Page 113 of The Draft
He smiled with a side smirk. “I love it. You fill the silence with something I want to hear.”
My heart fluttered, and if it were possible, it would have fluttered out of my chest at all the things Dash was saying to me. I just couldn’t believe I was here.
Dash leaned in and kissed me, long and slow, and that did everything to confirm that he was telling me the truth.
Pulling away, he rested his forehead against mine. “I still remember thefirst day I met you, you know?”
“You do?”
“How could I forget? Isn’t that what you called a core memory before? It’s etched in my brain forever. Your mom invited me for dinner, and you were there, talking about some TV show you were obsessed with.”
“Sharks.” It was all I had to say to confirm that I remembered that day too. “I loved sharks.”
“I know. The goblin shark was your favorite, right?”
“You remember?”
“Oh, yeah. I remember every single fact about sharks you said that day. No one else was listening, probably because they’d heard it a thousand times, but I did. You had this light, airy way of talking that made me feel comfortable, and completely forget about everything bad going on in my life. Even then, there was something about you that intrigued me. I just didn’t know what it was. At the time, I assumed it was to do with your unabashed confidence.”
My eyebrows drew together. “Unabashed confidence? I wouldn’t say I had that then.”
“You did. When it came to school, you and Tiff were taking classes above your grade, and outperforming people like me. It was only after Henry was an asshole that you decided to show everyone else what a badass you were. You gave no fucks after that and just did whatever the hell you wanted. That was when I knew I was wrecked for any other girl because who else could be as good as you?”
Pushing him gently, I laughed and turned away, trying to hide my blushing cheek. “Oh, Big Man. You’re a charmer when you want to be.”
Dash took the opportunity to kiss the spot right behind my ear. I melted. He just felt so good. So right. His breath skated across my ear when he said, “And you’re sitting on my lap, not wearing panties.”
His hand grasped my thigh as he worked his way up to the edges of my skirt. I swatted him away and moved off his lap. “As much as I want to have some fun tonight, my risotto is getting cold, and it’s too good to go to waste.”
He watches me as I skipped back to my seat, plucked my fork from the table and started to eat.
When I finished chewing a bite, I said, “I also want to apologize to you.”
“For what?”
“Kissing you at The Draft and teasing you until you had no choice but to go behind my brother’s back. I realize now the gravity of your friendship, something I’d never really appreciated before, and I wouldn’t have pushed so hard if I’d known how important Cade was to you.” I rolled my eyes to the ceiling, holding back a smile. “Well, I should say probably, because I know I would’ve gotten drunk at some point this year and asked to make out with you, anyway.”
“You didn’tmakeme do anything. I could have said no.”
“I’m not so sure. I was all over you at The Draft. I was worse after it, and I kind of tricked you into sleeping with me a couple of weeks later.” I sucked in a breath, really starting to evaluate how bad my actions were.
“How did you trick me?”
“I told you it was just one night, knowing full well I’d want more.”
“And I accepted the one night, knowing full well that I was going to try to get another round in the morning.”
“You were?” I raised my brows in surprise. “Well, crap. Now I feel bad that I left you.”
“No, you shouldn’t. You needed to leave.” He swiped his napkin across his lips and placed it on the table. “We wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t.”
“What makes you think that?”
He shrugged. “I figured I got my taste, and that was it. That was all a guy like me deserved.”
“A guy like you deserves everything. Like I said before, you’re loyal, dedicated, and your calf muscles are huge. I mean, seriously, what do you do to make them look like that? It’s not normal.”
“Tend a goal every day of the week.”