Page 102 of The Change Up
This weekend is the NFL draft, the biggest weekend for college football players looking to play at the next level. Brynn finished her finals early so she could be with Quinton. We’re all excited for Q as experts have predicted he’ll go in the top five of the first round.
“Speaking of Q,” Cody says, leaning in closer and kissing my neck. I blush because we aren’t alone in the library, and I am still not one for PDA. “He needs me to do him a solid. Can I borrow your keys?”
I eye him skeptically. “Um, yeah, that’s fine.”
Pulling out my keys from my bag, I hand them over. Q must have some kind of surprise planned for Brynn, but I can’t figure out why he wouldn’t have asked me himself. Whatever.
“Thanks, babe. Good luck with your final.” Cody stands, planting another kiss on my lips before he walks away.
“Hey,” I hiss, trying not to disturb others. “How will I get back in?”
“I’ll just wait for you.” He smiles, making a heart gesture with his hands, and my heart melts.
I love him.
Three hours later I’m finally climbing the stairs to the front door. I’m exhausted. My brain feels like mush. I think my kidneys are failing from all of the caffeine. I just want to climb into the biggest pair of sweatpants I have and watch a movie.
I can tell from the windows that the lights are off, and I’m hoping Cody remembered he has my keys, and there’s no way I can get in if he locked up and left. Pushing open the front door, I’m greeted with candles lit on the entryway table.
“Cody!” I call out, putting my bag on the hook and taking off my shoes.
I start toward the kitchen but catch movement out of the corner of my eyes. Cody walks into the front entryway from the living room. Athletic shorts hang off his slender hips, a CTU shirt stretches tight across his chest, and his CTU hat is on backward. But it’s what he’s holding that has me pausing.
“What’s that?” I ask, closing the gap between us.
His famous smirk quirks the corner of his lips. “A DVD player. I thought we could watch a movie together.”
Tilting my head to the side, I gaze up at him. “You know I have Netflix, right?”
“I know.” He shrugs, stepping even closer until there’s barely enough space for him to hold the DVD player between us. He peers down at me, a boyish grin appearing almost as if he’s nervous for my response. “But I thought we could watch it on this. It reminds me of the time I came over and almost kissed you.”
“During the ice storm,” I whisper. “I knew you were going to kiss me.”
“Well of course I was going to kiss you. Seriously, Chloe, you read romance books as a hobby. It was the perfect opportunity.”
Leaning up on my toes, I wrap an arm around his neck, pulling him down to me. Our lips meet as I gently nip his bottom lip before pulling away. “Brynn said the same thing. I think her words were more like we should use each other to keep warm.”
“I knew she was a good wingwoman.” His laugh vibrates his chest as the two of us separate. He takes my hand and leads me into the kitchen, which only has candles lighting the room.
On the counter sits a pizza box, a bowl of salad, what looks like lemon bars, and paper plates. Dropping my hand, he heads to the fridge. Popping the door open, he reaches inside and pulls out a can of hard seltzer. “You’ve really made yourself at home while I was gone.”
“Only the best for my girl.” Setting the cans of hard seltzer down, he gestures for me to step around the island. “Fill your plate, babe.”
Lifting the pizza lid, I smile down at the pepperoni and pineapple pie. Cody Jacobs left nothing out of his plans for tonight. If I didn’t love him already, I would now.
“Thank you for doing this.”
Wrapping his arms around my waist, he slides his chest against my back before trailing kisses up my neck. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I say, tilting my neck so he can get a better angle. With one last hard nip, he backs away, leaving me a wet, needy mess. “Forget the pizza, let’s go make out.”
He chuckles. “There’ll be plenty of time for that.”
“Oops, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”
Cody spins me until my back is pressed against the counter as his front presses into me. I can feel his hard length against my stomach. I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s worked up.
“I think you did mean to say it. I think my sweet, shy, quiet girl wants to be loud and demanding about what she wants.”
