Giggling, I throw the cheese in my mouth. "Pepperonis and cheese? Someone was stalking my Facebook."
"I call it research," he says, handing me my favorite, Cherry c.o.ke.
"I call it creeping," I tease as I pop another piece of cheese into my mouth.
"So you can honestly say you weren"t creeping my Facebook?"
Hiding my grin, I take a long pull of c.o.ke and shrug. "I don"t creep."
His laughter runs down my spine as he lies on his back against the pillows, looking up at the sky. Watching him, I"m overwhelmed by how fascinating his face is. I"m not an art major, but I did take Art One and Two in high school, and I"m pretty sure his face fits perfectly in the golden ratio of ideal facial proportions and symmetry. One really corny teenager...not me, of course...could say he was who da Vinci was searching for.
My very own da Vinci code...
Man, I"m pathetic.
But really, his lips are so thick and plump. His jaw, perfection. And even with the scar on it, it"s delectable. Devastating, really. "You"re, like, hot. You know that?"
His face breaks into a grin before he turns to look at me. His eyes go half-lidded as he looks at me. "I think the same about you."
But I shake my head. "No, really. Like, you"re hot. No wonder you thought you could play the player game."
His laughter bubbles in his throat as he shakes his head. Redness creeps up his throat, his cheeks. "You"re insane."
"Aw, you"re blushing," I tease, leaning into him, but soon I"m not laughing.
Because, c.r.a.p, he"s quick. His face in front of mine, his lips brushing against mine. I close my eyes, ready to kiss him, but then he is grasping my face, his thumb running along my jaw, and I"m breathless. I"m unable to form my next breath or even a thought as his eyes bore into mine.
"Wanna know why?" he whispers, his mouth moving against mine.
But I can only blink as my heart pounds against my ribs. He is just so gorgeous when he"s being all intense. Goodness gracious, where the h.e.l.l did this guy come from? "Sorry, what? I"m taken by your hotness right now."
He presses his lips together and then he is fighting back the laughter that is building in his chest. Letting me go, he falls back against the pillows, his body shaking with hilarity, and all I can do is watch. I don"t know if it"s the ambiance of what he has put together or the fact that no one has ever done anything like this for me or both, but this has me feeling like I"m on cloud nine. It"s crazy and insane, but man, it feels good.
Is this what falling in love feels like?
Why did I ask that?
As his laughter subsides, I take a pepperoni, popping it in my mouth to keep from overa.n.a.lyzing that thought as he looks over at me. His eyes are dancing with amus.e.m.e.nt-but also l.u.s.t-as they drink me in.
"I only see you."
I sniff. "Well, I"d hope so since I"m the only one here, and there isn"t a mirror for you to gawk at your hotness in. Do you do that? Like, drink yourself in?"
Rolling his eyes, he chuckles. "Brat." The grin on his face is beautiful as he rolls to his side, sliding his hand along my arm and then into my hand. "So anyway..." he starts and I grin.
"Tired of me yet?"
"Never."
My grin grows as our fingers lace together, but then his phone sounds and he reaches down, pulling it out of his pocket. "Sorry, I forgot to turn it off."
"It"s fine," I say as he goes to shut it off, but then something must have caught his attention because he pauses, looking at the screen. His brows pull together as his lip comes between his teeth. "Everything okay?"
He nods. "It"s my dad."
Oh. Okay, not that I thought it was some other girl and was insanely jealous or anything. That"s not me. Duh.
"He"s always calling and texting me now. I"m the only one who talks to him."
"Why is that?"
He shrugs. "He"s my dad and I guess I still want him to be. But then I can"t let go of what he did to my mom."
"Understandable."
"But he gave me a whole bunch of money the other day, and he"s asking to come to my games and for me to go to dinner with him and his ho. I don"t know how to say no without being a d.i.c.k. Because I did take his money."
"Hm. Sounds like a pickle." I know it"s not my place, but I want to help. "Maybe don"t take the money until you"re ready to forgive him?"
"I won"t forgive him, but I need the money. I hate not having money."
I laugh. "So does everyone else in the world."
He looks over at me, sliding his phone into his pocket before grinning. "I come from money, and I"m used to having it."
I snort. "You sound like a spoiled brat."
"Maybe," he says with a nod. "But that all changed when he left and we weren"t living as comfortably as we were. Now he"s trying to buy my love, and I figure, why not?"
"But if it were that easy, you wouldn"t feel bad about it."
He nods. "You"re right."
""Cause of your mom?"
"Exactly, and my brothers and sister."
"Then don"t do it anymore," I say simply and he grins over at me.
