Is what just occurred one of the sexiest things that has ever happened to me? Yeah–well, second, if I take into account what transpired while he showered. But him laying claim to my feet is in the close running.
My heart is currently bruising my sternum, while my pelvic floor is sore from the number of times my pussy has performed involuntary kegels.
As if he can read my mind, Adrian flashes me a full set of bright teeth before winking and turning to Tommy, completely unaware of the storm of butterflies he’s released.
How the hell those things still have wings after today is beyond me.
“Hey, man. How’ve you been?”
Tommy’s spine straightens, his eyes sparkling like a cartoon character as he replies to Adrian, and soon enough, they’re lost in conversation. It’s not an uncommon thing when he comes around. He’s Adrian Stokes, after all. Number twenty-four. The local hero and prodigy. The boy on TV that everyone knows and watched grow up.
Usually, I poke fun at being best friends with someone famous, but right now, I use the moment to catch my damn breath and flash a look at my sister.
She eyes me in her periphery, a knowing smirk on her face as she purposely avoids looking at me.
Asshat.
I know what she wants. For me to communicate with him. To not let my age-old fear of a second rejection bog me down. And I was rejected. That day, in the woods, right before I was covered in mud. It was a clear move on my part and to have him do that still bothers me. In truth, it also fuels the constant trepidation I have when even considering broaching the subject again. Even though things have clearly shifted, I’m still allowed to be nervous.
Right then, I decide, if something happens, it has to be him who makes the move. I don’t plan to make it easy.
Willow slides Adrian the drink before venturing down the bar to tend to other guests, while I swivel and glance out the pub windows. The daytime parade went by while I was working upstairs, but as the pretty dusk colors surge into the light blue sky, a new crowd forms on the sidewalk.
Most of them have neon green glow stick necklaces, and a long ale in one or both hands. Everyone is dressed in dark colors–per the flyer–and soon, only the glowing paint, which will be squirted on them, will be visible in the night.
It’s a pretty cool concept, and honestly, I’m surprised it took the city this long to accommodate a nighttime crowd.
“Want to go out and watch?” Adrian’s soothing voice causes goosebumps to sprout along my arms.
I swallow and shake my head. “It will be getting busy soon. I need to be here to help.”
“That’s why you have a staff.” He doesn’t touch me, but I feel him move closer behind me. One big breath, and I know my shoulders will brush against his chest. Something about being so close, yet not, is intoxicating.
Perhaps it’s the anticipation of the possibility that’s so exciting.
“Why’d you run from me, Sam?”
I suck in a breath, but it’s too thin, forcing me to clear my throat. He’s near my ear now, his warm breath tickling the fine hairs on top. I’m grateful he can’t see my mouth open and close twice before I find the right words. “I wasn’t meant to see that. It was an evasion of a very private moment.”
I can hear the grin on his face as he speaks. “If you weren’t meant to see it, don’t you think I would have stopped?”
The ache in my pussy flares, and I have to force my eyes to squeeze shut as I steady my breath. I can’t respond. Not only because I don’t know what to say, but also because I need it to be him. He has to outright say what’s happening.
What’s finally happening.
After a torturous pause, he says it. “Are you bothered by the fact I have to think of you to come?”
Breathing becomes nonexistent. My nerves ignite, burning through my limbs and setting my skin on fire. Somehow, I manage to shake my head.
His rumble of approval sends a tremor down my spine. “After I finish this drink, I want to play a game with you, Sam. One we played as kids.”
My brows furrow, intrigue and excitement mixing in with the other emotions wrangling my nerves tight. “What game?”
For a second, I’m not sure if he hears my hushed question through the crowd of patrons, but then he blows out a low chuckle. “A simple game of hide and seek. If I find you, I get something.”
This makes me turn, my eyes quickly taking in his features to gauge his seriousness. When he lifts a brow and casually picks up his drink, I decide to entertain him. “And what would you get?”
He takes a long swig from his glass, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows hard. “A secret of yours.”
“We tell each other everything already,” I counter, ignoring the surge of my pulse.
Adrian shakes his head, the cup clinking against the bar as he sets it down. “No, Bambi. I don’t think we do.”
His implication is more than obvious, and suddenly, I’m not as nervous as I once was. Things have always been murky when it comes to our relationship. The whole thing constantly teetering on the precipice of something more.
It’s as though we’ve been standing at the edge of the pool. Both of us see the beauty and possibility of what it’d be like to take a swim, but also the terrifying notion of what will happen if we don’t know how to swim.
What he’s proposing feels like plunging into the deep end, forcing us to sink or swim. But I guess we already passed dipping our toes when I stayed in the bathroom.
Without giving myself time to reconsider, I grab his drink and down it in four lucky gulps. The earthy flavor soothes my frayed nerves, giving me the little bit of courage I need. “Okay.”
Adrian runs his tongue over one of his canines, making my mouth dry up instantly. “Okay, what? I need to hear you agree to the terms. Explicitly.”
My eyes widen a fraction before taking a quick inventory of the surrounding guests. Everyone is engrossed in their own conversations, clearly unattuned to the fact I’m about to agree to a game of hide and seek in exchange for a confession I’m not entirely sure I’m ready to give. While my sister has kept herself at the end of the bar, the same smug smirk is still painting her face.
I shift back to him and take a breath, though it sounds more like a heady sigh. “I agree to the game. If you win, I’ll give you a secret. And if I win, I want one.”
His brows lift and his lips pull down in surprise. “How will we determine who wins?”
I catch my lip between my teeth and ponder for a second. “If you find me in under ten minutes, you win. Ten minutes, one second, I win.”
Adrian grins before nodding. “Okay.”
I guffaw. “I need to hear it, explicitly.”
A nerve in his jaw tics as his smile grows. “If I can’t find you in under ten minutes, I’ll give you a secret.”
He holds out a hand. My shoulders shake with my laughter, as I oblige and take his hand in mine. It’s something about the seriousness of a children’s game with conditions being sealed with a handshake that has me relaxing.
But when I try to release his hand, he pulls me close, our chests an inch apart as he returns his face to my ear. I swallow hard around the surge of my pulse and hold my breath when he whispers, “Once I find you, there’s no going back. It will change everything. So I advise you to choose your spot wisely, Bambi.”
He releases me as quickly as he drew me in, before slipping his phone from his pocket. “Hey, Siri. Set me a timer for ten minutes.”
