My mouth fell open in shock.
Banner, however, thought my father was hilarious.
“That’s awesome,” Banner said as the front door closed on my father’s amused chuckle.
I rolled my eyes.
“You think it’s funny that my father thinks that we’re going to be having sex in here while he’s gone?” I asked. “Because that’s really embarrassing for him to make that assumption. I’ve known you for like a week.”
His lips twitched. “You’ve known me for a week, yes. But you’ve also met somebody that is very responsible. And your dad knows that.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked curiously. “Responsible people still have sex.”
My parents did.
Which was disgusting to even think about.
But they did it, and I had to sometimes hear it.
He snorted and walked around my room, pausing at my last volleyball trophy that I got the previous summer.
“First place?” he asked. “This isn’t your team. Did y’all move?”
I shook my head. “It’s my club team. The Raiders. I play with them from February to July.”
He nodded his head in understanding. “Gotcha. Club. I didn’t even know that volleyball had a club team.”
I wasn’t really sure how we’d found out about it either, but I was so freakin’ glad that I did. I loved it.
The Raiders were more my team than the Kilgore High School team was.
“The club team is kind of an unspoken thing around here. We have the team, but you have to know about it and try out to actually make the team. Symphony tried out once. She didn’t make the team.” I snickered.
His smile was quick as he moved on to the next trophy.
“Cross country?” he asked. “How long have you been doing that?”
I ran my hand over the bedspread.
“Only since junior year,” I told him.
“I haven’t always been a great runner or anything. I kind of forced myself into it because I wanted to have better cardio endurance when I started college.”
“You know where you want to start college at?” he asked, stopping at the window to look out.
I watched the play of muscles on his back as he reached up and adjusted the blinds so he could see out.
“Not in the slightest,” I admitted. “I still have half the year to go before I even want to think about it. I want to get the volleyball season over and get into finals at the end of the year. Then I’ll start looking around.”
“But what about the recruiters that come during the season?” he asked.
I looked at him, seeing his full question on his face.
“Banner,” I snickered. “This is Kilgore 3A girls volleyball. We don’t have recruiters like boys football does.”
He frowned. “None?”
I shook my head. “None. I mean, even the bigger 5A districts probably don’t get many Rebels. But definitely not one with our small population.”
He looked away. “That sucks.”
It did, but it was what it was.
“Do you know what you want to major in?” he asked, finally making it back to the starting point as he looked at my room.
I grinned at him. “Do I make you nervous, Banner?”
He licked his lips. “I’m trying to be good. So I’m talking. Instead of doing what I really want.”
My belly tightened. “And what’s that?”
“To kiss you,” he said simply.
I grinned.
“I think that might be okay,” I whispered nervously.
Oh, God. It felt like a whole freakin’ swarm of butterflies had taken flight in my belly. Like that massive migration that the butterflies took to the south every freakin’ year when the weather started to turn cold. Only, this swarm was all due to Banner and his wicked smile.
“I think that if I kissed you, I might not want to stop,” he said. “And we don’t know each other well enough to do that yet.”
He was right.
Sadly.
But that didn’t make him saying no to kissing me any better.
He walked over to my nightstand and picked up the remote, aiming at the television in the corner moments later.
“This is the smallest television in the world,” he said as he glanced at it.
Or squinted, more likely.
“I don’t spend much time in here watching television,” I admitted. “I’ve never needed anything bigger. If you want to watch a better TV, we can go to the game room.”
“You have a game room?” he asked.
I nodded. “We do.”
“Take me to it,” he ordered, holding out his hand.
I sat up and reached for it, trying to act like my heart wasn’t pounding a thousand miles a minute as I led him to where he wanted to go.
When we got there, he hissed. “This… this is… wow.”
I snorted. “My dad built this room for us. But then decided he needed a mancave because we talk too much during movies. Which then turned into him being in there, and us being in here. I think I spend more time in here than in my own bed half the time.”
He chuckled softly, causing warm tingles to dance along my skin.
“The couch looks more like a bed,” he said.
And the way he said it made me blush from the roots of my hair to the tops of my shoulders.
At least, that was all he could see, anyway.
He walked around the couch and sat down in the very corner, putting his legs up on the ottoman.
Then he held his hand out, ordering me without words to come sit next to him.
I did, but first I gathered up the remote from my usual spot and tossed it to him.
He caught it easily, turning it on and raising his arm again as he waited.
“I’m not sure what to watch,” he said. “What’s good? I don’t usually watch television at all.”
I didn’t either, usually.
“When I have time to waste, I always watch something on Netflix,” I said. “I hear they have a few good horrors that are out right now. The Haunting of Hill House has gotten excellent reviews.”
He looked at me side-eyed.
“You’re
