Page 100 of Resist Me

He laughed as he took a bite. After he finished his third donut, he looked at me and raised a brow. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing. What are you doing?”

He nodded toward the hand I had on his leg. I curled my fingers in when I realized that I’d been moving them like I was playing.

“Muscle memory,” I said.

“What was it?”

“Elysium At Midnight. It’s the one my mom composed. I decided to play it for my audition.”

He smiled and threaded his fingers with mine. “It’s gonna be the best thing they’ve ever heard. Can I come?”

My mouth opened, then I closed it as I thought about it. “You wanna come to my audition?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna bring a bag of tomatoes in case it’s trash.” His smile faltered. “I don’t have to go. It’s probably personal and it’s super important to you-”

I put a finger to his lips. “I’d love for you to go. I was just surprised. Nobody I’ve dated has really shown an interest because, apparently, piano is boring.”

He stuck his tongue out and licked the length of my finger, making me pull it back. “That’s dumb. Even if I was bored, I’d still go. Then, I’d tell you how boring it was and show up early for the next one.”

Well, I’ll be damned. West said something heartfelt. According to my Galaxy watch, my pulse jumped, not that I needed it to tell me.

“Hey, West.”

“Hm?”

“Will you let me call you mine?”

He brought his coffee to his lips so quickly, he nearly gave himself a lobotomy with the straw. He side-eyed me and I leaned on the armrest, watching him internally freak out.

“West,” I prompted when it had been an awkward amount of time.

Turning fully to face me, he lifted his feet onto the couch and leaned his arms on his knees. I moved closer, matching his position. His toes were tapping the way they did when he was nervous or deep in thought.

“Explain what you mean by that,” he said.

“Okay. For one, I want to go to the team dinner with you and not hide what we are to each other.”

“And what’s that?”

“That’s what we’re talking about right now.”

“We can just keep it like this. Casual and no labels.”

Putting my hands over his, I shook my head. “I don’t do casual. Not long-term. Unless you want to put an expiration date on this… But I don’t want to do that. I like you- more than I ever expected to. This is something I want to pursue with you.” He continued to keep his eyes on our hands. “Baby, look at me.”

Suddenly, he pulled away from me and got to his feet. “I’m gonna shower, then I have homework to do.”

God damnit. I should’ve bought him another dozen donuts so he’d go into a food coma and be unable to escape.

“West, sit your ass down and talk to me. I’m not letting you run anymore.”

His hands clenched at his sides before he backpedaled and dropped onto the couch. “Fine, but not because you told me to. I just want to finish these donuts.”

“Fair.”

After he grabbed one, I moved my arm to the back of the couch and ran my fingers through his hair.

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