Worth It (17 page)

“Um—”

“Is it that guy? Did he freak you out?”

“Yes!” she says too eagerly.

She obviously wasn’t thinking about that asshole.

“I mean, yeah, he was kind of pushy. I’m fine now.”

Bullshit.
“You sure there’s nothing else?”

“Yeah. Really, I’m fine. You gonna break or what?” She motions toward the pool table, trying to change the subject.

Shaking my head, I decide to let it go. I lean over the pool table and start lining up the shot.
But I don’t want to let it go though.
I want to know what happened to fuck up our good time. Then, like a lightning strike, an idea comes to me. “Wanna play Truth or Dare?” I ask over my shoulder.

“Um…” she starts, uncertain.

“How about we tie it into the game? Every time I get a ball in, I get to ask Truth or Dare, and the same goes for you.”

She mulls it over for a second, and then she shrugs. “Okay. What the hell? Sure.”

Excellent!
I turn back to the table to break, and I get a solid in. I grin. “Truth or dare?”

“Um…truth.”

“What was really in your head just now?”

Her eyes widen, and her jaw drops.

What the hell?

“How did you know there was more to it?” she asks.

I smirk. “Sorry, baby, you’re not that difficult to read.”

She blows out a deep breath and answers, “Honestly, I know this is going to come out really stupid, but you just threw me a little when you said I was hot in that context. I mean, I know you’re into me, but I can’t for the life of me understand why. It’s probably the beer talking, but you’re so fucking gorgeous and sweet, and I just don’t know what you see in me.” She looks at her hands and shrugs. “I guess I just got overwhelmed all of a sudden.”

I feel my jaw drop the longer she talks. “Seriously?”

“Really, Jed, I’m sorry.” She’s looking anywhere but at me while she’s playing with her fingers. “I feel stupid for saying that. We’ve had a great night, and I don’t want to fuck it up. Forget I said anything.”

“You don’t know what I see in you?” I ask for confirmation. Now, some things are starting to make more sense—the way she pushed me away at first, the way she gets nervous.

“Uh…” She pauses nervously. “Yeah.”

My jaw clenches with determination before I say, “You want to know what I see? I see a beautiful woman with a big heart. I see a hard worker who has a passion for her dreams. I see a woman who’s smart and funny. I see a woman who I want to know.” I run a hand through my hair, struggling for words. I’m not good at this shit. I’ve only known this woman for a few hours, but even I can see how awesome she is. I take a deep breath as I step closer to her. In a softer voice, I say, “We didn’t even order dinner for half an hour because we kept talking. That’s a connection, baby. You’re so different from any woman I’ve ever known.” I reach up to stroke her cheek, and I see her body relax a little. “Do you get me?”

She nods, but she’s struggling. I can see it. Tears well in her eyes before she turns away from me. I get the impression that she thinks she can hide her emotions, but I think she wears her them on her sleeve. I fucking hate tears, and I usually run the other way, but she looks so vulnerable that I have an urge to reach out and comfort her. But I don’t know if that’s what I should do.

I have no idea what to do at all, so I say the first thing that comes to mind, “Do you believe in love at first sight? Or should I walk by again?”

She bursts out laughing. “I swear to God, they just keep getting lamer. Do you have a quarter? Because I told my mama I’d call when I fell in love.” She giggles.

I breathe a sigh of relief that we’re back to where we were before.
Thank Christ!

I reach in my pocket and hand her a quarter just to mess with her. When she sees what I have in my hand, her eyes grow wide, and I feel a little bad for giving her shit again.

“I’m teasing,” I say, giving a playful smirk and tucking the change back in my pocket.

She smiles at me and blushes.

“You’re cute when you blush.”

Her blush darkens. “Thanks,” she mumbles uncomfortably.

I’m going to get this girl to take a compliment if it kills me.

“No problem, baby,” I say genuinely. Then, I turn back to the pool table. I bend over to take my shot, but I miss.
Damn.

When I turn back around, I catch Anna staring at my ass, and my dick jumps. But then, I want to laugh when her eyes shoot to mine and widen. She’s embarrassed, but I fucking love that she’s checking me out. I shoot her
that
smile, and she gets redder. I can’t help but chuckle when she ducks her head and walks over to the pool table. As Anna bends over to take her shot, the laughter dies from my lips.

Oh sweet Lord.
I think my brain starts playing porno music because watching her angled over the table like that is definitely entering spank-bank territory.
God, her ass is perfect. I want to lick—

She turns around, and I know I’ve definitely been caught drooling when she raises an eyebrow.

“Sorry. You caught me,” I apologize. I’m sure I don’t look sorry at all—because I’m not.

“Caught you doing what?”

“The same thing you were doing when I was taking my shot.” I smirk. “I was staring at your butt when you were bent over the table.”

She smirks. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“So, what kind of movies do you like?”

I guess we’re doing innocent questions now. “All kinds—comedy, action, thriller, horror. I’m not big on the chick-flick thing, but I like pretty much everything else. You?”

“I like comedy and chick flicks mostly. I can do some horror, and I like the good action or suspense ones, too.”

I nod. “Okay, you’re up again.”

She turns back to the table and misses her next shot. On my turn, I make my shot. She bites her lip for a second, and it’s hot.
I want to bite her lip.

She finally says, “Dare.”

That’s what I’m talking about.
A grin creeps across my face. “Dare, huh?”

“Be nice,” she pleads, smiling.

I walk over to her and stand right in front of her. She tilts her head up to look at me, and I smile down at her.
I wonder if she’ll go for this.
My eyes drop to her mouth, and I want to run my tongue along her lips.
I bet they’d look amazing wrapped around my—

“I dare you to kiss me,” I challenge her in a low voice, trying to turn on the charm.

