Page 18 of Cross Check Hearts

She smiles at my joke, and I swear I feel something spark between us. I can’t really put my finger on what it is, but there’s no denying it’s there. Coming to this club tonight wasn’t even on my radar until a few hours ago, and I really wrestled with if I should go at all, but now that I’m lying here and having such an amazing night with Isabelle like this, it feels like it was meant to happen.

Because when I think about it, so many things had to go exactly right for us to meet here. If my friend Finn didn’t have a date the same night, he never would’ve handed over his invite to the club to me. And if I’d had anything else to do, I definitely wouldn’t have come. But for the first time in I don’t even know how long, my schedule happened to be open.

I don’t know if Isabelle lives in the area or what she does, but she did tell me she’s never been to a sex club like this before tonight either, so I’m betting that there are just as many obstacles that could’ve stopped her from getting to Opal and Oak too.

But all the stars aligned, and here we are.

I’m not really the superstitious type, but even I have to admit that’s a lot of coincidences. Like, way too much for us meeting to be an accident. So maybe this really will be just a one-night thing, but damn, do I have a hard time accepting that. Because this girl is fucking gorgeous, no doubt, but there’s so much more to her than that. I’ve only seen it in glimpses, and I can’t really even say what “it” is, but she’s got it. She’s got me. And I don’t know how I’m supposed to just go back to normal life like none of this happened, like we never met.

Because every time I see a hummingbird from now on, I’m going to think of her. How could I not?

“So why a hummingbird?” I finally ask her quietly, and she flushes a little.

“I got it because I relate to hummingbirds. People think they’re so small and delicate, but most don’t know how strong they actually are. It takes a lot of energy and power to keep their wings flapping so many times per minute. But they never stop, never give up. I wanted a reminder of that on myself,” she says, her expression softening and her gaze drifting as she speaks. But I can’t take my eyes off her.

“It’s perfect. And it suits you,” I whisper, and she tips her head down to look down at me where my chin is still planted on her hip. She smiles at me, and my body moves on its own, bringing my mouth to hers to kiss her again. I can’t help it.

She responds immediately, running her hand across the back of my head to wind her fingers in my hair. She drags her feet up the back of my legs and wraps her legs around my waist, and my cock hardens between us as I push myself up to my hands and knees. I settle between her legs, grinding myself against her slick wetness, and she grins up at me as our kiss breaks.

“Feeling inspired now?”

I chuckle and peck a kiss on her forehead. “What can I say? I think I’ve found my muse.”

Chapter9

Hannah

“Oh, come on, Ralph, watch where you’re stepping!” I groan over the crinkle of my books and papers crunching under my cat’s plump paws as she bumbles across my bed. She stops right in front of me, blocking my view of the book where I’ve been reading the same passage for what feels like hours, and meows right in my face.

“Can’t you see I’m trying to study here?” I ask, crinkling my nose at her tuna breath, but I scratch her little head anyway, and she starts purring immediately. I didn’t know she was a girl when we adopted her, but by the time we figured it out, she had already gotten used to being called Ralph, so we kept it. “Alright, fine, I get the hint. I guess I can take a break for a little while. Do you want me to make you a little place to sit, you demanding little princess?”

Ralph turns around in circles a couple of times, which I take as a yes, so I start shoving books and papers out of the way to make a little nest for her. I’ve been in bed with my face in the books for so long that I’ve lost track of time, and I’ve made a disaster zone around me. Stacks of my handwritten notes and a dozen textbooks, each highlighted to within an inch of their lives, lie scattered across my fluffy purple comforter that’s now more cat hair than fabric. Whenever I’m home, Ralph wants to be right next to me, and she follows me everywhere like a little shadow—including to bed.

The irony isn’t lost on me that the one relationship I can maintain without complications is with my needy tabby.

Ralph circles around a couple more times in the space I cleared for her before she seems satisfied and curls into a ball, still purring. I pet her for a while until she falls asleep, then quietly climb out of bed to do some stretching. Ralph stirs and lifts her head to watch as I lower to my knees to get into a downward-facing dog position, but when she sees that my spot on the bed is empty, she gets up and lies down in the warmth I left behind.

“Oh, I see how it is,” I mutter, eyeing her betrayal as I turn myself into a triangle and feel the stretch all the way down my hamstrings with my feet flat on the floor. I breathe into the stretch, feeling the tight knots in my muscles surrender, and after a few counts, I walk my hands closer to my feet, deepening the sensation until my body hums with it.

On the exhale, I breathe out all the swirling thoughts and legal jargon jumbling around in my head, letting the endless parade of torts and statutes dissolve into the ether. With each inhale, I draw in calm; with each exhale, I release the tension coiled at the base of my spine. The next time I breathe out, I feel centered in a way that eluded me all afternoon.

I lower down into cobra pose, arching my back, and my phone rings on the bed, startling Ralph awake. I lunge off the floor and fumble around in the mess on my bed looking for my phone until I find it. It’s not a number I recognize, but I swipe to answer it anyway.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Hannah.” Declan’s voice comes through my cell’s speaker, rich and deep, and I almost drop the phone.

“How did you get my number?” I ask, my eyes widening.

“Your dad gave it to me.”

I collapse into a sitting position with my back against the side of my bed as my stomach performs a series of Olympic-worthy gymnastics. If my father handed my number out to him, does that mean that Declan told him about how we met?

“Oh god, please tell me you didn’t?—”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t tell him anything,” he reassures me quickly. “As far as I know, he doesn’t have a clue about anything that happened between us.”

Relief floods through me so fast it leaves me dizzy. “Then why did he give you my phone number?”

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