Page 159 of Wildest Dreams

He pulls back with hazy eyes, his shoulders heaving quickly up and down. Then he flicks his eyes across the room and nods, one of his hands tugging the cap off my head and tossing it gently on a pretty wooden dresser.

I allow myself to do a three-sixty in the room, more than a little surprised by the choice in décor. It’s all rustic and cosy, with low-beam ceilings that Tanner literally has to duck under. The only hint that this room once belonged to a teenage boy is the large TV and game console in the corner behind the door, with a cosy brown recliner set in front of it, where presumably he did those multi-player video games with his friends.

“I never had a games console,” I admit, running a hand through my curls as I shake them back over my shoulders.

“No?” he asks, gently brushing his fingers through my hair. “We can use it if you want. Haven’t touched that thing since I was about seventeen, though.”

We walk slowly around his room, him watching my expressions as I peek inside drawers and flick through a small pile of DVDs. When I move to the long wooden desk in front of the window I pause for a beat as my eyes land on a flyer.

I blink down at it before reaching over tentatively.

“Is that–?” I begin, just as Tanner shoves it off of the table, cheeks burning red as he moves in front of me, blocking the view.

I look up at his face, gorgeously rugged and flushed with embarrassment.

“Was that a cheer flyer?” I ask him incredulously, fighting the pull of my dimples. “Was that a flyer for one of my competitions?”

I already know the answer seeing as I helpeddesign that flyer. Not to mention the fact that there’s aphoto of me on it.

Tanner shoves a hand through his hair, chest pumping hard as he glances down at me.

The long-sleeved shirt really does nothing but accentuate his enormous biceps and pecs.

“Tanner?” I ask again, really smiling now.

“Yeah?” he rasps, dropping his eyes as he takes my hips.

“Did you… keep one of my Carter U cheer flyers?” I ask him, rubbing my palms over his chest as he drops his forehead to mine.

“What’d, uh… what’d make you say that?” he asks, his hands bunching the fabric of my dress, twisting it in his fists.

I squeeze his pecs and giggle. “Because that flyer on your desk had a photo of me on it.”

And it was also folded over multiple times so that I was the only girl he could see. My heart squeezes in pleasure but I refrain from mentioning that.

“Would that… bother you? If I did?” he says, panting slightly.

“Well, it’s a bit too late to ask that now seeing as I’ve already seen it, stalker,” I laugh teasingly.

He swallows hard, eyes molten when they meet mine.

“Is that weird?” he rumbles, walking me backwards until my thighs hit the soft cushioning of his bed. “That I kept it?”

I shake my head at him, eyes sparkling. Then I whisper, “What did you use it for?”

He pokes his tongue in his cheek, gaze raking down my front and then back up.

“You don’t have any social media,” he says gruffly, by way of explanation. Then he moves his mouth to my ear and murmurs, “You know exactly what I used it for.”

I breathe out a shaky exhale, hands moving to his biceps to squeeze him harder. “No way did you use it for that,” I whisper, and now it’s his turn to breathe out a laugh.

“Yeah way I used it for that,” he rumbles, hitting me with one of his belly-flipping smirks before dipping his mouth down to mine.

Sunlight streams in through the window as he helps me wrap my arms up around his broad shoulders, hunching low so that he can kiss me while we stand.

I jump up onto my tip-toes to lessen the distance between us and I feel him smile against my lips, chuckling quietly.

“Shortie,” he murmurs, smirking.

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