Page 91 of Between Us

His eyes shamelessly move over the curves of my body too, pausing on the cleavage that’s falling out of the tank top. I’m on my side, propped up on my elbow. From this angle, and without a bra, it doesn’t leave a lot to the imagination… Especially to someone as well acquainted with my body as he is now.

“So,” he slowly starts and moves to get in bed next to me. Pulling the covers down for him, I wait for him to continue. He seems nervous suddenly. “Your dad mentioned something earlier, and I wanted to talk to you about it.”

Pushing up until I’m sitting next to him, looking down at where he’s settling against his pillow, I ask, “What did he say?” There’s a slight panic in my voice—feeling like everything was too good to be true and this is the other shoe about to drop.

“Shh, pretty girl,” he soothes and wraps an arm around my back. He pulls me down until my front is flush against his and holds me to him. “It’s nothing bad. I promise.”

Taking a breath, I nod and look at him. Waiting.

“I just don’t want you to feel like I’m inviting myself into something, if you weren’t ready for that.” Now I’m just confused, and the way my brows scrunch must clue him into that. He sighs and shyly admits, “Your dad invited me to spend Christmas at your house.”

Surprised, I sputter, “He did?”

My heart pinches at the thought of my dad ending their conversation on that note. I had mentioned to my parents at dinner a few days ago that I wasn’t sure what Adrian’s plans were, after my dad noticed he hadn’t requested any time off.

From the look my mom gave my dad, I knew where her mind was at. But considering my dad and I haven’t ever talked about what’s going on between Adrian and I, I wasn’t sure how heactuallyfeels about everything—or having his employee over on a holiday.

This feels like a confirmation that my dad is okay with this thing unfolding between us, and a white flag that Adrian, nor I, deserve right now.

And it’s exactly why I love that man so goddamn much.

“Yeah, he did.”

Biting my lip, I run my fingers gently over his chest. “Do you want to spend Christmas with us?”

“Honestly,” he exhales, “yes. You know I’d love to see my parents, but it makes the most sense to wait until New Year’s Eve. And the only other place I’d want to be is with you and your family.”

A smile breaks out across my face. “I want you there. I was going to ask you, after I talked to my parents about it. I just… I haven’t really told my parents about us.”

He nods, but there’s obvious confusion mixed into his features. “What do you mean? We spend a lot of time together. You’ve stayed here. They must know something.”

“They do,” I assure. “I mean, you asked me on a date in front of my dad.” My cheeks warm at the reminder; so does my heart. I love the straightforward approach he’s always taken with me. And he’s easily the one responsible for getting us as far as we’ve come.

“Olivia told me about three weeks into the job that I was doing ‘a horrible job at hiding my crush on the boss’s daughter.’”

That makes me laugh, and I can perfectly imagine Olivia giving him a hard time. She knows all the work gossip and is very proud of that.

“Okay, so everyone has an idea that something is going on. I just mean, I haven’t been sure exactly what to tell my parents. And I wanted to figure it out first, you know?” He nods but seems to pick up on the fact that I’m working out my thoughts. “Earlier,” I quietly tell him, “You said we were in a relationship.”

He tilts his head, looking curious and cautious. “Aren’t we?”

Scared to meet his eye, I stare at the wall behind him. “Arewe?”

He grabs me by the waist and pulls closer, which causes me to lay more on top of him with my legs straddling him. “Blake,” he breathes. “You aren’t a dumb girl, so don’t act like it.”

The words are similar to the ones he told me when we went to dinner at SunRay’s. That was the night I realized I wasn’t imagining a second of my time with Adrian—he really was interested in me. And his intentions were made clear to anyone who asked.

“I’m not trying to play stupid,” I argue. Being this close to him is a little distracting, but I cling to him anyway, still needing the contact despite it. “I can’t just make assumptions here, Adrian.”

He nods and grips my hip tighter, wrapping both of his arms around my lower back so I’m trapped with our bodies melded together. Leaning forward, my hair creates a thin curtain around us causing it to feel more intimate.

One arm is bent next to his head, holding me up, the other lightly moving up his arm and shoulder. I continue brushing along his neck and jaw, before making my way back down the path.

I’m comfortable with this—the nonverbal types of intimacy when our bodies do the talking for us. But I know we’ve gotten to the point where we need to start having some of those conversations if we want this to actually go somewhere.

And I do.

“Let me make it clear for you, so there’s no confusion,” he murmurs, our lips only inches from each other now. “I’m not interested in anyone else, Blake. Truthfully, I haven’t been able to think about anyone other than the prettiest girl I’veeverseen, with the lightning eyes, since that night at the grocery store.”

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