Page 11 of Wilde Abandon
He held her just as fiercely.“Is this a yes?Because if you’re still mad about me slipping into your DMs and not telling you who I really am, then I’m prepared to bribe and beg as often and as much as you want.”
She leaned back against the hold he had around her waist.“Is that who you think I am now?That I need you to buy me off?”
His eyes rolled and he let out a heavy sigh.“Dean is right.I should stick to coding and stop trying to talk to people.”He pressed his forehead to hers and looked deeply into her eyes.“But I want to be in your life.I want us to hang out, go out, and learn everything there is to know about who we are now.I want to be able to pick up the phone and call you just so I can hear your voice.I want to hear you laugh and make you smile the way you did for me all those years ago.Maybe you’ll do that for me again.Maybe this time I won’t be the one who leans on you all the time and I can be the one you know will never let you down.”He seemed to stall out, but he looked so cute, all frustrated and anxious.“Seriously, this is the most I’ve spoken to anyone outside of teaching a class in I don’t know how long, so put me out of my misery and say yes.”
“Yes.”
It didn’t seem to ease him.“Yes to which part?”
“Yes to finding our way back to being best friends.”
“And about the more part?Because that kiss, as tame as it was, was the best kiss I’ve ever had, and I’m hoping you felt the explosion of sparks too.”
She liked his honesty, so she gave it back to him.“You mean the wildfire you set inside me?”
He gave her one of those killer smiles.“I’m happy to do it again.And again.And again.We’ll make it an infinite loop.”
She got the hint.“Is that a coding thing?”
“Yes.But it’s also ayouthing, because I—”
“Melody!”
She leaned sideways, keeping her hold on Fox’s impressive biceps, so she could see her dad behind him at the back door of the bar.“What?”
“I know what you’re doing is long overdue, but it’s Friday and the bar is packed.We need you.”
Fox held her with one hand and used the other to brush his fingers over the side of her hair.It was the second time he’d done it to her, like it was becoming part of the habit he did to his own hair.“My timing sucks.”
“I’m on my way,” she called to her dad, then refocused on Fox.“Come inside.I’ll buy you a beer and get you something to eat.Maybe we can chat more later?”
“I’d like that.Feels like old times, you feeding me.”That smile made her stomach quake every time he used it.
“This feels different from when we were kids, Fox.”
“It feels even more important now that we get this right because it feels like if I lose you again, I’ll be missing a part of me forever.”
The words touched her so deeply, that melty heart thing happened in her chest and she just wanted to wrap him in her arms and never let go.“And you think you suck at talking to people.”
He took her hand and squeezed it.“I’m trying extra hard with you.”
She brought the back of his hand to her heart.“It’s just me, Fox.All you need to do is be you.That’s good enough for me.Always was.Always will be.”
He traced his fingertips lightly across her forehead and down the side of her face.“There is no one else like you.”
She stepped back, caught the disappointment in his eyes when they were more than mere inches apart, and walked back into the bar with him, the music and noise blasting at them as they came through the door.
Lyric’s eyes went wide when she saw Melody holding hands with Fox, then turned to an I-want-all-the-details-later look.Melody had a hard time believing some woman hadn’t snatched up the gorgeous man beside her, but over the last few weeks, they’d covered the whole thing about neither of them being in a relationship.They’d even talked about exes and how they hadn’t found the one yet.
All those conversations they had took on a whole new meaning now that she knew she’d been talking to Fox.
As they entered the main part of the bar, she asked him, “Why did you ask me all those questions about my favorite things when you already knew most of them?”
“I know what eight-year-old Melody liked, not what smokin’ hot Melody likes.People change.You have in some ways, but at the heart, you’re still the girl I knew.The one who likes peanut butter cups, riding horses, quiet time by the river, being with your family, and me.”
She did like him.Then and now.Because the adult Fox had charmed her over the last few weeks and made her want things that she’d never wanted with anyone else.
But they weren’t quite done putting the past to rest and moving on.“I’d like to get to know more about what happened to you back then, over the years, and who you are now.”