Page 57 of Sunshine with You
Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Marcus slides a look to his date, before nodding curtly. He looks away as she takes a few pictures on Trevor’s phone.
“Hey, thanks!” Trevor sends a wide grin over the table before pocketing his phone. His arm curls around my waist as he walks me out onto the dance floor. “Don’t turn back, but that’s a man who just realized what he lost.”
“You aremessy!” I laugh.
“Maybe, but it worked. Did you see his face?”
“I’ll never forget it… Thanks.”
“Hey, he clearly didn’t deserve you. It was worth it just to see that pretty smile light up your face again.”
I’m almost certain my cheeks are red, hidden only by the purple neon streaking across the dance floor. “Come on,” I say, biting my lip. “We can get a few more dances in before the ball drops.”
“Ten…nine…eight,”Trevor and I count down to midnight, watching the ball drop on the big screen in the main dance hall. He’s standing behind me, one hand settled loosely on my hip. My nerves from earlier return as I anticipate what may happen when we get to the number one. “Seven…six–”
But when we get to five, he whispers in my ear, “Do you want to get out of here?”
I nod, and just as the crowd explodes in a sea of the New Year’s kisses I was worried about, he leads me by the hand to the exit. Outside, I pause on the sidewalk and pull out my phone. “I just need to tell Willa and Hunter we’re leaving…” Opening a group message, I type out a quick goodbye as we walk to Trevor’s rental car. The drive to his hotel takes about twenty minutes, and halfway there, my phone dies. “Do you happen to have an extra charger?” I ask.
“Yep.” He reaches into the center console and pulls out a long charging cord, which is great, except it’s not compatible with my phone.
I tsk, shaking my head. “Don’t tell me you’re a Pro-Phone guy…”
“Always. And by the tone in your voice, I’m guessing you have a StarCell.”
“Yep. I just ran into your first red flag,”
His laughter booms over the soft music playing on the radio. It must be contagious since I giggle along with him. “Welp, if that’s the only red flag so far, I’d say I’m doing pretty well for myself.”
“Guess we’ll see.” I grin at him.
We pull into a parking spot, but he keeps the engine idling, turning in his seat to look at me. “I want to be perfectly clear about my intentions tonight… I plan to throw on a movie and cuddle the hell out of you, and then I’ll drive you home after.”
“Cuddlinganda movie?” I click my tongue. “I don’t know… You didn’t say anything about snacks. Sounds iffy.”
He sucks in air through his teeth like we’re in serious negotiation mode. “You drive a hard bargain, but I think I can make that happen. I’ll even throw in some overpriced water bottles.” I laugh as those dimples accent his smile, and he shuts off the car and escorts me inside.
After clicking on the dim light in his hotel room, we dump our movie snacks onto the bed and agree on a comedy from a few years ago. Once we’re comfortable against the headboard, he reaches for the fruity candy, then slides an arm around my shoulder. The tingling warmth coursing through me is a stark change from the heart palpitations I usually get with guys. It’s nice, just…different. I follow the impulse to snuggle into him, and he drops his arm to my waist. My breath hitches when his thumb grazes my thigh.
“Oh, you want tocuddle-cuddle,” I tease.
“Shh,” he says playfully. “The movie’s starting.” With his hand on my hip, he tugs me closer. Biting my lip, I glance at him, and he’s already watching me with a sly smile on his face. I reach forward for some chocolate, and when I settle back against him, his hand searches for mine until he hooks his thumb around my pinkie. It’s so adorably sweet, I can barely stand it. Just like those high school movies where I’d be kicking my feet at the cuteness of it all.
But after the first few scenes of the movie, I can’t take the quiet. “Sooo…you learned about my ex. Can I hear about yours?”
“I guess that’s fair.” He shifts so we can see each other better. “It’s been…”—he blows out a puff of air—“a couple years since I had anything serious. She was a coworker, and it turned into a long-distance thing when she got promoted. We ended up wanting different things.”
“What kinds of things?”
The smallest shadow falls over his face as he scrunches his lips. “Well, for starters, she wanted her boss, and I wanted someone who wasn’t a cheater…”
“Ooh, yeah, those are very different things.”
He shrugs, and just like that, the shadow is gone, replaced with a glint in his eye. “It was for the best. I learned a lot about myself.”
“Like…?”
Chuckling, he nudges my shoulder. “Like, now I know I need to take things slow, keep things light and fun while getting to know someone. Only jumping into exclusivity when we’re both sure it’s what we want. Most women get fed up and call it quits because of my pacing, but I’m not rushing something like that again.”
