Page 51 of Forbidden You

“One of these days, Bodi. One of these days, I’m going to make you crack.” I get up, then grab my purse before I push him forward toward the elevator.

“Not gonna happen, babe. You wanna get some burgers on the way home?”

Home. I’m not sure what my definition of home is, but I don’t mind thinking of Bodi when the word hits.

A smug guffaw falls from my lips as I press the button to go down. “You’ve called me ‘babe’ every single chance you get when no one is around, and buy me all the food you think is crap–”

“It is crap,” he interrupts.

“Yet,you still ask what I wanna eat every day. You’re going to crack,baby.” I give him a matter of fact look as I watch his expression change by me calling him baby.

It rolled off my tongue with familiarity, meant as a tease, even though it’s the first time I’ve called him that. Hunger travels in his green eyes, and I hold his attention until the cart reaches our floor and the doors slide open.

He rubs his face with a small grunt. “Get in, Kayla.”

With a content sigh, I do as told and stand beside him.

“If you look at me like that every time I call you baby, I should do it more often,” I mumble with a giggle. I love how I’m starting to figure out all his tells. All the little buttons I can push until I can detonate the major one.

“Shut up.”

The rest of the ride down is silent, though my lips are firmly pressed together to prevent me from letting out the laugh that’s dying to burst out.

If he was anyone else, I’d probably move on by now. I bolted out of Stanford being completely convinced I didn’t want any form of male attention for the foreseeable future. But Bodi’s different.

He makes my bold side crawl out, drawn to his bright light. He makes me comfortable just being beside me, like I’ve known him my entire life, and as much as I made it clear I want more than just to be hisfriend, I can’t deny I trust him like he is exactly that.My friend.

But it’s the craving look in his emerald green eyes that keeps me going for more every time. I know he wants me just as much as I want him. I just gotta make him cross the lineonce. Just once to remind him how good we can be together and that he needs to let go of that bullshit about me being too young.

I’m not asking him to marry me. I’m not even asking for a relationship. I just got out of one, and it didn’t end well. I can even settle for friends with benefits.

But I do want him in every carnal way, and I’m not going to give up because I was born in the wrong year.

“Can I drive?” I question when we walk into the garage and toward his red Charger.

Within a split second, he throws me a look like I just asked him to eat bugs or something else ridiculous.

“No.” His tone holds no room for discussion, and I scrunch up my nose, a little burned.

“Why not?” I screech.

I’m a fucking good driver, if I say so myself. Have been riding anything on two or four wheels since I was fourteen.

I stand in front of the hood while he lays his arms on top of the car, his hip leaning against it with a self-righteous grin stretching his cheeks. “Babe, do you know what this car cost?”

Not the first time a man underestimates me when it comes to cars.

Don’t even get me started on the time I had to refill the coolant in Trent’s flashy Mercedes because he couldn’t even find the reservoir.

I pop my hip, crossing my arms in front of my body with a defiant glare. “It’s a Dodge Charger. From what I can see, it’s a 2015/2016 model. You got double the pipes, which tells me it’s at least a V6, but when I listen to the engine, I’d expect it to be a V8, so I think about forty grand?” I wait for his response, enjoying the amazed look washing his face.

“Am I close?” I ask, fluttering my lashes when he stays quiet.

“You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?”

“It’s the only thing my Pops and I can agree on.” My feet carry me to the passenger side and I get in, waiting for him to do the same.

When he finally does, he starts the roaring engine and I glance at him with my head resting against the headrest.

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