Page 85 of Home Field Advantage
What if I initiated it?
He’s trying to respect my boundaries, and I’m now saying screw them.
I push up on my toes, resting my hand on the side of his face. A move he’s done with me before. He leans into my touch, and he knows. He knows I want this. I can see it in the way his eyes darken like the storm outside. I trail my hand down until it’s on his neck, feeling his pulse pound rapidly under my touch, and then he presses his forehead to mine.
“Not here. Not like this,” he whispers softly.
I pull away, letting my back fall into the wall as if it would give us some space. Fear crushes me like an elephant sitting on my chest. I went too far. I’m too much. He knows the most vulnerable parts of me, and now I’ve scared him away.
Then he surprises me when he takes my face in his hands, holding me in place, his thumbs brushing the apple of my cheek.
“Is this okay?” he asks.
I nod eagerly. It’s more than okay. His hands are the reassuranceI need right now. His lips are the confirmation I want, but I won’t push it.
“The first time I get a taste of your perfect, soft lips, it won’t be in this tiny dark hallway at a bar, Poppy. When I say not here, that’s what I mean. Trust me when I tell you this, I will have my taste of you. There isn’t a part of you that I don’t want to taste.” My breath hitches at his words. “But you’re in control here. I may be stopping it right now, but next time?—”
A group of girls comes barreling out of the woman’s bathroom, laughing, and it pulls us both away as if we’ve been caught.
He rubs the back of his neck. “I’m sorry.”
This time, it’s my turn to smirk at him, reversing the roles.
He’s smiling, and it’s exactly what I’ve been looking for all night.That smile. I side-step him, retreating down the hallway. But before I round the corner for the bar, I turn around one more time, and he’s still standing where I left him.
“Next time,” I say, grinning.
He shakes his head, still smiling from ear to ear.
Not here. Not like this.
I turn around and make my way through the crowd with only one thought on my mind.
Don’t you dare fall in love with him, Poppy.
CHAPTER 21
I’M PLAYING WITH FIRE.
Dallas
I never thought I’d be the person to hold so much restraint.
Now, because of it, I’m pacing my living room after getting home from Seven Stools. I turn the TV on just to hear something, only to turn it off again because it doesn’t help take my mind off Poppy. I told her I wouldn’t kiss her, not like that, but my skin is still crawling with the need to taste her.
I should have fucking done it.
I feel like I can’t breathe or even think straight.
Coming to a halt at my front window, I look outside and across the lawn to her house. Her front porch light glows a soft yellow, illuminating the snow still sitting on the ground around the porch. A light is on in her living room, telling me she’s home—she’s awake.
What would happen if I went over there right now?
I wouldn’t be able to control myself around her anymore.
That’s the only answer I have.
Without thinking, I put on my jacket and boots, closing my front door behind me. I walk across the yard in ankle-deep snow because I can’t wait another minute to see her again.
