Page 37 of The Prizes We Win
“And this morning we…” He pauses and scratches the back of his neck. “We tried some new stuff.”
“Oh. So you and Seb—you—you, uh—”
He takes a deep breath. “Me and Seb nothing. It was Me, Joe, and Seb.”
Oh, thank god. I’m not sure why but the thought of him being with Seb made me feel…jealous.“Oh. Okay. Cool, cool cool.”
“Seb wanted to see if I could handle…sharing.”
Okay, now it all makes sense. “And could you?”
“I could. It was—seeing her like that was—she was beautiful.”
“So beautiful,” I say softly in agreement.
“I wouldn’t mind, umm—” it isn’t often I see Dante so flustered and obviously uncomfortable. I’ve got to say, it’s nice to see he isn’t as put together as he always tries to be.
Pushing off the glass I make my way over to him. We’re toe-to-toe but because he’s leaning against the counter, his face is still so far away. “Wouldn’t mind what?”
He shakes his head. “Nothing. Nevermind.”
“Tell me.Big Daddy,” I joke, trying to make him a little more comfortable.
The corners of his mouth pull up ever so slightly. “You’re fucking ridiculous.”
Shrugging, I answer, “I know. Now tell me what you were gonna say.”
He takes a deep breath before standing to his full height. I’m tall, but Dante stands a few inches taller than me. However, as I look up at him, and him down at me, our lips are just a breath apart. “I wouldn’t mind doing that with you sometime,” he says quietly. So quiet that if I weren’t standing this close, I don’t think I’d have heard it.
“I’m sure Joe would love that.”
He swallows harshly. The two of us aren’t touching except for where our chests brush against one another as we take in deep breaths. “But… I—shit,” he hisses under his breath. “I think I’d like to try itwithyou.”
He says it so fast and so quietly that it takes a moment for my brain to register what he just said to me.
That after all these years, after all the cheesy come-ons, after all his exasperated eye rolls and grunts, he just said that.
He wantsme.
“You do?” I ask. Still in disbelief.
“Yeah. I think so.”
I don’t move. I don’t say anything. I don’t even think I breathe. Because Dante DeLuca wants me. And I’m afraid that if I so much as blink, I’ll wake up and this will all be a dream. The two of us stand there, toe-to-toe, chest-to-chest, for what feels like an eternity. Our heavy breathing echoes in his bathroom. Andjust when I think he’s about to step away and pretend this never happened, I watch as his eyes stray from mine down to my lips, and—
He grabs my face in his hands and crashes his mouth into mine.
I stand there completely and utterly stunned for a moment. And then—
My hands find his lean waist and I pull him to me. Not leaving even a fraction of an inch between our bodies.
The comforting scent of spice and vanilla envelopes me, and it feels like my body molds against his. Like I was meant to be here all along.
Despite how nervous he was just mere moments ago, his kiss is anything but. There isn’t a single ounce of hesitation or fear. He’s powerful and fierce. Like he’s trying to own me from this kiss alone.
And I just might let him.
Dante lets out a low growl, and I swear to god I can feel it deep in my soul. My hands flex on his waist, and I’m about to shove him back against that counter when Luca’s voice sounds up the stairs. “You guys coming down for breakfast or what?”
