Page 41 of We'll Meet Again
“I dunno…”
“Please.”
Her eyes found his once more. There was still uncertainty in those beautiful eyes, but there was also softness lingering just beyond the icy blue. He placed his free hand on top of hers, sandwiching her palm between the two of his. Her gaze floated over to that point of contact and her proud shoulders dropped.
“Oh, alright then,” she said, defeated.
He grinned. “Awesome!”
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“Oh, shoot,” he said, realizing he didn’t know. “I’ll…I’ll text you, okay?”
“Okay,” she returned. “You better not forget.”
“Don’t you worry, darlin’,” he assured her. “I’ll never forget you.”
The corners of her mouth threatened to turn up into a smile, but she stopped herself. He kept looking back at her as his teammates swept him up in their crowd, chanting on the way to the locker room.
Chapter 11
Withabribeoffree drinks, Billie convinced Nelle to come with her to the karaoke bar where the team was celebrating their win. Purple light bulbs in all the fixtures created a moody atmosphere, disrupted only by a white spotlight on the stage. Hector was already there, singing “Dos Oruguitas” fromEncanto, so soulfully that no one was talking. The only sound was some sniffling throughout the bar. Dozens of packed bodies made it warm enough that Billie immediately removed her coat. Nelle quietly ordered their drinks, and Billie paid before they joined the guys on a large sectional in front of the stage. Ethan got to his feet when they reached it, and Hector held out the last note several seconds after the song faded out.
“Hey, you made it!” Ethan’s face lit up like a Christmas tree.
Billie inwardly cursed his dimples for being so cute. She nearly forgot she was still annoyed with him for embarrassing her. Even if he hadn’t intended to. And of course he hadn’t, the man had all the malice of a golden retriever.
“Hi,” she said shortly.
“Can we talk?”
She swallowed and nodded. After checking that Nelle was alright with the guys, Billie allowed Ethan to lead her to a private room in the back of the bar. The sound of Israel’s pleasant voice singing some Ed Sheeran song cut off when he shut the door. The private room was well-lit and staged like a 1970s living room with a conversation pit in the middle, complete with a miniature staircase leading into the dark gray, wrap-around sofa. Ethan went in first and then offered his hand to Billie to help her down the stairs.
“So,” she said as she took a seat. She meant to sound rather serious and business-like, only the couch sank so much beneath her that her feet came off the floor. She gave a squeak of surprise and tugged at her skirt so she wouldn’t flash him accidentally. By some miracle, she managed not to spill her cocktail while she scrambled to get balanced on the edge of the cushion, where there was no threat of being swallowed up. She cleared her throat and fixed her hair in a last-ditch effort to regain her dignity. “You wanted to speak to me.”
Despite his amused smile, he let her off the hook. “Well, for starters, I’m sorry if I embarrassed you the other night.” He paused, and she nodded to acknowledge it. “The thing is…I’m a little old fashioned.”
“Are you?” she teased with a knowing smirk. “I hadn’t noticed.”
He smiled, dropping his gaze to the floor before meeting hers again. “I like to get to know somebody before I get intimate with them. I mean, we haven’t even had the chance to discuss STI testing or birth control or the kind of sex we might like to have together.”
Billie sputtered into her drink, completely thrown off by his sudden candor. For several moments, she blinked at him, stunned. “You’re awfully casual about this conversation.”
“If you met my grandmother, you’d understand,” he said with a grin. “She is…well, extremely sex positive, and made sure I was comfortable with the subject, so I’d have the language to communicate with potential partners.”
“And all this time I thought Southerners were prudes,” she said, and wiped at a droplet that had landed on her skirt.
“Not all of us,” he returned with a wink. “The number of times I was told ‘communication is lubrication’ is probably outrageous.”
An uncertain laugh made its way out of her, and she took a sip of her drink to cover it up. Her next question had her face burning like she had a fever, but she wanted to be certain, so she forced herself to ask it anyway. “So…it wasn’t that you don’t find me attractive?”
To his credit, he didn’t laugh. In fact, all traces of amusement fell from his face as he looked at her, mouth falling open just slightly. “Is…is that what you thought?”
“What else was I supposed to think?” she huffed out.
“I am so sorry, Billie,” he said, and moved to kneel in front of her, taking her hand in his. “Hurting your feelings is the last thing I wanna do. I think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I just want to be responsible with our bodies and our feelings.”
She blinked, letting his words percolate. No one had ever been so upfront and honest with her before, and she found it…really hot. He was willing to open himself up, admit to her how he felt and why he’d done something. And he did it freely, without demands for anything in return. Those gorgeous green eyes blinked up at her with such sincerity, she almost whimpered.