Page 43 of My Debacle with De Lorenzo

Yeah, that’s just embarrassment. My blood has definitely rushed to other places. I drop my head, pinching the bridge of my nose as I take deep, steadying breaths. I scour the depths of my stomach for scraps of courage to face her again and finally open my eyes.

“I wasn’t prepared for that.”

“Clearly.”

One more deep breath. “Are we walking?”

“Yep.”

We fall into step again as if nothing happened. The second we get outside; I increase my pace a fraction. I’m always vigilant, but even more so in a parking lot. I open the passenger door of my Jeep and as soon as she’s inside; I lock the car before walking around to the driver’s side.

She gives me a weird look when I unlock it again to get in. “Why did you lock me in the car?”

“Sorry. I accidentally pressed the wrong button.” I switch on the car, then ask her to type her address into the GPS.

“This is a nice car,” she comments, looking around. “And with a panoramic sunroof.” She fiddles with the buttons until she figures out which one opens it. The cool night air filters in, the white glow of the moonlight dancing over the dashboard.

“Yeah. My parents bought it for my last birthday. Getting a new car for your birthday is all a rage at school and my parents wanted to go with the trend, so I can fit in.”

“Keeping up with the Jones’s complex?”

“I wish it was that, but no. They’re just trying to help me find a girlfriend. They think I can’t do it on my own because I’m not...charming or whatever.”

“You? No. Why, you’re the very definition of charming. I mean, when you told me I was so messed up that you categorized me as level eight crazy, I had to squelch my thighs together so my panties didn’t spontaneously combust. Thank God they were so wet, it was impossible for them to catch alight.”

A laugh bursts out of me with such force it sounds more like a snort. “This imagery is disturbing.”

We arrive at her house twenty minutes later, so I’m still left with about half an hour before her curfew hits. I drop my seat back. She takes the hint and does the same. We stare up at the sky and she tells me about the shapes she sees in the stars and the specks of clouds above us. I could listen to her voice for hours, but eventually, our time together comes to an end.

At eleven o’clock, she opens the door. “I’d better get inside.”

“Wait there. I’ll walk you to your door.”

“That’s not necess?”

I’m already out and walking around the car to meet her on the other side.

“This was the most fun date I’ve ever been on,” she says, closing the door.

“It wasn’t a date, Bella.”

She slides both hands into her back pockets and it perks up her breasts in such a way that my eyes are instantly drawn there. “You’re a walking contradiction and I’m officially giving up on trying to find any consistency between your actions and your words because they just don’t go together. Why don’t you stop playing hard to get, we’ll exchange some bodily fluids, and be done with it?”

“You just made it soundlessappealing.”

“Fine. Then at least do something about your curiosity. This is, like, the twentieth time I’ve caught you gawking at my boobs, and these mixed messages are driving me crazy. So, either take a picture for your spank bank or...you can just...” She lifts my hand, places it over her left breast, and I forget how to breathe.

“Oh, fuck me.”

The words stagger out of me in a strained whisper, and then they just hang there, suspended in the thick night air, as I figure out what to do with this moment. So supple and heavy in my palm, I don’t know if I should squeeze or rip my hand away.

A provocative smile curves on her lips. “You hard for me, De Lorenzo?”

“Very.”

I don’t know what comes over me, but I use the same hand to shove her against the door of my car, my other hand cradling her head so my knuckles take the force of the impact when it hits against the window. My upper body covers hers and her breathing elevates, becoming so labored I can feel the rise and fall of her chest against my own.

My mouth hovers an inch above hers and she lifts her chin, offering those sexy lips up to me like I could have full access to them if I wanted. And I want them. With fire. With passion. With an intensity that makes my skin fucking burn, I want them.

---