Page 35 of The Flight Risk

“This is very thoughtful of you, Oakley. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Here, let me help you take all of this over to the living room.” I follow her with the giant bowl of popcorn while she handles the glass of wine and ice cream.

She settles into the couch. I quickly set down the bowl on the coffee table and bolt to cover her with the throw blanket. Pippa is sitting, wagging her tail, expecting Tess to feed her popcorn, which Tess totally will. “I was right about you in Telluride. You’re such a gentleman. I don’t deserve this treatment.”

“You deserve anything you want, Tess.” Pink returns to her cheeks as I remove the lid and protective plastic wrap off the ice cream and hand it to her.

This feels so easy and I cannot help but think how much I want this life with her. It’s fucking crazy and it’s so fast. I haven’t felt this way about my future with someone since before I left Chicago. My ex was a great person, but we wanted different things.

Tess dives into the butter pecan ice cream and puts a ginormous spoonful into her mouth. She licks the back of the spoon and I decide to sit as far away from her as possible, so that she doesn’t notice the bulge in my pants that was caused by her licking a damn spoon. I want to feel her tongue all over me.

“How’s the ice cream? Everything you ever dreamed of?”

“It’s exactly what I needed. Thank you.” She lays another spoonful against her tongue. Her lips enclose the spoon and all I can think about is her supple lips around something else entirely.

Well, the ice cream plan backfired because now I’m completely turned on by this woman and all she is doing is eating ice cream.

I need to change the subject. “So, how was your day?”

“Other than the fact that I felt like crying every two seconds while simultaneously wanting to punch every douchebag who looked in my direction while I was at the gym, it was good. See, this is why I avoid the gym and stick to my hot girl walks. Less of a chance that every gym bro thinks he can say whatever the hell he wants to me.”

The usually dormant beast inside of me is trying its very best to behave and not insist that I accompany her to the gym next time she goes so I can unleash my rage on those assholes who made her feel small and uncomfortable. “What do they say to you?” I unscrew the orange cap from my blue electrolyte drink and hope I can keep my inappropriate thoughts about Tess and the vengeful urge to pummel anyone who so much as looks in her direction at bay.

“Nothing short of them wanting to get into my pants,” she says flippantly and drinks more of her wine. I, on the other hand, apparently forget how to swallow a beverage correctly and start choking. Tess sets down her glass and scooches over to pat my back hard, like I’m a fricken newborn she’s trying to burp.

“I’m good, Tess.” I clear my throat and slowly take a sip of the drink almost responsible for my demise.

“Are you sure?” she asks. I turn my head and she is inches away from me, feet tucked under her legs. Her oversized sweater has fallen more off her shoulder and I glimpse the top of her very lacy, green bra. She smells incredible, like a mix of salted caramel, pistachio and vanilla. She has the smallest bit of butter pecan on the outside of her top lip.

“Yup.” I turn so the top half of my body is facing her. I’ve been dying to touch her in any capacity again, so I take a chance and graze the pad of my thumb along her lips and wipe off the remnants. She sucks in a breath as I lick my finger. “You’re right. Butter Pecan is really good.”

She pouts and retreats to her little corner on the furthest cushion from me. She finishes off her wine and closes the lid to the ice cream. She’s closing in on herself and the energy between us shifts. “What went through your head just now?” I say.

I desperately hope she is feeling the same way I am.

“I…” She pauses and tucks the hair that frames her face behind her ears. “I really thought you were into me in Telluride. But when you pulled the emergency brake on me flirting with you, it crushed me more than I let on. No one has really rejected me before and I don’t mean to say that in a conceited way at all. Guys, or at least hooking up with guys, has always been easy for me.” She’s looking at her lap, preventing me from reading her expression completely. “I get it. I’m too much to handle sometimes.”

I need to set the record straight. Telluride has been a wedge in our relationship. A wedge placed there because of how I prefer to go about relationships. I failed to meet Tess where she was at. But that was then. This is now. I’m about to end every doubt she’s ever had about the way I feel about her.

“You misunderstood, Tess. I wanted to lay you out on that couch and fuck you until you screamed my name and woke the whole house up.”

20

I’ve never heard Oakley talk like this before. So unhinged and completely hot. My core heats up and I don’t have a sarcastic or cute quip to say back to him because he’s thrown me so off-guard.

He pulls me close so that our bodies are flush for the first time since the helmet moment. My eyes drift down to his groin, wondering if he’s as excited as he’s making me feel right now. I want to feel his hard cock against my body. I want to see it again. That one time when he was holding onto it in the shower was not enough.

I need more.

I need him. I hate that I’m on my period and we can’t take anything further than our bodies potentially smashed up against each other, his hands all over me in all the delicious ways I’ve been fantasizing about since I met him. He grazes his large, rough fingers against my jawline, cups my chin and tilts my head back up.

“I hesitated because I knew I wanted to be with you. I didn’t want to screw anything up. I’m a patient man, but I’m done waiting to get what I want. I will do anything you want me to do to you.”

Oh how I wish I could rip his clothes clean off his perfect body. I already had a few glasses of wine and that’s enough liquid courage to be bold enough to do so. Then I remember that it’s not just my body that may be an issue. My gaze returns to his groin area for a totally different reason. He must read my expression because he whispers, “I’m fine.”

A low growl exits his mouth, as if he’s been just as frustrated as I have that we haven’t done anything since that hotter-than-hell kiss in the guest room closet. Whatever this is between us can all crumble to nothing, but I don’t care anymore. I need him to kiss me again. His hand tickles the back of my neck and then almost possessively, his grip tightens and pulls me toward him. My eyes flutter closed and I wait to feel his lips against mine.

Bzzzz. Damn it.