Page 23 of Devoted

“Okay. Fuck. Well, now I really need another beer,” Ethan sighs in frustration.

“Hey. If this doesn’t go well or we end up leaving or something, I’ll get in touch with you tomorrow.”

“Sounds good. Good luck, Brooks. Lord knows you’re gonna need it.” He smacks my stomach with the back of his hand before turning around as a small blonde comes up to him, clearly interested by the enormous smile on her face as she peers up at him beneath dark lashes.

I truly hope something comes out of tonight for him. The guy is my family and my best friend and I know he just wants to be happy. I used to always think he was such a hopeless romantic, determined to find his forever woman and settle down before he ever left his mom’s place. But he was always the one-woman kind of guy. And now that there’s a woman on my radar that I can’t get out of my head, I can see the allure of having one person to occupy your time. And I want to invest my time in Jess.

My legs carry me in the same direction Jess just went as I locate the women’s restroom and take up residence perched against the wall opposite the door. I hope to God she didn’t already leave and I missed her, but my mind tells me I would have noticed if she walked by. Veering down at my watch, I check the time, acknowledging it’s just past eight as I survey the minute hand tick by for what feels like an hour. But it only takes a few seconds of movement before the sound of the door opening pulls my head up and I lock eyes with my raven-haired crush. Her beauty up close steals the breath from my lungs.

“Hey, Jess.” I flash her the same panty-melting grin I gave her that first day in the coffee shop and brace myself for her response. But she just stands there, the rise and fall of her chest slightly evident in the dark hallway. Her scent hits me though, that soft citrus that’s mixed with something fruity this time. Berries. I think it’s strawberries I’m smelling and fuck if it doesn’t make me want to close the distance between us, wrap her in my arms, and smell the shit out of her just to feed my need for the high she has recently given me every time she’s near.

When I catch her scent in the hospital as we work around each other, it distracts me from the focus I should have in times of intense pressure. And other times when the hustle isn’t as dire, all it makes me want is to see if she tastes as sweet as she smells.

Suddenly her eyes widen and I swear the gray hue of her pupils turns black almost in the dim lighting of the hallway. “What are you doing here?” She asks, standing perfectly still but raising her chin, telling me silently that she refuses to let on if she’s terrified being this close to me, but I can sense her nervousness beneath her feigned concern.

“Nice to see you too, Jess.” I opt for sarcasm, hoping it will help me get a feel for whether she’s truly pissed that I sort of ambushed her.

“You didn’t answer my question,” she says, gripping her purse as if it’s holding her up.

“I came here with Ethan,” I admit a little too arrogantly, which only makes her face soften for a second as her eyes open even wider.

“Why?”

“Because I wanted to see you.” And I really don’t want you to date someone else.

She steps back from me now and shakes her head. “What? You knew I’d be here then? He set this up?”

“Don’t act like you’re not a teensy bit happy to see me.” I smirk at her again, and then immediately regret that decision. What happened to trying to be honest, Brooks? Why the fuck did you go back to being a cocky asshole?

“Brooks… I’m sorry, I’m just confused. This is awkward…” She pulls her purse closer to her body as I push up off the wall, closing the distance between us. Her feet move backwards before her spine hits the bricks behind her and her neck cranes back so she can see my face.

“Then let me un-confuse you because I’ve been in limbo too.” I take a deep breath and then reach for her free hand, drawing it up close to my lips before lightly brushing them against her soft skin. Her scent hits my nose instantly, sending a bolt of lightning to my dick. God, I want to taste her. All of her.

“I came here tonight for you. Yes, Ethan told me you would be here, but don’t be mad at him. It was my decision to come to show you that I’m interested. I want to get to know you.”

Her jaw drops slightly, revealing the pink of her tongue in her mouth that I want to drag my own across. “You’re—you’re interested in me?”

I grin at her with just a slight twitch of the corner of my mouth. “Can you not tell? I try not to be so blatant at work because you know how the rumor mill goes. But I want to get to know you. I like you. You’re sarcastic and beautiful, and it’s so fucking hot when you get in your zone and get all serious.” She laughs as her cheeks turn pink. “But I know you feel this attraction too. I saw you checking out my ass last week.”

Her mouth drops open and then she puts her face in her hands, shaking her head in embarrassment. “I was not.”

“Yes, you were. It’s okay. I look at yours all the time too.”

She swats me playfully in the chest as her head pops back up and she bites the corner of her mouth. “Oh, Jesus.”

I reach for her hand and put it back in mine. “So obviously we’re attracted to one another. And I don’t know about you, but I feel like it’s more than that. I can just be myself around you. And that doesn’t happen for me very often.”

She pivots her head back and forth again. “I wish I could say the same, Brooks,” she starts, instantly making me fear an impending rejection from her. “But you make me so nervous, I don’t know how to act around you sometimes,” she chuckles.

“I make you nervous?”

Her head bobs up and down. “Yes. Extremely. You’re—” She pauses before breathing deeply and staring directly into my eyes, giving me a glimpse of those stormy irises that are so unique and stunning, I couldn’t look away right now if you paid me. “You’re so hot, Brooks. You make me feel stupid when I’m around you.”

I can’t help it, I laugh—loudly—throwing my head back as she looks away, her cheeks turning bright red now. When I gather myself, I tip her chin up to me so she can’t look away when I tell her what I came here to say.

“Damn, your honesty is unnerving. You’re hot too, Jess—so damn cute and sassy in this tiny little package that taunts me every time I see you. I can’t fight my attraction to you anymore. So what do you say? Wanna see what’s here between us? We can go back out there and be each other’s fifth date, or we can leave here and go somewhere else, sit down, and get to know each other more. Whatever you want. I’m yours to do with as you wish.”

She smirks, her lips curling upward before slightly revealing her pearly white teeth, making all of my blood rush south again. “I can do whatever I want with you?” She asks playfully, running her hands up the planes of my chest, dragging her nails along the skin of my neck. I swallow hard as her fingers trail up my jaw and she swipes a few hairs from my forehead before resting her hands on my shoulders.

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