Page 54 of Duke
“A what?”
“You know.” She turns back to look at me. In the sun, the brown in her eyes turns translucent, warm like whiskey. “That scene inTitanic, when Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet steam up the windows in that car?”
I laugh. “I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never seen that movie.”
She stares at me. “You’re kidding.”
“I’m not.” My heart pounds.Do it. Just ask her.“Would you be interested in coming over to my place tonight to, well, come, and then we could watch it?”
She blinks. My pulse stumbles.
“I totally get it if that’s not your, uh, vibe,” I continue. “I just really—what I’m trying to—it’s not just sex I want. I need you to know that. I’d like to—yeah, maybe date you or…take you out on a date. Many dates. And have sex too, of course. But only if you want to! No pressure. I just…” Spearing a hand through my hair, I let out a pained chuckle. “I like you, Wheeler, and I’d like it if the thing we had happening this weekend kept…well, happening.”
Wheeler blinks again. She as shocked as I am by my babbling? I’d like to think I’m a relatively confident guy, but all of a sudden, I’m flustered as fuck.
I’mnervous.
Doesn’t help matters when the expression in her eyes morphs into something like pain.
Like disappointment.
She looks away, and my heart falls.
Everything in me falls, gathering together in a terrible, weighted certainty in my gut.
She’s not coming home with me tonight. Or any night.
My disappointment must show on my face, because when Wheeler turns back to look at me, her expression contracts.
“Look, Duke. This weekend has been a ton of fun. I mean that. And I like you. I really, really do—”
“But you can’t date me.” I search her eyes. “Or you won’t. Why? This is good, Wheeler. I think we could be good together.”
Her brows curve upward, her eyes filling. “I admire your optimism. But this weekend…it can’t happen again. I’m so busy with work—”
“I love your work. I support it, wholeheartedly.” I rock my hips, a reminder that I’m still inside her. “It quite literally turns me on.”
“Jesus, Duke, you’re not making this easy.” She puts a hand on my chest.
I brush the hair out of her face. “Just give me a chance. That’s all I ask.”
She looks away again. Looks down. I see her eyelashes flutter in an attempt to blink back tears.
Really, why is she doing this? Why make things difficult when they could be easy? I know she’s feeling me, same as I’m feeling her.
“I have some napkins in my bag.” Her voice is thin as she pushes onto her knees, pulling up her pants before falling into the passenger seat. “Here, I’ll clean us up.”
My cum is everywhere. It smells like sex in the cab. I feel sticky and cold despite the heat pumping through the vents.
“Did I do something to turn you off or…”
Wheeler shakes her head. “You did everything right.”
Then why are you turning me down, sweetheart?
I get my answer when we’re back on the highway. We’re in east Colorado now, the soaring majesty of the mountains giving way to an endless stretch of high plains.
“Like I told you, my parents are splitting up,” Wheeler says. She’s holding a can of sparkling water in her hand that we picked up at a gas station after we hooked up. The can’s gotta be mostly empty by now.
