Page 126 of First Shift

“Weird?”

Up ahead, a car backfired, its headlights lighting up the road in front of us. We darted over the snow-crusted curb onto the sidewalk as the car sped past, the music inside loud enough for us to hear.

The brief pause in conversation gave me enough space to consider my answer.

Initially, I found him arrogant and annoying. I genuinely thought Cally was an asshole. But underneath that, there was something else, too. I could admit now that it was intrigue. And yes, attraction, though I didn’t recognize it as such at the time. I’d only known that one look at his eyes, and I’d become mesmerized. And if I’d memorized the pattern of his freckles, that was between me and my conscience.

“Did I ever tell you that the first time I saw your eyes up close, my brain short-circuited?”

“Short circuited, how?” he asked, using those long fucking legs of his to step easily over a snowbank and back out into the street. He helped guide me over the hump, not letting go of my hand once we started walking again.

“I was obsessed with them, Cal,” I went on. “I spent hours Googling all the different shades of blue, trying to come up with a match.” I lifted my gaze up to meet his, feeling my cheeks warm with the memory of how frantic I’d felt that night, desperately needing to put a goddamn name to the color so it would stop driving me crazy. “Your eyes match a paint called Skydive, by the way.”

“Your eyes are the color of toffee,” he replied.

“So you’ve said,” I hummed.

“Did you …” he trailed off, then started over. “At the grocery store, when I touched you, did you register your reaction as attraction?” He shot me a quick look, his lips tipped to the side in a knowing smirk.

I stopped walking, tugging him around to face me. “You asshole! You acted like you had no fucking clue what I was talking about when I brought it up on the walk home.”

His smirk turned into a full grin. “I was lying.”

“What happened to you divulging all your lies?”

He shrugged, his grin sliding into a wide, unrepentant smile. “Oops.”

“Asshole,” I said, my mouth fighting a grin as I started walking away, Cally falling into step next to me.

“Your reaction fucked me up bad. I was hard the whole way back to the hotel.”

“No you weren’t,” I argued.

He scratched at his cheek, something I’d come to learn he only did when he was nervous. “Um, remember how I was late getting to your room after?”

Now that he mentioned it, I did remember.

“Yeah. I thought it was weird since a couple of days before that you’d told me people who were late was one of your biggest pet peeves.”

Another memory from all those months ago surfaced.

“And when you finally did finally show up, I noticed you’d changed out of your jeans, and your hair was wet. I asked if you’d showered, and you said no, but I clearly recall you smelling like fresh soap—and not the one from the locker room, either.”

Cally shot me a glance like he couldn’t believe I’d picked up on that, then let loose a quiet laugh and shook his head.

“So, um. I know what I’m about to admit makes me sound like a huge fucking pervert, but I didn’t even make it to the bed once I got back to my room. I blew my load in like under than a minute. It was a disaster. I had to scrub the carpet and everything.”

“I knew it!” I crowed, my stomach swooping and my dick swelling as his words registered.

My eyes moved past his shoulder, surveying the road to make sure we were completely alone. When I was satisfied the proverbial coast was clear, I closed the gap between us. “That is so fucking hot, Cal.”

His arms came around my waist, and he pulled me flush against his body, his hands sliding down into the back pockets of my jeans. “It’s creepy, is what it is.”

“You were so turned on by touching my wrist that you had to jerk off?” I shook my head. “Nope. Hot as hell.”

He chuckled, smiling down at me. “You’re so weird.”

“A fact we’ve established many times.” I pushed up onto my toes and pressed a kiss against his cold lips. “Are you going to be able to keep your hands to yourself when we meet my friends?”