over my effect on her for a brief moment, until my impact on her actually kicks in and makes my brain spin.

We kissed once, and yet it seems as though anytime we’re near one another, every sense is heightened. I know the moment she walks into the living room by the way the hair on my armsstands up. I know she’s walking toward me from the way her lavender scent gets stronger. I know the moment she wakes up because the sound of her bare feet against my hardwood floors is like a song.

A fucking song.

I’m so gone for this woman. It’s insane.

But I’m the one who keeps saying we can’t, so I need to be the one who pretends this situation is no big deal.

“How is this towel different from when I walk around in just my shorts or sweats?”

“It just is.”

“I don’t think it is, so how about you let me put the food away, and we cook dinner.”

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