“Yes, oh,” Asa mimicked, shaking his head fondly as he watched her.
“Well, then, I actually do have a phone. I mean, Dad got me one two months back but I haven’t used it yet. It’s still in the packaging.” Carmen grinned a little too wide, shrugging in an apologetic manner.
“God, you’re such a dork.” Asa grabbed the back of her neck and tugged. “Come here.” She stumbled forward at the same time that he stepped closer, bending his head to place a messy kiss on her mouth, a smile still on his lips.
Then they headed back to the parking lot, the sound of the flickering lamppost above them blending in with their giggles while they kept sharing quick, short kisses and grinning against each other’s mouths, tripping over their own feet like love-struck fools as they walked.
•••
Asa’s eyes flickered to the clock on the dashboard of the truck just as he parked in front of Carmen’s house. The numbers read ten minutes to eleven.
There was a long, deep sigh from next to him, and he turned to look at Carmen who was stretching her arms above her with a giddy smile on her face.
It made his heart skip a beat, which was actually pretty terrifying because he didn’t think he’d ever felt his heartbeat skip so far in his entire life.
Until now, of course. Until Carmen goddamn West.
“Asa.” His name tumbled out of her mouth in a soft breath, as if speaking his name alone seemed to make her feel content.
“Mm?” His response was distracted, almost barely-there, as his eyes zeroed in on her lips yet again.
He’d lost count on the number of times he’d kissed her tonight, and yet here he was, craving more. It was crazy to think that he’d fallen in love with her without wondering what her lips would taste like, what her skin would feel like.
But now that he knew what it was like to run his fingers through her endless midnight hair; now that he knew about the wildfire capable of coursing throughout his entire body at having her body pressed against his; now that he knew the mind-blowing sensation of having her lips tucked between his own, it was all that consumed his mind.
Ah, crap, he thought. He really wanted to kiss her again now.
“Tonight was perfect,” she mumbled lazily, looking up at him with dazed eyes. It was the first time Asa had seen a pair of grey eyes look so warm.
You’re perfect, he wanted to say, but kept his mouth shut before he made a fool of himself.
“I’m glad you think so.” He smiled back. “Because I just had the best night ever.” He paused and reconsidered his statement. “Well, second best, actually.”
“What’s the first?” Carmen pulled her brows together.
“The night you told me you loved me back,” Asa murmured, his heart fluttering ever so slightly.
“Because I told you I love you or because you finally got to kiss me?” She bit her lip and wiggled her eyebrows.
Ay, Dios mío.
“Carmen,” he gasped, breath hitching and the words in his head tripping over one another as his mind reeled from discovering this new side of her—a side that Asa was pretty confident only he had the privilege of knowing.
“What?” she asked, her mouth curving into an impish smile, that teasing glint in her eyes from the night of the party making its appearance once again.
“You—that.” Asa paused, and then swore under his breath. “You have no idea what you’re doing to me.”
“I think I have a pretty good idea.” She grinned at him and then started to open the car door. “Walk me to my door?”
“As if you even had to ask.” Asa scoffed, getting out of the vehicle himself. “You know by now I’m a perfect gentleman.”
Carmen climbed up the front porch steps and then turned around to face him, lifting a brow in amusement. “In school, you mean, and in public. But I know what you’re really like when it’s just the two of us, and gentleman is the last word that comes to mind.”
Asa was seeing stars. He had to be by this point.
“You make one more suggestive comment,” he said warningly, “and—”
He stopped, because the lack of a car in her driveway reminded him of something.
“Wait a minute, your dad’s not home.” He grinned, squaring his shoulders and stepping closer to Carmen.
“Yeah. I did tell you.”
“Yeah. Which means he’s not pulling the typical dad move and watching us from behind a curtain.” Asa’s eyes were zeroed in on Carmen’s now, inching closer and closer towards her as she slowly backed away.
“You sound happy about that.”
“Oh, I am,” he said in a gruff voice. “Because now I can do this.” He grabbed both ends of her scarf and tugged her forward. “And this,” he breathed out, as he lowered his head and grazed his teeth across her bottom lip, hearing her breath hitch at the contact.
“Asa,” Carmen gasped against his mouth, her breathing growing ragged and heavy.
“What?” he mumbled into her skin as he left a trail of kisses down her throat and neck. “Where are all your smartass remarks now?”
His right arm curled around her waist and he used his left one to cup the back of her head as he walked forward ’till her back was pressed against the wall of the house, both of his hands behind her lessening the impact of her body hitting the hard surface.
“Carmen Carmen Carmen,” Asa breathed heavily, leaning his forehead against hers, a smile playing at the ends of his mouth. “Mi amor.” He kissed her forehead. “Mi cielo.” Then he kissed her cheek. “Mi sol.” He kissed her other cheek and then dipped his head,
