Thoughtful(218)

Kiera and Jenny emerged from the bathrooms then, so I grabbed my girl and left Evan to chew on that. As we were walking away, I heard him shout, “You are one sick individual, Kyle!”

I raised my fist into the air in response. Kiera peeked up at me with curious eyes. “Do I want to know what that was about?”

“No, probably not.” I gave her a wink, which made her bite her lip in such a sensual way that I instantly forgot all about Evan and Jenny. Squeezing Kiera’s hand, I leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Come dance with me, beautiful.”

Her cheeks turned a gorgeous shade of rose as she nodded. Leading the way, I pushed us back out to the dance floor and wrapped my arms around her waist again. The song was quicker paced than how we were dancing, but I didn’t care. I wanted to slow dance with my girl. The DJ could kiss my ass.

I watched Kiera while she watched the crowd. She was so attractive with her hair pulled up into a ponytail, and a tight tank top on under a cream-colored see-through shirt. I wanted to be doing much more than dancing, but the restraint only added to the anticipation. This was technically only our second date, so I wasn’t even going to kiss her tonight. A proper gentleman waited for the third date. Or at least, that sounded good in my head.

A look of surprise crossed over Kiera’s emerald eyes, and I scanned the crowd to try to see what she’d seen. When she nudged my shoulder and flicked her head toward Evan and Jenny, I looked over at them. Was he finally kissing her? No, but they had their foreheads resting together, and Evan was playing with her hair while she gazed at him like he was the only person left on earth. He might still be resisting, but it wouldn’t be much longer now. Good. I shouldn’t be the only one feeling this amazing.

I was nervous for Kiera’s and my next date. This was the one…lucky number three. I was going to kiss her, but I didn’t want it to go too far. Just a kiss. That was it. I didn’t want to get swept away—and at the same time, I really did want to get swept away. Not yet though. We still needed to keep this slow and steady.

After I walked her to her door, I asked if I could kiss her. With a smile bright enough to light the whole city, she murmured, “Yes.”

My heart was racing as we leaned into each other, and all I kept thinking was Keep it short, keep it simple. Our lips briefly pressed together, and I instantly pulled away. There. Gentlemanly. Kiera wasn’t as gentlemanly though. Reaching out, she grabbed my neck and pulled me into her again. As our mouths moved together, my thoughts shifted to Yes…God, yes. It took a lot of willpower, but we left it as a long, passionate kiss, and I was breathless when I walked away. Damn. Going slow was going to be harder than I thought.

Once we started kissing again, we both practiced a lot of restraint every time we saw each other, whether we were at her school, at the park, at her place, mine, or eventually, back at Pete’s. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Kiera to quit her job at a diner in Pioneer Square and come back to the bar.

When Kiera returned to Pete’s, I made damn sure everyone knew there was nothing hidden about our relationship: I gave her a heart-stopping kiss right in the middle of the bar. She was mine. And if anyone tried to take her from me, I would have their head. Maybe I was a bit too possessive now, but I’d tried sharing once, and I didn’t care for it. Not one tiny little bit.

Kiera was breathless and red-faced when we pulled apart, but she didn’t chide me for the very public display of affection. I’d wanted this from the beginning, and she knew that. With a nod and a smile, she gave me a brief kiss before walking to the back room. My eyes swept the crowd, looking for a challenge. I didn’t find one.

Evan clapped me on the shoulder once I joined the band at our table. “You’ve developed a flair for the dramatic. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

I smiled at him as I sat down. “And you’ve become the biggest procrastinator I know.” I leaned forward so I could shout at Griffin at the end of the table. “Hey, you’ve still got those spandex shorts, right?” Griffin gave me a thumbs-up.

Matt’s expression turned horrified, like I’d just asked Griffin for his jock strap. “What the hell do you want with those things, Kellan?”

He put his hand on my forehead, like he was taking my temperature. Evan tossed a crumpled napkin in my face. “Jerk. I think I liked you better when you were sprawled across the table, piss-ass drunk.”

My eyes drifted over to Kiera as she reemerged from the back room in her red Pete’s T-shirt. “Don’t count on that happening again anytime soon,” I told Evan. All is right with the world again.