“Are you gonna make me watch some girly flick?”
“Definitely.” She uncrossed her arms and took a step toward me.
“Why you gotta torture a guy?”
She moved around me and began walking toward the parking lot. “Call it payback for all the times I’ve tried to gain your attention and you ignored me. I plan on driving you crazy as payback for making me wait so long.”
“Making you wait for what?”
“For you.” She kept walking, and I allowed my gaze to fall lower as I focused on the way her hips swayed and her ass moved in those tight jean shorts she wore. I was well aware of the fact that she was giving them a little extra shake with each step. It would seem little AJ had some fire inside her. Her confidence and attitude intrigued me. She wasn’t afraid to challenge me, and up until then, I never knew something like that could be so appealing.
***
“Who’s the girl?” Chloe asked from my side, and I leaned a little closer so AJ didn’t hear our conversation. Chloe was yet another one of my cousins who was strictly earned because our parents were all best friends. Her father, Ben, was one of Reed’s best friends, so in a way she was almost like a little sister who could be a little nosy. She was a little over a year younger than me but went to beauty school and stayed sheltered when it came to the outside world.
“Her name is AJ.”
“She’s cute.” She nudged my shoulder, and I avoided eye contact, knowing she was watching and waiting for me to tell her more. Only there wasn’t really anything more to say, yet. “Just saying.” She bumped my leg with her own, and for a split second, our gazes connected. She shrugged as she reached out for another slice of pizza. “And she seems interested, considering I’ve caught her watching you multiple times over the last hour when you weren’t looking her way.”
There was that crazy heavy shift in my chest all over again when I looked to my left to see AJ once again lost in conversation with some of the guys. Seeing how carefree she was with them gave me this crazy possessive feeling that raced through me when Wyatt, the catcher, winked at her just before shoveling another slice of pizza into his mouth.
I shook it off quickly, knowing that I had no right to feel that way. Instead, I focused on the chaos around me, trying to ignore the nagging inside me.
With my team, and my family, plus a mixture of others that were invited, we took up half of Marlow’s Pizza and we were loud. Conversations flying back and forth, guys laughing and girls giggling. It was hard to have a conversation without having to practically shout at the person across the table to get them to hear what you were saying.
Instead of attempting to join in, I took it as my opportunity to get a little closer to AJ.
I leaned in near her ear and she turned toward me on instinct, and suddenly we found our lips were only an inch or two apart. I waited for her to pull back, and I’ll admit in my mind I was hoping she didn’t, only we both remained perfectly still.
“Hi,” she whispered as her gaze dropped to my lips. Again, that spark of interest hit me, and I placed my arm over the back of her chair. Leaning back just slightly, I grinned, careful not to place too much space between us. “Hi to you too.”
She tucked her chin toward her chest, and I could visibly see her chest rise and fall as she took in a deep breath. I won’t lie and say that her obvious reaction to my closeness did nothing for my ego, because it did. It was exciting to know she was affected by me.
“So, this movie we’re gonna see,” I wait until she looks up at me once more before I continue, “you think maybe we can extend it and hang out afterward too?”
“You’re pretty confident, aren’t you? I mean, who’s to say that the movie portion will go over snag free?” She tilted her head to the side in the sweetest way and stared up at me with her eyebrow cocked questioningly. “I may be halfway through the movie and have to fake a headache or something just to get out of the rest of it. You might annoy me beyond words. Me committing to hanging out now would only further the guilt I’d feel when I duck out early.”
“Nah,” I said, wrinkling up my nose. “I predict halfway through you’ll be snuggled up to my side, my arm around your shoulders, and we’ll have shared at least one kiss.”
I could visibly see her throat bob as she swallowed. “You, Rhett, are…” she paused, and I assumed she was trying to come up with some way to shoot me down again. Yet instead she surprised the fuck out of me. “…are probably right. At least about the snuggled-up part. We’ll have to see about the rest.”
Her confidence, that hidden strong side of this sweet, innocent girl excited me. I realized at that moment that being with AJ might have been exactly what I’d needed all along. She was different, fun, and I’d denied myself that kind of interaction with any female for too long.
There I was, in the presence of AJ for less than two hours, and I’d felt lighter
