Page 43 of Love.V2
“You could grab me and plant one on me like the first time.”
“I did not grab you,” I argued, heat flushing my face. It had been our second date, Dylan hadn’t kissed me yet, and we’d been walking across the parking lot after dinner. I was freaking out about whether he was going to kiss me when I got in the car, or back at the dorm, or…at all? I’d pulled him to a stop in the middle of the half-empty parking lot.
“We should kiss,” I’d told him. He’d agreed. After a few seconds of a small eternity, I’d realized he was waiting for me. I’d rolled up to my toes and, well, planted one on him.
We’d made out in his car for nearly an hour after.
“I know a lot of things have changed since college, but I don’t think I’m the sex on a second date kind of guy,” he offered, stroking a stray piece of hair back from my face. The hum of anxiety quieted in my head at his admission. “I like getting to know you again. Seems like we should…wait. Right?”
“Right,” I sighed, finally leaning into him. His arm wrapped around my waist, and my chin rested on his chest as my eyes slipped closed. “I like getting to know you again, too.”
His answering hum rumbled through my body. “I would take a kiss, though, if you’re willing to part with one.”
My eyes blinked open, catching him looking at my face with a tenderness that made it hard to breathe. “Air kiss? Like college?” I tried to tease, but I sounded wispy.
“Real, if it’s all the same to you.”
His lips brushed against mine, feather-light, stroking back and forth. At the last second, his tongue darted to swipe into my mouth. The quickest taste, like he couldn’t help himself.
A new sort of butterfly-tingling took over my body. It was a first kiss, but not. It was a millionth kiss, and in this moment, looking at him with new eyes, that made it feel like the only thing that mattered.
Chapter 12
Dylan
“Thanks for being flexible.”
My dad stood from his seat to give me a brief, back-smacking hug. The sports bar a few miles from the airport wasn’t the most convenient place to meet for dinner, but Dad had insisted on seeing me before his flight back home from his quick business meeting today.
“Would have been better if we’d stuck with dinner last night,” he grumbled. I held in a sigh.
“I told you. Standing date with Tess. Couldn’t reschedule it.” More like, I didn’t want to reschedule it. Three weeks into our regular check-ins and Fridays had quickly become my favorite day. I’d known something was missing in my life. I’d assumed it was Tess, but I gradually realized it wasn’t just her I’d missed.
It was us. What we could be together. Me when I was with her, at my best.
Seeing her now, thoughtfully leading work meetings, going off to karaoke with Meery, and finding new excuses to meet up with friends from her gym, made me want to be that man.
It reminded me of the Tess that had been so attractive to me in college I hadn’t been able to focus on anything else.
“Yeah,” Dad grunted, sipping his beer. “How’sthatgoing?”
“Good.” I motioned to the server for a glass of whatever my dad was having, choosing to ignore his flat tone. “Great, actually. We’re getting to know each other again. Having fun. Last night we went to an omakase place and tried about seven different types of sushi I didn’t even know existed.” Tess’s face when the chef had presented her with raw sea urchin, still nestled in its spiky shell, had been the highlight of my evening.
“Sounds pricey. You footing the bill for all this ‘fun’ you two are having?”
Jesus. “Dad, I’m not talking with you about Tess if you’re going to be like this.”
“Be like what? Concerned for my son when some girl makes him move across the country with no commitments? Makes you press pause on your dream job? What are you even doing over here?Consulting?” He said consulting like other people might say “drug lord.” It had been easier to tell him I was trying out a temporary travel gig for Worther, instead of the truth: that I was leaving altogether. Just like with the Jinx employees, it would take time to ease him into that decision. He’d been pushing me to become Worther’s CEO since the day I was hired.
“She’s not just some girl.”I couldn’t stop myself from snapping. He had liked Tess at first, but his approval waned when we started getting more serious. He was worried she’d distract me from my post-grad plans, and after I’d graduated, his snide comments had only gotten more frequent. Tess leaving had just given him more ammo. “It’s Tess, Dad. She’s important. It’s a miracle she’s even giving me another chance.”
He scoffed as the server slid a glass in front of me. “It’s a miracleyouare giving her another chance.” He held his hand up when I opened my mouth to argue. “I remember what it was like, son. Watching you work so hard, and her not caring. All those eighty-hour weeks you put in? For her? For your future? And what was she doing? Some shit like a yoga class or painting? What kind of partner does that make her?”
A spike of anger heated my skin. An oily, nauseous feeling followed. The familiar sensation of the resentment I’d cultivated over years of working my ass off, and Tess not seeming to notice or care at all. I pushed it down. I’d gotten over that. I was the one who had screwed everything up and needed to make it right. I wasover that.
“You don’t know what Tess and I have been through,” I started. His shaking head silenced me again.
“Same as me and your mom.”
