Page 4 of Autumn & Woods
So was I.
She had a way of leaning in when she talked. Her voice was smooth and a little raspy, but it was wrapped up with a smart asstone. She was the kind of woman who knew how to hold space, and I respected that shit.
“You know what I think?” she asked, tilting her head slightly, eyes on me but pretending to be on the bartender pouring. I could tell the drinks had her loose now. I was on the same wave.
“I’m listenin’,” I said.
“I think you like control.”
I smirked. “What gave that away?”
“The drinks. The way you keep watching the room. The way you put my phone down earlier, like it wasn’t a question.”
I took a sip. “You mind it?”
She looked at me for a long second, her glossed lips parted just enough. “No.”
That answer landed right where I wanted it to. “Good,” I said.
Her new glass was already sweating, condensation dripping slowly. She picked it up and traced the rim with her thumb before sipping again. Her eyes never left mine. “You seem real comfortable right now, like I’m not a whole stranger.”
I shrugged. “Not a stranger anymore.”
“Mmm.” She said it like she agreed and already knew I wasn’t going anywhere just yet.
The tension between us was thicker now. The kind that didn’t need loud words or extra moves. It was all in how she angled her body more toward me, how her knee brushed mineunder the bar, and didn’t move. How I leaned just a little closer when she laughed.
“You look like you know something I don’t,” she said, eyes narrowed.
“Maybe I do.”
“Like what?”
“Like you been fightin’ the urge to sit in my lap for the last thirty minutes.”
Her lips parted, breath catching, but she didn’t deny it. Instead, she sat back just slightly and shook her head, smiling to herself like I’d just caught her slipping. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I chuckled. “I do. I’m observant as fuck.”
The lights in the terminal had dimmed a bit, probably automatic, but it made the whole space feel more intimate. Autumn shifted in her seat again, thighs pressing together for maybe the third time since we’d been sitting by the bar. I noticed everything. The way she adjusted her cropped hoodie. The way her fingers toyed with her straw when she wasn’t talking. The way her eyes dropped to my mouth when she thought I wasn’t looking.
I leaned in a little more, close enough for her to catch the scent of me. She shifted again in her seat, thighs pressing once more as her hand dragged across the bar top, slowly. She was either teasing me or herself. Either way, I was locked in. “Ever acted on impulse?” I asked, watching her reaction.
Her brows lifted slightly, like she was curious where I was going with this. “Define impulse.”
“Somethin’ that made sense in the moment even if it shouldn’t.”
She smirked. “You mean like bad decisions that feel good anyway?”
I nodded. “Exactly.”
She didn’t answer right away. She just sipped her drink, eyes on mine the whole time. Then she said, “Once or twice.”
That was enough. “Worth it?”
She let her lips part. “Once was. The other time, I regretted not going further.”
I felt that in my chest. “What stopped you?” I asked.
