Page 54 of Make It Without You

The band coming back on the stage for the second half of their set halts my reply. They’re a local band that started playing here about a year after I opened. They told me they have no plans of going big and that they just like playing. So I said that they have a spot here anytime they want.

Emily scoots her chair closer to me. I like to think it’s so she has a better view of the band. But the other part of me hopes that it’s so she can be closer to me.

“What’s your favorite tattoo?” She asks when she leans into me. Her voice sends shockwaves through my body.

I have to shake myself out of the not-so-G-rated thoughts and focus on the question she asked me. Holding out my arm, I pull up my shirt sleeve and show her a few dates I had permanently inked on my body.

“These.”

Her finger traces the numbers and that small bit of contact has my heart racing for the finish line. “What do the numbers represent?”

“The top one is Dylan’s birthday. And the bottom two are the birthdates of my parents.”

They’re the three most important people in my life. So deciding to ink my skin with numbers, wasn’t a tough decision.If I had siblings and Dylan wasn’t an only child, my forearm would be a database of my loved ones' numbers.

But with his Mom abandoning him and no siblings, I fear I’m doing exactly that.

“What’s that face?” Emily asks, pulling me from the insecure thoughts running through my mind.

“What face?”

“The face you made after telling me about your tattoos? Did I overstep?” Her voice takes on a bit of panic. Panic that is completely not needed.

My hand falls to the back of her chair and I lean in to speak in her ear. My lips brush the shell of her ear and I have to fight the shiver that wracks itself through my body. “No, you didn’t Em. I was just wallowing in insecure thoughts that had nothing to do with my tattoos. But please, continue to step on me all you want.”

I’m close enough that I can hear her laughter over the band. And I’ve decided that, along with my son’s laughter, it’s now my second favorite sound in the world.

We stay close like this. Talking into each other's ears as the band continues to play. We learn each other's favorite colors, phobias, and dislikes. Emily playfully teases me while I continue to make her laugh uncontrollably. After our first tearful greeting, I vow to make her laugh for as long as I can. But all too soon, the night starts to come to an end.

“I should go.” Emily mournfully says after looking at her watch for the time.

As much as I don’t want her to, I have closing responsibilities to attend to. And I need to check in for the night to make sure Dylan is okay at camp.

Nodding, I get up and hold my hand out for her. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

I’m grateful for the time Emily and I got to spend together. But it still didn’t feel like enough. It’s like I’ve barely scratched the surface with her. But I’ll continue to eat up every crumb she gives me.

“You’re such a gentleman,” Emily teases when we’re in the parking garage. She swings our hands back and forth. As serious as she’s been, I’m beginning to see that she has a playful side to her. Lights on a small SUV go off and her steps slow down. “This is me.”

“I’m glad you came here tonight,” I admit. Can she tell I’m nervous? I don’t want to push her, but she makes me twitchy.

“Adam?”

“Yeah?” My voice comes out high-pitched. Why does it come out high-pitched?

She moves until the tips of our shoes are touching. “You can kiss me.”

“Yeah?” I don’t know why that’s the only thing I can say.

“I think I broke you.”

I tell myself to pull it together and that I’m better than this. “You didn’t. Are you sure? Because I think one taste of you will have me hooked.”

“Positive.” She says as she rises on her toes and presses her lips to mine.

It takes a moment for my brain to catch up. My hand slides up her arm and I feel the shiver work through her body. My other hand slides down her back and lands on her lower back, anchoring her to me.

Once my nerves subside, I take over the kiss and my tongue teases the seam of her lips. When she opens up to me, our tongues dance together and the softest moan escapes her throat. If her laughter is one of my favorite sounds, this moan became a close contender. Her arms fall over my shoulder and her handstangle in the hair at the nape of my neck. Light pulls of my hair send a jolt straight to my cock and a groan climbs up my throat.

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