She hesitates for a beat, chewing on that damn lip again.

Damn.
I struck out, so I try to backtrack. “If you don’t want to, that’s fine. I’m sorry. I just thought since we had before that maybe you wouldn’t mind if—”

She shuts me up when she reaches up on her tiptoes and kisses me.

Hell yeah
. I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her tight against me.
Fuck, she feels amazing.
I slant my head as I slide my tongue between her lips and take over the kiss. The feel of her body against mine is driving me insane. Her perfect tits are crushed against my chest, and my hands move to her hips. The feel of her soft, sexy body makes me rock hard. I shift my dick ever so slightly against her, and she lets out the softest whimper that makes me lose control. I push into her again and kiss her harder. Judging by the way she moves back and pants into my mouth, she loves it. Knowing that she wants me, too, turns me on so bad. Before I rip off her clothes and bend her over the table, I break the kiss.

“Wow,” I whisper. I try to catch my breath as I lay my forehead down against hers.

“Yeah,” she breathes out raggedly.

I smirk, knowing I made her so breathless.

“I guess it’s your turn again,” she says, her voice still shaking.

I can’t say that’s what I was expecting to come out of her mouth next, but it’s probably a good idea to calm down before my dick explodes. I nod and leave her on unstable legs as I walk over to take my next shot. I make it.

“Truth,” she says.

“What’s the scariest movie you’ve ever seen?” I ask, trying to keep it light.

“Definitely
Dawn of the Dead
, the newer one with the super fast zombies. You know, the one Shannon got me at my surprise birthday party or whatever. I mean, how do you survive that shit? It scared the crap out of me. I could hardly go outside in the dark alone, and when I did, I was looking around like a crazy person for three months,” she says, waving her hands around frantically.

I bust out laughing at how animated she is. “Have you seen the one after that,
Day of the Dead
?”

“No,” she replies hesitantly.

“I have it. Do you want to come over and watch it?”

Her mouth drops open in shock, but she quickly closes it as that look crosses her face again.

What did I say?

Then, it dawns on me. I just invited her to my place, not long after I dry-humped her in public. I wasn’t trying to get her to come over to bang her—not that I’m against it. I just wanted to hang out with her. It seemed logical when I asked, but now, I realize I look like a douche.

I start to backtrack, but before I can say anything, the look is gone.

She says, “That sounds like fun.”

Is this one of those games? Do I look like an asshole if I bring her over?
I’m overthinking this shit. Hanging out and watching a movie does sound like fun. To be positive she’s cool, I ask, “You sure?”

“Yeah,” she says, smiling happily. “Let’s go.”

After I followed Jed in my car to his apartment building, I now find myself sitting on his couch as he pops in the DVD. When we first got here, he offered me a drink, but I just asked for water since I still have to make the drive home.

This was a bad idea.

After he gets the movie set up, he walks over and sits next to me on the couch. He slings his arm behind me, but we’re not touching. The air between us sizzles with electricity, and I want to lean into him, but I resist because I don’t want to give him the wrong impression. I want to jump him so bad, but that would not be a good idea at all, especially since I’m trying not to fall into the same patterns as before.

Ugh, he smells delicious, too.
I think he’s wearing cologne, but it’s subtle. He smells kind of like the forest with a touch of sweet. It’s really difficult to name, but whatever it is, it’s sexy. I take an involuntary deep breath to get more of his scent. He smells so fucking good.

Coming here was a bad idea.

“You okay?” he asks.

I glance up at him. “Uh…yeah, just nervous about the movie.”

“Really?”

“I have an irrational fear of zombies.” Seriously, that’s an understatement. It’s more of an uncontrollable phobia.

It was probably wasn’t a smart idea to watch this with him. On top of trying to control myself, there’s a possibility I’m going to act like an idiot by running into the bathroom, locking the door, and hiding under a towel in the shower. I just want to hang out with him a little bit longer. I don’t want the night to end. That excuse sounds lame even to me, but nonetheless, here I am.
Stick to your decision, and you’ll be fine.

He chuckles. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.” He curls his arm around me and tugs me to his side.

I melt against him, trying to relax, despite the buzzing in my body. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

As the movie begins, he absently trails a small path on my upper arm. Well, it might be absently for him, but his fingers are blazing a path of fire on me, and my body is tingling even more than before.
I can’t believe his slight touch is making me so hot.
Pressure builds between my legs. I’ve had a handful of random hookups, but I’ve
never
been turned-on so much. It’s new and confusing, and I’m not sure if I like it. I try to focus on the movie—really, I do—but I don’t know what happened the first couple of minutes.

A few minutes later, his movement stops, and I don’t know whether to be disappointed or grateful.
Well, at least I’ll be able to focus on the movie a little more.
But then, a zombie jumps on the unsuspecting couple, and it scares the shit out of me. I jump a mile, let out a squeak, and bury my face in his chest.

Oh my God! Breathe. It’s not real. It’s just a movie. Pull it together.

Once I have better control over my terror and heart rate, I peek up at him, and he’s barely controlling his laughter. I’m practically sitting on him, my face is inches from his, and I’m clutching his shirt for dear life.

“Sorry,” I apologize sheepishly as I uncurl my fingers from their death grip on his shirt.

“Don’t worry about it. I promise, I don’t mind,” he says. His laughter dies, but a slight smile remains.

He holds my gaze, and the longer he does, the stronger the throb between my legs gets. His eyes grow more intense, and a shiver runs through me. He glances at my lips and back into my eyes. Then, he leans a hairsbreadth closer. I think he’s going to kiss me, and holy fist fuck, I want him to, but that nagging voice is trying to make me see reason. I shove her in a closet and lock the door.