"It"s hard not to."
"I understand that, but you have to remember what is more important."
"My mom and siblings," he says immediately even though I didn"t phrase it as a question.
"Then you have your answer," I say and he nods.
"You"re right."
I smile in agreement as I lay my head down, looking at him. Baylor must have finished because I don"t hear anything below us. It"s really peaceful up here and I can understand why he likes it. It"s nice. Not too cold and really relaxing. It is the honey hole, for sure. Moving my finger along his thumb, I feel so comfortable, so good, and soon I"m searching my brain for the last time I felt like this.
"Tell me something you"ve never told anyone."
His request brings me back to reality as I look up at him. My brows come together before I look away from his smiling face to stare at our entwined hands. There is plenty I"ve never told anyone, but I can"t share that with him. He wouldn"t understand, and he"d probably run for the hills, taking the cheese and pepperoni with him. No matter how easy it feels, how comfortable I feel under his gaze, I know I can"t share that.
"You first."
He smirks. "You don"t know how deep to go, huh?"
"You got me," I say with a shrug and his lips curve.
"Okay, um, I"ve never been in love."
My face scrunches up. "What? Seriously?"
"Nope, never. Well, I mean, I"ve been in a very long relationship with hockey-"
"Gag," I moan and he laughs. "No, really, you had to have had a little high school thing with someone."
"No, I was so busy with travel hockey, and most of the time I slept through school. I mean, I was sleeping with this girl, Molly Collins, who was in love with me and did my homework for me so that I"d pa.s.s, but it was never more than that. I never led her on, though," he insists, probably because my face is indicating that he is a d.i.c.k. "I never said I loved her. But we had fun, went to prom and all that jazz. I haven"t seen her in a couple years. She"s touring England right now."
"Oh, well, that"s cool, I guess."
He laughs. "Really, she knew the deal. When we graduated, she asked if I wanted more. I said no, and she said fine and left. No hard feelings. She likes all my Facebook stuff when I post."
That makes me laugh as I lie on my hands, our gazes still locked. "Then, yeah, you"re good. She won"t come back to kill you."
"Thank G.o.d."
Grinning, I confess, "I never went to prom."
His brows shoot to where the beanie on his head sits as he gasps, "Really?"
"Nope."
"Why?"
"No one asked."
"That"s unacceptable."
I laugh. "Well, it"s true."
"I would have asked."
"And I would have said yes," I say automatically, which makes his lips curve in a sinful grin.
"But you wouldn"t have dated me, huh?"
This time, I"m grinning. "I don"t know. Maybe."
"But not now?" His eyes are challenging and I don"t want to give in, but he is making it hard.
"One, you haven"t asked, and two, you have to get why I don"t want to date anyone. It"s just messy, and you of all people should understand that."
He nods. "I do, and that"s why I didn"t want to get involved with anyone either. But that"s changed now."
"We"ve known each other a day, Jace. Calm your t.i.ts."
"They can"t be tamed around you," he teases, pulling my hand so I come falling onto his chest. Framing my face with his hands, he moves his nose down my face. "Want me to ask you to date me?"
"No."
"Why?"
""Cause I don"t want to say no to you."
"Then don"t."
He says it so simply, like it"s not a big deal for this to go down. He doesn"t understand what could happen. He"s never been in love. Never had his heart shattered and his world demolished. He doesn"t know the real pain that can come.
"I"m not asking for forever, Avery. I see those wheels turning in that head of yours. I just want to date you-don"t overthink this."
I eye him skeptically, moving my finger along his jaw. "So you don"t want me to be "your girl," as you called me earlier?"
His face breaks into a grin as his brows rise, his eyes locking on to mine. "That"s dating."
"Um, no. That"s the girlfriend/boyfriend zone."
His grin falls, and this time, he"s the one with the wheels turning. "Hm. So what"s dating?"
Rolling my eyes, I smile. "Hanging out, but we do what we want."
"What"s the level between that and the girlfriend/boyfriend zone?"
"I have no clue. I don"t think there is one."
He shrugs. "We"ll make one. Call it Javery."
"Javery?"
"Yeah, it"s where we hang out but we don"t hook up with anyone else, just each other, unless the other person is cool with it."
I laugh. "So you can honestly say you"re gonna be fine with me hooking up with someone else?"
He frowns. "h.e.l.l no, and don"t act like you"d be cool with me f.u.c.king someone else either."
Dropping my face to his chest, I shake my head because he"s right. I"d freak if he got with someone else. I don"t know why since he isn"t mine, but it would hurt if he did. I don"t want to tell him that, so instead, I say, "You"re crazy."