It’s not soft and slow. It’s hard and fast, desperate, and completely honest. I want to dance in the rain and offer thanks to the universe above. There’s no pretense, no pretending. This isn’t a precursor to get me into bed. This is the pent-up passion that has been building all night—if not all week.
My nails bite into his scalp as he rolls his hips against mine and groans as he plunges deeper, his tongue exploring my mouth, tasting me and making me moan. It’s seven at night, and we’re making out against his car—in a parking lot, no less—and it’s still as hot as it was when I used to do it as a teenager.
As far as memorable first kisses go, this has jumped straight to the top of the list. Bar none.
Desperately needing air, I suck in a breath when Rhodes tears his lips from mine. “Damn, sweet cheeks. You can kiss.”
“Believe me, you’re the master of anticipation. You made me nearly jump you.”
“I like to delay gratification. What can I say?”
“Well, I’ll tell you one thing. I may like to win, but if that’s my reward for losing, I’m winning regardless.”
His eyes sparkle with amusement as he grins down at me. “I’ve been wanting to kiss you for a fuck of a long time.”
“And now that you have?” I ask, resting my hands right over his racing heart and looking up at him.
He runs a finger down my cheek, his big hand cupping my jaw. “Now, I’m gonna be doing it a hell of a lot more often.”
“Promise?”
He laughs as he brushes his lips against mine once more. “It’s a god damn guarantee.”
Chapter 9
Rhodes
After a crazy, busy week, Jake and I meet up with Marco, Gio, and Luca—the other Rossi brother—for a run around the Busse Woods Trails. It’s all for a good cause though, because in five months, we’re all running in the annual Ovarian Cancer Charity Run—something we’ve done for the past four years. At first, Jake and I did it to honor Lily’s memory and help others battle the horrible disease that took her from us. Now it’s a way to memorialize her and help raise money that can go toward one day finding a cure, so that no one else has to be lost.
The plan today is to do an easy five miles, but Gio and Luca have been known to do crazy distances whenever the mood hits them. As we stretch against the car in the parking lot, I’m mentally preparing myself to be guilted into running the full course today, which would mean a whole world of pain tomorrow.
At least if I can’t walk after this, I’ll have two days to recover before my dinner date with Dee on Monday.
We’ve been like ships in the night this week, but we’ve stayed in touch. That’s not to say I didn’t send a bunch of flowers to the restaurant on Monday morning after our date.
I’d been ready to take her and claim her as mine right then and there. I’ve never felt that before. Not with anyone, but everything feels so natural with Dee that I’m making a point not to question it. I’m going to enjoy it.
This is not a quick slam and scram scenario for me. I like Dee. She’s funny and smart, ambitious, and caring. Her sexy body, stunning smile, and husky moan have a lot to do with it as well.
I swear she almost had me embarrassing myself when we were making out against my car. So fucking hot, and responsive, and greedy—I loved it.
“Earth to Dad?” Jake says, snapping me out of my daze.
“Yeah, kid?”
“Stop mooning over your girlfriend,” he says with a shit-eating grin. The problem with raising a kid who’s the perfect mix of me and his mother is that he’s quick off the mark and doesn’t miss a thing.
“She’s not my girlfriend yet. We’re still getting to know each other.”
“Look, Dad. I know it’s been a while for you, but when a guy likes a girl and a girl likes a guy, you lock that girl down before someone else snaps her up. When it’s someone as cool as Dee Duncan, you do that quickly. You get me?” he says, his expression serious.
“Relationships don’t work that way. You can’t just ‘lock someone down,’ Jake.”
The teenage love guru rolls his eyes. “Yes. You do. You said her ex was cool with you. Her kid likes you. I like her, and whenever you two message each other, you get this weird smile on your face I haven’t seen since Mom. Admit it, Dad. You’re really into her.”
Gio wraps an arm around Jake’s shoulder. “Yeah, Dad. Tell us you really, really like her.”
“God. Here we go.” I roll my eyes and search the sky for some divine intervention.
“Who do we like?” Luca says, walking into the conversation without a care in the world, Marco following him and standing beside me.
“Oooh, are we talking about girls? Can we do it while running? Or do you guys wanna sit around with your fingers up your asses while we discuss Rhodes’s love life?”
I jerk my head Marco’s way. “Yeah. What he said. Let’s go.” Leading by example, I jog away from them toward the start of the official trail.
“Dad, no pressure, but you know the third date is important, right?” Jake says, moving beside me.
I give him the side-eye. “You been watching those YouTube dating videos again?”
“Look, he’s got some good advice,” Marco says.
I snort. “It’s not my first rodeo, kid.”
“Well, in fairness to Jake, it’s not like you’ve had to date for a while,” Gio says from where he’s running behind me.
Luca bursts ahead and turns to face us, running backward as he does. “I’m an expert at modern dating. Ask me anything—I’ll help you out, brother.”
“When did you last have a girlfriend?” I ask, earning a middle finger from him.
“Not all of us are as lucky as Marco, who goes to a damn house
